Broadcast Resume Tape Resources

Ryan Hagen

Overview

Want to Create a Resume Tape?

Welcome! Let's face it; if you want a job in broadcast news, you're going to need a solid resume tape with your best work on it. Although there are good sites out there on how to prepare a resume tape, they are difficult to find. Because of this difficulty, I decided to compile a directory of well written and meaningful websites that will help a beginner, rookie, or veteran journalist compile the best-looking resume tape possible. So if you're in the market for a job or just wondering what exactly a resume tape is, this directory will provide the necessary help. Below is a compilation of links from reputable broadcast sites that provide insight into what employers are looking for in a resume tape.

A resume tape is a tape of a reporter, producer, photojournalist, or meteorologist applying for a broadcast job. It includes the applicant's best work demonstrating a variety of broadcast techniques. This tape is normally put onto a generic VHS tape and sent to prospective employers via mail. Once received, a news director will view a resume tape to judge the skills of a broadcast applicant.

Creation Resources

Newsblues Resume Help

Good starting point. Newsblues, a well-known ?news in the news? website has compiled a good list of topics explaining many different forms of resume tapes. Their site provides introductions to resume tapes, specific recommendations for anchors, reporters, sportscasters, and weathermen. This site has concise information for all the aforementioned areas, and is a must see for anyone getting started in the business. Newsblues includes individual sections on:

Communications 101
Audition Tip Basics
Cover Letters and Resumes

Journalist's Toolbox

Written by the Director of Programming for Chicagoland Television News, this site features a set of guidelines and rules to follow when creating a resume tape. It provides a clear way to structure and order the individual components comprising a resume tape. In addition, the Journalist?s Toolbox gives recommendations of what to include on a resume tape, and what to avoid when making one. Overall, this is a very good resource; not only is it great for beginners, but it is also written tastefully enough to provide solid information for people who may have more experience with creating them.

TV Technology Advice: Part 1 | Part 2

TVtechnology.com provides a very thorough look at the individual parts that comprise a resume tape, mainly pertaining to photojournalists. It takes a look at techniques to compose a tape by breaking down the thought process involved in creating a tape. Part One focuses a lot on the aspect of weeding through photojournalist resume tapes coming in and how a news director views them. It explains that unless something catches their eye, a resume tape will be tossed aside. Part Two deals more with the logistics of how news

Meteorological Resume Tape Advice

Theweatherprediction.com lists an easy-to-use run down of how to compose a broadcast resume tape when applying for a meteorology position. The tape is very specific to meteorologists, and has a lot of meteorological terminology in it. Although it seems complicated when reading, this page has a lot of valid advice for creating a resume tape, and has a lot of things that people often overlook when creating one. This site would only be relevant to people creating meteorology resume tapes because it is very specifically written.

Newslab Resume Ideas

Newslab provides advice from a group of news directors explaining what they want to see and what people should leave off. Even though the advice is pretty simple (Example: ?Include only your best work?), they provide thorough rationale. This site emphasizes the fact that news directors get many more resume tapes than they know what to do with. In saying that, they provide a set of rules to follow to make your tape stand out from other tapes. This site is a ?must see? for people creating a resume tape because it discusses the ?pet peeves? of news directors that have to sit through hundreds of resume tapes.

Resume and Broadcast Forums

Open Mic Resume Tape Forum

Open Mic?s online forum is one of the only forums out there that has an area dedicated to discussion of resume tapes. Although some of the posts are a little old, there is solid discussion of how to construct resume tapes for all areas (including how to create rare resume tapes for producing jobs). It must be noted that these are opinionated forums and to use one?s own discretion when viewing these forums, as they are subjective views of how things work in broadcast.

TVnewstalk Online Forum

TVnewstalk.net is a large forum of people in the broadcast industry. Many of the contributors to these forums are 'TV insiders' that work at larger stations and often post job-related and resume-related materials for other users. The site also provides a good insider's view of what stations are looking for from applicants and employees. Once again, since this is a forum site, it must be noted that discretion must be used because all content is user-contributed and unverified.

Sample Resume Tapes

Photojournalist Resume Tape

Photojournalist Michael Uss has posted a quality example of a full-length photojournalist resume tape. Uss provides a solid resume tape using a lot of vivid clips he has shot while on stories with reporters. Along with artistic shots, Uss also includes more practical shots that would more likely tend to be used on newscasts. He provides a variety of clips that display examples of high-quality composition and framing of unique and interesting shots. Uss also provides good use of natural sound on his resume tape. This resource is interesting to look at when composing a resume tape because it provides an idea of a resume tape for photojournalists, which tend to be more elusive. Note: This tape includes a frowned upon use of a countdown into a resume tape.

Meteorological Resume Tape

AMS-Certified Meteorologist Erik Zarnitz has posted his full-length resume tape on YouTube.com. This tape displays a well-made resume tape for a meteorologist applying for a job. More specifically, Zarnitz?s resume tape displays good examples of the different types of material suggested to appear in a resume tape. His tape shows a mixture of forecasts, anchoring chemistry, live reports, and how to deal with severe weather or breaking news. Zarnitz?s tape also correctly uses slates or titles at the beginning and end that include his name, phone number, and email address.

American Broadcast Talent

American Broadcast Talent is a company that for a substantial amount of money will create your resume tape for you. However, what makes this site quite helpful is the large amount of sample resume tapes they have created and posted to their web site. Although this company charges to create resume tapes, it is very easy to see in what way quality resume tapes are composed. The sample tapes they provide are easy to download, and each contains a variety of shots and styles of reporting.

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