How do you get a job in a radio station?

If you want to know how to get a job in a radio station, then you really need to learn more about the Radio Connection, where you will be trained in a studio, with a mentor teacher. Classrooms in a college or broadcast school won't do it. You need to get a teacher who is a real radio professional working in the business, as opposed to a college teacher who is not or never has been in the business. What is cool is that you can train around your job.

This accredited program is where you get trained by a working pro who could help you get a job after you graduate, one-on-one in a real radio station, learning the professionals AT the station -- whether you want to learn how to be a DJ, or get a job as a program director, or be an audio engineer. After 23 years, the Radio Connection has worked with over 5,000 stations in the U.S., Canada, and the UK, teaching students from 17 to 60 years old. It is like a job placement goldmine.

This isn't a traditional internship - it is an apprenticeship. By the time you are done you will have audition demo tapes and your instructor, typically the program director, is the one who will help you produce the demos. The biggest difference is that you get trained with equipment you need nowadays, not out of date equipment in a college. You get a feel for what is going on. Plus you can train around your job, slowly easing into the radio environment as you learn the curriculum.

Most of the students, and mentors agree -- mentorship programs for broadcasting school is the way it will be done in the future, because it is the best way to learn the radio business one-on one with a working professional.

The program is virtually everywhere. The way it works is that we get you an interview for your mentor in your home town. Our students usually get a job where they train. There are structured assignments and tests, but it is easy and fun when you get to learn the real job at a real radio station. Here's what one Radio Career Connection mentor - Chuck Dogg who is teaching at our New York radio DJ school - has to say.

People don't get hired in a college. If a job becomes available at the station where you are learning, nine times out of ten you will get it. You are in a structured radio connection course written by broadcast professionals, there are supplies and equipment at the station for you to use as you learn to be a music engineer, or a radio announcer, for example, hands on.

Work with Hot Music Recording Artists

Part of the fun of working in the music recording industry is the chance to work with top recording artists and musicians. And there are lots of different careers in the industry. You could be a music producer, or a technical-audio or sound engineer. One quick way to look at it is that a music producer will guide and shape the sound, while an audio engineer captures it.

The music business is trending towards moving online, so it is really important to learn as much about the music recording side of the business as you can. Digital music distribution over the Internet has really changed the landscape of the music business. Music technology has also grown quite a bit. Professional musicians today have to have a good knowledge of it all as well. Much of this technology is software based, and the virtual world means having to be famaliar with software, plus there is still some hardware based technologies. It is both.

Donny Baker is a Recording Connection mentor, music producer and studio engineer at Elephant Symphony in Glendale, California. He likes teaching this school's curriculum, because once his students graduate, they are engineers. Donny is giving input as to the courses because he helps refine the program, and it keeps getting better. Technology is constantly changing but in this industry it is changing backwards. As he says - "we wanna use the oldest best piece of equipment. But then there's ProTools software to learn too."

The Entertainment Connection schools with the mentor approach works, and the best part is that the courses are available in most major cities nationwide - so you'll get a real world learning experience in a New York music recording school or one in Los Angeles.

Choices About Music Recording Careers

With the economic trends being more challenging over the last few months, you may be one of a bunch of students out there who are weighing your options when it comes to your next step after graduation. Is college an option? Or are there other ways to get into the music recording business? We (those of us at the Entertainment Career Connection) see this all the time.

In fact there are a number of students who actually went to college, then came to us after that to REALLY learn the business. At the Los Angeles music recording school, it only makes sense that we got our own students and mentor teachers on video to explain their stories. Check out Los Angeles recording school mentor Doug Maxwell's video on YouTube. He has some great tips and comments.

Another cool story from student Leslie Greer in Atlanta, “During my apprenticeship I got to meet P. Ditty, Master P. and Jermaine Dupri. I had the honor of working with David Banner in Atlanta. I can’t even explain to you how much this program did for me. I thank you and bless you.”

There is just tons of stuff that the Recording Connection programs teach that you just don't, or can't get in traditional schools. The curriculum qualifies graduates for positions as a music producer or a recording studio engineer. Plus the best thing is that students are taught in one-on-one private sessions in a real recording studio. It's an apprentice type situation - under the direct supervision of a music industry professional working on real-world projects. Plus there's no experience necessary, and students can take classes part time during night or weekend sessions, training around a current job.

