One blog per station, per day was required for jocks at one former employer of mine… which is a lot when music jocks are used to talking up the seven seconds of a song intro. What if there is nothing more than seven seconds of content to say? That’s when all posts on a page quickly become “hey, look at this funny video mentioned on air this afternoon! Here are two sentences of said jock’s opinion on it!” COMPELLING content, right? Most personalities wear multiple hats, so thoughtful blogging takes time that just doesn’t exist; hence two-sentence “blogs.”
Now, though, there’s time. I’m unemployed, or “on the beach” in radio industry terms, which sounds a lot more fun than it is. Most people, at some point in their life, have been unemployed, so sympathizers will understand the overwhelming range of emotions that come with it. Day one was a lot calmer than expected. This wasn’t going to be the situation for long, it was a temporary setback. It happened right before Christmas, and there was so much to do before family events that there wasn’t much time to think about unemployment. It was a gift, a few extra days to check things off the to-do list. There was a little guilt while shopping and wrapping the last of the gifts that the resume and website weren’t being updated, but there was too much to think about that it was pushed to the back burner.
After the holidays, the focus was shifted. There had been a lot of compliments on my interesting-looking resume, but the new one needed to be full-on attention-grabbing. Several hours over several days went into building the new one, which looks like a radio automation system, which is very interactive. Industry professionals have already complimented it! The next step was the not-so-fun part: putting a demo together. Who honestly likes the sound of their own voice? A little secret: not even radio people. Listening to hours of audio to condense into a two-minute “best of” to showcase my personality was a daunting and unpleasant task.
Finally, it was time to send out the whole package! The trades were rifled through and emails were sent all while at the new “office” of Starbucks. A person can get a lot done with two Grande Nitro Cold Brews flowing through their system! This started 15 days ago, and it’s amazing how fast emotions can go from the possibilities are endless to I’ll never work in radio again! It didn’t help that the biggest radio company just laid off 1200 people, and now the sand “on the beach” is no longer visible, it’s so crowded.
Inadequacy. Depression. Loss. These are current emotions I’m fighting. If you’re currently “on the beach” in any industry, here are the thoughts that have become more of a mantra over the last couple weeks: Don’t think about next week, next month, or next year. Think about the 24 hours ahead and spend that time doing anything possible to move closer to the goal. How have you spent the last 24 hours? Have they been in service of a desired future? How will the next 24 hours be spent? Take it one day at a time and you will be employed again, soon!
Kristin
