Most television reporters have multiple personalities

In many ways, a camera and microphone give you license to be someone you're not. They let you approach the unapproachable, to play the part of the aggressive news hound, to be bullet proof in dangerous situations. In real life, if I were a young single guy I would never walk up to a beautiful woman and ask what she was looking for in a man; doing a television feature story on dating, I could do it without a problem.

Because TV makes me someone I'm not.

And in many ways, a job search can take the personality you've created on television and suck all the bravado out of your veins. Suddenly, the take-no-prisoners reporter turns into an insecure high school girl waiting by the phone for a certain guy to call.

Where do our true personalities lie? Most likely, somewhere in between.

Years ago I worked in radio, and a disc jockey told me this: "The only secure thing about this business is the insecurity." Truer words were never spoken about broadcasting.

I look at many tapes and talk to a lot of reporters and anchors, and very often the people I see on camera don't match those I hear on the phone. Suddenly the tables are turned when you're the one looking to be interviewed; the toughest reporters seem to lose all confidence, as the insecurity demon does the Macarena in your head and asks the question:

"Am I good enough?"

And the longer the search goes on, the stronger the demon's voice. When you send out tapes and no one calls, when you go on interviews and don't get the job, you begin to wonder what's wrong.

Many times, the answer is nothing.

As in life, the stars have to align. There are many factors that go into filling a position. You may have the best tape, but you're not the right fit. Wrong age, wrong sex, and any number of things can weigh into a hiring decision.

The stars can only align for one person in any job hunt. Does that mean there's something terribly wrong with the other 199 that applied for the job? That the other 199 need to rush out and re-edit their resume tapes?

Of course not. Some of those people may have bad tapes, and some may need more seasoning. Some may be terrific. But only one fit the specific needs of the person doing the hiring.

Many of you have a lot of talent but are way too hard on yourselves. If you send out just a handful of tapes and hear nothing, there may be nothing wrong. If you send out two hundred and don't get a nibble, that's the time to make a change.

But second guessing yourself will drive you crazy. If you know deep down that you're good enough, if you've been told by people whose objective opinions you trust that you're good enough, then stop worrying about it.

Stars align on their own timetable, not yours.