What some colleges don’t tell you about how to create a TV Demo Reel!

We’re going to talk about getting a job, that’s what it’s all about right.  Starting to get paid, earning an income and what do you need.  Well, in broadcasting your resume isn't the most important thing.  Your education isn’t the deciding factor, where you go to school does help.  Your GPA though that's not a factor at all.  I've been a broadcaster for more than 16 years and nobody ever asked me what my GPA was even though I did have a pretty high GPA at Temple University.  The one thing they will ask you for though is your demo reel, can they see your resume reel, can they see your resume tape.  All three of those things mean the same thing.  Without a resume reel it is going to be next to impossible to get a job in broadcasting.  Notice, I said next to impossible because a resume reel that’s a sample of your work.  Hiring managers, news directors, they want to see how you sound, how you look and how comfortable you are in front of the camera and that's what your resume reel shows them.

So, the next step is how do you get a resume reel? Well there are two ways. You get one from college. If you go to a good broadcasting school they must emphasize that you need a resume reel to apply for jobs upon graduation.  You can also get one by doing an internship. Now that goes hand in hand with going to college because more often than not a prerequisite for getting an internship is earning college credit.  I've mentioned it before I got my first TV job just three months after I graduated.  The way I was able to do that was, I had professional standups, professional reporting, professional-looking anchoring on my resume reel and I got that from my internship.  I had footage of me doing standups or reporting from Philadelphia Eagles practice me reporting from Division 1 basketball games and anchoring on a professional set.  

Understand, broadcasting is competitive. Each year so many different students will graduate looking for jobs and you need to be able to differentiate yourself you need to be able to separate yourself from the crowd and that's what having professional reporting does.  If you have clips from your college station you might be right here but if you have clips from an internship a professional company that puts you up here.  I truly believe that hiring managers can visualize you working for them easier when you have professional clips.  I don’t know if college professors and colleges are telling you this but only having college material just won't cut it. If you want to increase the likelihood that you will get a job shortly after you graduate you need professional reporting.  

That's why it's so important where you pick to do your internship.  You need to be hands-on and it needs to be a place that will allow you to make a resume tape.  Maybe you still have a few things from college on your resume reel but certainly the majority should be professional clips and that is going to allow you to stand out from the crowd.   Because here is the thing, talent wise when most people graduate from college everybody is about even. Most people are going to be raw, most people are going to need seasoning, so any advantage that you can get in terms of how your resume tape looks you are going to want to take advantage.  So those are the tips for the people who are graduating or you are looking for your first job.  

This is for the people who are already in the business and they want to advance. You need to make sure that you only put your best clips on your resume tape.  I know that sounds simple but a lot of times I see people they want to show so many different settings and them demonstrating things and so many different outfits but it has to be your best stuff.   Less is more.   You don't need to have a 15-minute resume tape. 10 minutes is probably the max because a lot of times a news director or a hiring manager they know in the first minute whether they like you or not. So, you don't need to have 15 minutes worth of material and you need to have strict standards about what you put on that resume tape.   Make sure that your hair looks great, that you're well groomed. Make sure that your clothes look great and they fit well.  You shouldn't be stumbling on your resume tape.  You should be pronouncing things correctly.  You have to make sure that anything that is questionable hits the cutting room floor. You know when people make movies whether it’s a production company or what have you, a lot of times they shoot a lot of footage that doesn't make the final movie.  That's why when you get DVDs from time to time there are bonus scenes extra scenes that didn't make the movie.  Those scenes hit the cutting room floor.  Likewise, when you make your resume reel you need to have strict standards and if some of your reporting or some of your clips don't measure up they need to hit the cutting room floor.  It helps to have a second set of eyes when you're making a resume reel where they can determine or give suggestions about what should hit the cutting room floor.  After all you never get a second chance to make a first impression.  Your career is at stake, you're trying to get that job you’re trying to increase your salary so you need another pair of eyes someone you trust to give you constructive criticism.  I hope you understand that you need professional clips to give you the best chance to get a job right out of college, and I hope you understand that you might need to tighten up that resume tape if you want to get that next opportunity.