Janice Williams Loves Austin

Today makes six weeks of unemployment. And a dear friend of mine got fired/laid off at her job today, too. It’s going around and that is scary. GSD&M is laying off people. Bristol-Meyers is laying off 10% of their staff. It isn’t encouraging for us job hunters.

My friend that got laid off is a crackerjack salesperson. She could have a job tomorrow if she wanted one (well, even today, she’s already had two offers). It might not be the job of her dreams, but she could be making decent money right away (at least that’s my view of it, she might argue).

As for me, I look through all the online job sites . . . and, gosh, aren’t there a TON of them? No, I am not hell-bent on being a disc jockey again, the chances for that seem minimal. But when I see the word RADIO pop up in an ad, I’m certainly going to check it out.

Today on the UT job listings I saw “Radio/TV/Film Specialist V.” I have no idea what the “V” is for, but the rest sounds right up my alley. Radio? Almost 30 years of radio. TV? Film? I have a Master’s Degree in Radio/TV/Film, surely that counts for something. But then I go on to read the qualifications: Bachelor’s degree. (Yessir, I have one of those, too!) A combination of five years of experience in film program production (Uh. . . ), radio program production (okay, I’ve done that) or television program production (Nope. But it just said OR, it didn’t say you had to do all three). Demonstrated knowledge of online video distribution (what? I don’t even know what that is!), streaming media hardware and software (no, not a clue), including MediaSite Live (never heard of it). Ability to handle consultations on distance learning capabilities (?). Ability to assist on video productions and to work in a computer-driven work environment (computer driven work environment? okay, maybe I’ve done that). Equivalent combination of relevant education and experience may be substituted as appropriate (I haven’t been educated in half of things and certainly have no experience).

Thus, it looks like I can’t claim to be a Radio/TV/Film Specialist. At least not V, maybe II. But then again, as my sister pointed out the first time I was looking for work after being laid off, this is their IDEAL candidate, but they probably know they aren’t going to find that person. Maybe they’ll settle for less and train a little? I guess we’ll see. I will craft the resume to fit the job a little more closely, emphasizing some video production I had a hand in twenty years ago (before computers were invented, it seems) and see where it goes.