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Old 08-11-2008, 12:57 PM
stardusttwin17 stardusttwin17 is offline
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Join Date: Dec 2006
Location: BK all day!
Posts: 40
I was a broadcasting major in college. As another has mentioned a grad degree in journalism/communications is only useful if you plan to teach. The best thing for you to do is to network and get internships.

Spending two years in a grad program for additional tapes will not help you in the long run. That's two years you could be paying dues to show that you are ready willing and able to hustle. I am not currently working in the field and my biggest mistake was thinking I could come back home to the biggest market and get a job. HA! In the long run its not what I wanted to do but that misstep at the beginning did me in. I had the internships, the radio show (student dj license) & television experience. What I didn't realize was every communication major with an ounce of sense has that. At this point you need to make connections with alumni to see who can get you in. Since you are already a senior see what real world experience you can get to add to your resume. Volunteer at the radio station (get your FCC license), offer to intern (for free if you have to) at the local television station, work on the student paper. Also if you are not a member you need to join NABJ or whatever communication groups are on your campus and be active (that means go regional/national meetings workshops etc).

The thing that concerns me is you have real world professional people telling you that you don't need this degree yet you are asking on here what to do. Please listen to the people you have access to that are in the field. If you know exactly what you want to do approach the person at the local station and ask to interview them (not to ask for a job but for more insight on how they got to where they are now). How many years before they got to their current position? What was that first job? How many times did they move? Unless they are teaching I'm pretty sure none of them have advanced degrees in communications. Most people go to grad school to open additional opportunities but that will not happen in this major. In communications you will not skip steps - you'll still have to start at the bottom & two years of additional loans will seem worthless if you are lucky enough to start at $23K a year.

Don't worry so much about having tapes. You will not get a job on air straight out of school. Those "found in the mall" stories are one in a million. Of the friends I have that are currently working on air NONE of them have advanced degrees. They started in small markets, were willing to move around, paid their dues and are now doing it.

In hindsight knowing what I know now I should have majored in something else and am planning on getting that advanced degree in another area. If you have any more questions you can hit me on PM.
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