Job hunting through the back door

First, I've been MIA the last few days due to the flu. When it feels like there's a man playing a Chinese gong in your head for five days, you don't feel like writing. (Memo to the Center for Disease Control: for the third year in a row I got a flu shot, and still got the flu. Nice use of our tax dollars.)

Anyway, since finding jobs is tougher these days, let's talk about finding openings.

Most of you probably subscribe to tvjobs.com (well, worth the money, by the way) to check out the openings. As a manager I always posted openings there, and so do most stations.

But there are some that like to keep the hiring process quiet. Some NDs just don't want four hundred resume tapes wandering thru the door and a deluge of phone calls (despite the "no phone calls" notation in the ad.)

Ever seen one of those "moving on" posts that announces a new hire? One for an opening you didn't know about? You probably said, "Hey, that wasn't fair. I didn't even see an ad for that job."

Well, the person who got that job knew about it.

So, how can you find these "secret" job openings?

You know that "no phone calls" rule I have about calling News Directors? Well, it doesn't apply to calling anyone else in the station.

Pick a market in which you'd like to work. Then call the newsrooms of the stations at night. Doesn't matter who answers the phone; trust me, it won't be the ND. Then simply start a conversation by telling the person you're looking for work... are there any openings, or any coming up? Anything cooking in that particular market? People on the night shift love to chat about stuff after the managers have gone home. And, while that phone call might not bear fruit for that particular station, you might hear something like, "Our competitor just lost someone... they're looking for a male anchor."

And don't forget to check those "moving on" notices every day. When someone moves, that means there's an opening at their old station.

When you hear, "Nothing's happening" don't believe it. This is a big country with more than two hundred markets. People retire, move, get out of the business or get fired every day.

And if the job hasn't been eliminated, someone has to replace them.