The back end of your resume tape

Traditionally, resume tapes run between five and ten minutes. You've got about a minute for the montage, then three packages, or a couple of anchor segments.

Traditionally, people will tell you that your tape should never run longer than ten minutes.

Well, guess what? You can make your tape as long as you like. Why? Because if a News Director is still watching after ten minutes, chances are he really likes your work anyway and probably wants to see more. If someone is still watching after ten minutes, you'll get a call, or get hired.

So, after your greatest hits montage and three best packages, what should you throw on the end of the tape?

Well, that's your chance to show your versatility. If you're a hard news reporter, throw a feature at the end of the tape. If you're a perky morning anchor, let's see a hard news package. If you're a weather or sports guy, how about a news package you did in a pinch. And if you're a general assignment person, a look at the time you anchored or filled in doing weather doesn't hurt.

The back end of your resume tape is free time. When dealing with VHS tapes, you've got a time limit, but with so many people sending DVDs, there's plenty of free space on the disc. Why not use it?

The resume tape police aren't going to come after you if your tape runs longer than ten minutes. If you've got some good stuff, it never hurts to add it to your tape.

The mind of a TV reporter

The cartoon is called "The Creative Process" but I think it accurately describes what goes through everyone's head in this business at one time or another...

http://www.reddit.com/tb/cmhje


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Taking notes isn't just for reporting

A few years ago one of my clients got a call from a News Director who wanted her to come in for an interview. She was told the contract was two years, with a top 50 out. We discussed it, it sounded good and she decided to go on the interview. Only problem was that the station did not pay for plane tickets, so she drove about eight hours for the interview.

She was offered the job, but it had magically transformed into a three year contract with no outs. When she told the ND this was not what was said on the phone, the ND wouldn't budge, conveniently forgetting the original offer. The manager probably figured the woman had driven a long way and was ready to accept anything. Thankfully, she was smart enough to read the handwriting on the wall, turned it down and ended up with something much better.

Yes, selective memory is a common malady among managers. It's right up there with restless leg syndrome... you wouldn't think it actually exists, but it does.

That's why it is imperative that in any phone conversation or face to face interview, you take good notes. If something isn't in writing, chances are it is gone forever.

So, how can you protect yourself? Well, if you're doing a phone interview and the ND says, "Two years, top 50 out," write it down. Then say, "Let me write this down... two years, and a top 50 out, correct?" This lets the ND know you're taking notes and he'll have a hard time changing his tune if and when you arrive for a face to face interview. You might also review things at the end of the phone call. Then ask the ND to send you an email detailing the parameters of the job. That puts any offer in writing, and now you have a paper trail.

The bottom line is that if the job parameters change between the original phone call and the actual interview, then the ND is someone you don't want to work for anyway. If a manager lies to you before you're even hired, imagine what it would be like to work for that person.

Station visits: the body language of a staff can tell you a lot

These days many people are being hired for their first jobs over the phone. It's pretty hard to judge a person when you can't look that person in the eye (can Skype interviews be far away?) so it's a crapshoot for both the person doing the hiring and the prospective employee.

But most stations that take the hiring process seriously will bring candidates in for interviews. And during those interviews, those candidates will more than likely be dropped in the newsroom for a few hours to see how they blend with the staff. The ND usually will ask members of the staff what they thought of the candidate later.

If you're visiting a station, whether you've been invited or just dropping in during a road trip, it's always wise to chat up as many people as you can. But while doing that, keep an eye on the rest of the newsroom staff. As Yogi Berra once said, "You can observe a lot just by watching."

Pay close attention to the overall mood of the newsroom. Are people friendly toward one another, chatting away, or simply working silently in their cubicles? What happens when the News Director enters the room? Do people suddenly stop talking and sit up straight, as if afraid, or does the atmosphere remain the same? Do kid producers order people around, or do they act friendly to the field crews? And don't forget to visit the photog lounge... you'll get more honesty there than anywhere.

The problem with most interviews is that you're there because you want a job at that particular station; but you need to remove the rose colored glasses we all wear when job hunting. If there are red flags, you need to be alert and objective in order to spot them. Otherwise you could find yourself going from one bad situation to another.

Your video deserves a first look before editing

I used to work with a reporter who carried around one of those mini voice recorders. She would hold it with her microphone, then listen to everything when she got back to the station and write her package. She never looked at the video that had been shot. Someone asked her why she did this, and she said, "It's all on the audio tape. Same thing."

Uh, no.

The first thing you should do when returning to the station after shooting a story is look at your tape. And if you're not doing this, start today. Trust me, the quality of your packages will go up 100 percent.

You may think you know what you or a photog has shot, but until you actually look at the tape you can't appreciate what the camera has captured. Pay close attention to the b-roll; your "money shot" might be in there somewhere, a piece of nat sound you didn't notice may jump out, something in the background might change your story.

But if you don't know it's there, you won't use it. The camera sees things differently, and so does a photog. So it's up to you as the reporter to carefully screen everything on the tape.

So grab a pad and log everything on your tape. Sound bites and standups, sure, but make sure you have a good idea of what your b-roll shows and sounds like. It may change the direction of your package, and it will most certainly make it better.