The teachers are mentors who know how to succeed in the very competitive recording and engineering field - so they end up passing their knowledge and experience on to the students. It is a win-win situation.

Tips and Tricks for Learning to be a Radio DJ from the Recording Connection

If you want to learn how to be a DJ, then you are probably going to have to go to a good radio school where they teach you all the basics of the business. The Radio Connection has been around for more than 25 years, and it has a great track record with students. Almost 72 percent of the graduates get a job in the biz. AND, to get a job as a DJ, for example, it is who you know, along with WHAT you know. That's why so many students like the idea of learning in a real radio station under a skilled mentor teacher versus in a classroom and at a more expensive school.

Getting a job in a radio station or in the music recording business means you not only can meet popular music artists, session players and bands, but you’ll meet powerful music executives for good connections down the road. DJs are highly skilled. On average a popular DJ in a major market can make a six figure salary every year. However, beginners usually have to put in their dues, making less and being paid hourly wages in the beginning. Many of them make extra money as a mobile DJ at clubs on nights and weekends.

Once a radio DJ candidate has a professional air check tape and a degree, they must find a job via stations seeking new on-air talent -- and that means seeing the station director. In smaller markets it could also mean meeting with the station's general manager or owner. The trick is to get the station director to listen to your air check tape personally and call you in for an interview.

After you get the job, a new radio DJ is often assigned to overnight or weekend shifts in the beginning. And if you're fortunate enough to be hired by a popular radio station, expect to spend many hours in the studio. Many DJs are on the job by 5 AM when they spend some time surfing the web for the latest news, or gossip. While on-air during their show, most DJs talk after every song – apx. eight times an hour. Many radio DJs answer phones, call-ins, or read emails, even text messages. There are always a few voice commercials and staff meetings. Occasionally there are public appearances and anchoring remotes at sporting events–mostly on weekends. Most DJs spend one day preparing for their show for the next day.

Most all DJs agree, the best job perk or meeting musicians, bands and celebs. They are always getting invitations to really cool parties, plus they always get sent new products – food, clothes, and new tech gadgets or promotional items.

And there are often those who thought they wanted to be a radio DJ who realize it's not cut out for them. In that case, they may be like Eric Hunslinger, who actually graduated from a big school but soon realized he wasn't prepared for the music business, so that is when he applied to the Entertainment Career Connection's Audio School, which cost much less, and where he really enjoyed learning the music recording business.

Entertainment Industry Dreams Do Come True - As Proven by David Cook and American Idol

All the excitement this week and tonight at the finale of this season's American Idol, only proves that dreams can come true in the entertainment world. For the two David's -- Archuleta and Cook -- dreams are coming true, and after12 million votes, even though David Cook won, both Davids won because their lives will never be the same. One thing they got on the show was allot of mentoring.

Those of us at Entertainment Career Connection know how this works because every day we see students all over America who have a dream - to be the next famous film director, or to learn how to be a music DJ, or the next hottest sports announcer on the radio - and their dreams have come true too. And it's all because of mentors.

If you dream of being a music producer or have a band and want to make the best demo record possible, you could apprentice under the direct supervision of a music industry professional in a real recording studio working on real-world projects. There's no better way to learn.

Brian Levi is one of our mentors. He talks about how he recorded Dwight Yoakam's first album on the Los Angeles music recording school website.

According to one student, “There is no doubt about it, the Recording Connection mentor/apprentice program really works. I am working in the business and making my living in the music business because of the Recording Connection,” said Billy Flores, sound engineer for Eminem, the Rolling Stones, and Aretha Franklin.

Recording Connection students are actually doing things, not reading a book, sitting in a classroom; they’re involved in all aspects of the studio. And they don’t just learn to record, they learn the studio business too. It's a fully accredited institution certified by the National Private Schools Accreditation Alliance (NPSAA.) There are mentor programs in more than 100 U.S. cities in all fifty states for the radio, music recording, film and television industries.

