Setting Yourself Apart: The Job-Hunting Hoards

So you've always wanted to be on TV and you're hoping to get that first job in the next few months?  You're not alone!  Thousands of people across the country will try to do the exact same thing as you in the coming months.  You need to figure out how you can set yourself apart from the job-hunting hoards!

Here is an excerpt from So You Want To Be A TV Star on setting yourself apart from those job-hunting hoards:

FINAL TOUCHES ON YOUR RESUME TAPE

Once your tape is complete, it is very important to go back and watch your tape on your own DVD or VHS player (or computer if you are using your own website or a site like YouTube). It may seem funny to re-watch your tape after you have spent all this time putting it together, but there are many benefits to re-watching your tape. First and foremost, make sure it works! There have been cases where a news director receives a tape that doesn’t work and instead of calling you and asking for a new one, the news director will toss your tape into the trash. You definitely do not want to be yet another one of those stories – nor do you want to be the one other people think of as they read this section...

...Additionally, you do not want to try to squeeze a wide screen picture into a standard height/width ratio. Too often you will see a resume tape that has all of the right touches. It has flashy graphics – but not too flashy. It has neat transition effects – but not too neat. It is well-edited, well thought out, and well put together. The one downside is that they happened to work at or intern at a station that records in high definition widescreen formats and tried to record their widescreen material, without cropping the edges, onto a standard 4:3 format screen. Make sure that this description is not what you are doing. If you can’t figure out how to change the format of your video, make sure you take the time to search online or find a friend or co-worker who can help you change your video format to the proper dimensions.

Keep that in mind as you conduct your job hunt! If you are interested in seeing more of this book, visit http://tvbook.aaronshaffer.net where you can see the table of contents, additional sample pages, and are able to purchase it through the publisher.

~Aaron Shaffer