The Applicant

"To thrive, you need to identify those with the highest potential, get them in your corner and on your team, and help them grow."  -- Claudio Fernandez-Araoz

The songwriter who created Ronnie Dunn's hit "The Cost Of Living" originally had titled it "The Application," due to the stress of trying to land a gig you want.

This is about the opposite side of that situation, which can be equally difficult.

Great radio stations - looking from the outside in - seem to be a magnet for the very best people, but when you talk to the programmers of them you learn that the same “average” people apply at those places as do as every other one.

The difference between the best and the rest:  programming management takes time to thoroughly interview every possible candidate for each opening and is much more selective in hiring.

They start by having each person they interview sign a confidentiality agreement and even assure the applicant that they’ll do the same if they desire, making it clear that keeping secrets is important.

They want to know..

• Exact detail of experiences from each radio station they have worked. 
• How they got into radio.
• What interests them most about listeners.
• What they see as their strengths as well as their own weaknesses.
• Name of individuals you can contact that are NOT on their resume.
• What would five of their closest friends say about them?
• Where do they hope/plan to be in five years?  Ten years?  Next year?
• What are their philosophies - whether they have ever programmed a radio station before and even though they are not applying for a PD position - on music, info, personality and promotion.
• Contest some of their assertions just to see how diplomatically they can defend their position and also how sell they handle criticism of their opinions.

Grade on a scale of 1-10:  their appearance, bedside manner, knowledge, on air work, willingness to do more than requested of them, team spirit, availability.

Don’t permit yourself to take shortcuts in this process if your goal is to hire and hold onto the very best people.

What to Look for When Hiring Talent

Due to the recent "RIF" cutbacks at Clear Channel, Cumulus and other major groups, the number of pro's on the loose right now simply boggles the mind. Here at A&O, we're getting emails from many of them every single day. It's overwhelming and sad to know that there's a bigger crowd of people needing jobs right now which far outnumbers the ones available and projected in the coming year.

At the same time, when an opening occurs it also makes it very hard to separate the wheat from chaff. As a prospective employer, you tend to have in the back of your mind that there has to be a reason why "this" person was cut and someone else was kept.

It's tempting to only recruit people who currently have jobs, so as to avoid the issue of digging deeply into backgrounds to understand why the previous employer decided that this person was expendable. Yet, you'd be missing a lot of people who are ready to start right now and will understand how valuable a good job is, hopefully bringing extra passion to your workplace.

The most important thing to do is start by being clear about what talents, attitude, personal style, work ethic and strengths you want. A strong line-up of talent is something every station needs, but what do you look for when hiring a new jock?

The decision will always be based on a number of factors:

• Which time slot are you looking to fill?
• Will you hire someone from a competitor/different market?
• Will they already have on-air experience or not?

While the final decision is always going to be a subjective, there are a few things worth considering.

Confidence
You want a personality who will be able to connect with your audience confidently. So keep an eye out for a confident communicator who doesn’t come across as condescending or ‘cocky’.

The Ability To Focus
It’s a trait that every host/announcer will need to display if they are to perform to the very best ability on-air.

An Engaging Conversational Style
A great voice isn’t enough these days, you need someone who can engage your audience and keep them listening. Perhaps set them a quick test by asking them to tell you a story about a ballpoint pen, and to make it sound interesting.

Intensity
Do they make you feel like they really understand your radio station and convince you that no one wants to work for you more than they do? That they have the organizational skills and work ethic to exceed your expectations.

The X Factor
No, this has nothing to do with Simon Cowell. :) But you need someone who has that extra spark, a dynamic persona, the X Factor!

If the person you have in mind has all of those abilities, chances are they’ll make a great broadcaster.

Snap them up!

Thanks to Paul Hollins at Great Britain's production and syndication company bluerevolution.com, who provided the inspiration and many of the tips for this article.