How to Get a Job in Radio
By Georgia Love

So, you want to work in radio.
As for most industries, there’s plenty of ways to get yourself heard (excuse the pun) in the radio industry. But unlike many other jobs, it’s not one you’re likely to just walk into with a typed résumé and a handshake and be offered a position. But don’t be scared off: it’s fun, it’s exciting and it is achievable.
So how can you get a job in radio?

1. Have the passion
Radio announcer and trainier Gary Mac has been in the Australian radio industry for over 30 years. He believes wholeheartedly that the desire to make it in this industry is what will ultimately get you there.
“I’d had a passion for radio since I was a little tacker, and I became totally immersed in it,” he said on getting his first radio job.
“I got to know some people in the industry just by worming my way into the local radio station and showing that I really wanted to do it.”
“If you’ve got the burning desire to get into it then yes, you can.”

2. Get training and experience
Although it’s true that passion plays a big part, in reality you also need to know what you’re doing. There are radio training courses available which teach you industry-level skills and even voice coaching. Gary Mac did an eight-week radio training course in Sydney, leading straight into his first paid radio job. For more than 20 yeas Gary ran his own training school in Melbourne.
Alternatively, there’s the option of learning on the job. This is what community radio stations are perfect for.
Journalism student Tom Kelly began his radio work on Melbourne community station SYN. Here, he learnt the nuts and bolts of how radio works, as well as gaining great experience and having something to show (well, play) potential employees.
“Community stations give people a chance to build up confidence and familiarity with live on-air situations,” he said.
“It's a lot better to iron out any mistakes, bad habits or shortcomings at the start of your career on a community station rather than later on.”

3. Establish contacts
Often it’s not what you know, but who you know. Having credible references can put you that step ahead of others.
In the 20+ years he has been training radio people, Gary Mac has helped countless people get jobs in radio, as well as being helped himself when he was first starting out. It was the man running his radio training course that recommended him to a station in Newcastle, landing him his first on-air job.

Tom Kelly also says it was contacts he made working at the Australian Open that got him his first paid radio job with sports broadcaster SEN.
“A lot of people working at the tennis also worked at SEN,” he said.
“I was able to form relationships that translated into experience opportunities, and soon after the tennis had finished, there was a spot available to help out at SEN.”
“It just goes to show that taking opportunities that present themselves is important - as well as establishing and maintaining contacts.”

4. Be willing to move to the country
More often than not, the best way to get a foot in the door in the radio industry will come from moving to the country to work in regional stations. Although this may not sound appealing to everyone, it is the best way to get real experience and credibility, and to get heard by the bigger city stations.
Gary Mac suggests this tactic to most people doing his radio training, and says it always pays off.
“There was a fellow who did some radio training with me several years ago who didn’t fancy moving to the country for work at all,” he said.
“He wanted to walk straight into a city news room and start working. And yes he was great at what he was doing, but he had no experience.
“So I found a job going in Wangaratta and convinced him to apply for it…and he got it. He was there for a period of time until 3AW here in Melbourne realized he had what it took and employed him - they actually offered him a job.
“When he started work at 3AW he rang me and said, ‘Thanks for pushing me into the country, because if I’d have worked in a news room here in the city they would have chewed me up and spat me out in about 10 minutes.’ He said he needed to get the rough edges rolled off and sanded down in a regional station before he could get a job here.”

I’m going to steal Gary Mac’s conclusion here as I think he sums it up nicely: “Really, the way to go is to get some training and make a few contacts, find a regional radio station where you can build up your credibility and get some good experience.”
But of course you don’t have to limit yourself to these tips. It might just be easier to become a stand-up comedian like Dave Hughes or a solicitor like Ross Stevenson. Or better yet, just win a Brownlow Medal like Gerard Healey.