Getting Your Big Break

Earlier this week a Westminster alum, Eric Burns, came to speak at the college. Burns has had quite a career and has worked with some well-known television networks including PBS, E! Entertainment, and the Fox News Channel. He started off by talking about his experiences here at Westminster, and then summed up his entire career in about 45 minutes. It was great to hear from a professional and how he got started working in the business, however he made it seem so simple.

To my surprise, Burns wasn't even a broadcast major, he was an English major! However, in order to be a profound journalist or reporter, you do need to have good writing/speaking skills and I guess that's what helped him get his foot in the door. But, before he got into the broadcast business he tried to make it into show business by performing stand-up comedy acts act comedy clubs. So how did he make it into the broadcast world? Well, it sounds a lot easier that it seems. He made a tape, mailed it into a big station in New York and was hired. Even Burns mentioned how lucky he was to receive such a great job right away.

So after getting his big break at a station in New York City, Burns continued to jump from different networks and finally ended up at Fox News Channel where he stayed for many years. Burns said that his biggest issue with moving from job to job was trying to find a job where he could be in one place to be with his family.

So going back to how Burns got his big break in the broadcast world, I think today, this seems very unrealistic. A lot of the speakers that have come in to talk to my classes throughout my years at Westminster have talked about how you have to "get your foot in the door" and how you're going to be rejected many times before you find a job. Then when you do find a job you're going to start out at the bottom and have to work your way to the top. Also, almost every speaker mentioned something in regards to the low pay and how you shouldn't expect to make a lot of money.

I feel like today, the broadcasting business is very competitive, not just with different stations, but also with the employees. For example, if an anchor is making too much money because they have been at a station for so long, they have the possibility of being fired so a new and younger person can come in and be paid for less money. Maybe this wasn't the case when Burns was starting to make his way into the business, and maybe that's why it was so easy for him to get a good job. I feel that over the years the business has become more and more competitive, and more and more people are striving to be the best of the best. Even here at Westminster, I can feel the competitiveness among the broadcast majors.

I know that when I graduate and begin job searching, it's probably not going to be as easy for me as it was for Burns, but I realize that. Right now my expectations are that I'm going to have to send out lots and lots of resumes, and once I do find a job, I'll probably be constantly working my way up. I'm OK with that though, because as long as I'm doing what I love it doesn't matter.