Student loans are available via Sallie Mae, the nation's leading provider of student loans, and other financial aid programs. Plus the courses are not as expensive as some of the other schools. Whereas traditional film schools cost from $20,000 to $140,000, Entertainment Career Connection schools cost from $4,450 to $7,450. But the best part is that more than 72 percent of the students actually get an industry job after they complete their course. And isn't that the real reason to go to school and learn how to be a film producer, music DJ or whatever your entertainment dream may be in the first place?

Student Loans in the News

Have you noticed all the news about student loans - just when school is about to end for the summer, and kids are gonna need loans to go to college? But there was one interesting online news article today that pointed out -- as American Idol concludes its season this week, it appears that finalist David Archuleta won't be needing any student loans in the future. Archuleta has done enough in the competition vocally to ensure that when and if he decides to go to college, he will not need a student loan.

But many other strudents will. Those students who are looking for a film school, or those who want to learn how to be a DJ - even students who want to learn how to be a recording artist - all will be faced with challenges when it comes to student loans. But one Los Angeles film school, who also has schools for recording and the music industries, known as the Entertainment Career Connection, has recently gotten Sallie Mae loans for students, the nation's leading provider of student loan programs.

The Entertainment Connection's Sallie Mae loans covers the entire tuition cost and also loans for up to 60 percent of additional funds for living expenses and equipment purchases. Any student who is 18 years of age or older with good credit may qualify for a zero down, low interest loan. These start at Prime Rate + 0%, and take up to 15 years to pay back. Entertainment Career Connection also provides other funding choices for those who may not qualify for the Sallie Mae loan programs.

During the last 25 years the Entertainment Career Connection has graduated more than 6,000 students from its educational apprentice programs for the entertainment arts including the film, radio, television and music recording industries.

Chief Executive Officer James (Jimi) Petulla recently said, "As other national student loan programs are taking a beating, making it hard for students to secure low-cost loans for college, we are happy to introduce our new student loan programs so that students can sign up for our apprentice programs.”

Los Angeles Film School Gets People Jobs

When you think about how much time college students spend getting an education, and the money involved as well, it is hard to imagine a school where you can learn just what you need, and get yourself a job at the same time. One Los Angeles film school known as the Entertainment Career Connection offers a production course curriculum that qualifies graduates for positions in the film, television, video and music video fields.

Here's how this works. You get industry experts who pass on their knowledge to the Film Connection classroom and provide an interactive and exciting atmosphere where they, as mentor teachers,work openly between sound stages, movie sets and the classroom. The school provides training on real sets and under real life working conditions. You get to be trained one-on-one by a working professional. The mentor proactively teaches both professional and technical skills, helping to bridge the gap between academia and the workplace. So when you are done, you will most likely get a job in the industry.

Here's what one student had to say. “With Film Connection you learn more do more and are better equipped to get a job in the film industry upon graduation. Those over-priced film schools just don’t work. You come out under-trained, unemployed and broke. The Film Connection concept is brilliant. It’s the alternative that really works,” said Mars Callahan, Writer, Director and Mentor, Pool House Junkies

You would be screened by the school, and then re-screened by the mentors. The Entertainment Connection’s programs can be completed in approximately half the time of degrees obtained from other schools. Plus, no experience is required and you can start any time. Most schools have specific semesters. Some of the Entertainment Connection students even take classes part time during night or weekend sessions, so this way they can train around their current job schedule. The average course length is five to seven months, depending upon the schedule.

In business for 25 years, the Entertainment Career Connection offers a number of paymetn plans towards totals $6,450 for payment in full. A one-year payment plan requires a down payment of $2,500 and 12 monthly payments of $465 per month totaling $8,080 and including finance charges of 12.5% per annum. Two year payment plan tuition is payable via a down payment of $2,500 and 12 monthly payments of $250 followed by another 12 monthly payments of $ 306, totaling $9,172 with finance charges at 21.5 percent per annum.

A fully accredited academic institution, the Film Connection is certified by the National Private Schools Accreditation Alliance with mentor programs in more than 100 U.S. cities in all fifty states. In fact, the Entertainment Career Connection is an associate member of the National Broadcasters Association (NAB), The American Federation of Radio and Television Artists (AFTRA), and the Society for Professional Audio Recording Services (SPARS).