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FEATURED ARTICLES           Wednesday, September 08, 2010                                Email to a Friend

Job Guide 2007

By Tammy Benlolo

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Those who aren’t in school make it abundantly clear how jealous they are of students, as if we have such an easy life! They assume that our days consist of sleeping in, partying till sunrise and rolling out of bed to write an exam for a course that will hardly impact our lives. Yet, for many of us that’s hardly how we see things; we spend many sleepless nights writing papers that will barely affect our career path and lay awake attempting to figure out what we want to do for the rest of our lives. Do we want to pursue our lifelong dream of being a painter, a culinary chef or a television producer? And if so, how do we get there? Being a student isn’t easy these days; in actuality, we have it a little harder. There are more expectations and higher levels of education/qualifications preferred by possible employers.

So here it is my fellow classmates, your personal insight into the lives of those who are living, breathing and doing your dream job. How did they get there? What did they do to get there? What’s their educational background? Salary expectations and some personal advice from the experts.

Dream Job 1: Segment Producer, Breakfast Television

Education: Television Broadcasting, Fanshawe College
Broadcast Journalism, Loyalist’s College. Belleville

Kevin Forget
Entry Level Salary: $25K-30K (depending on job)
Each title has a different salary, it’s not by yearly experience but by job title.

Kevin Forget, Breakfast Television’s Segment Producer, is living and breathing his job dream! He is one of a couple of people who book the guests on the show-- going through segment pitches, hunting people down “that we see in the newspapers” and finally, work a segment out, as in what the hosts are going to talk about that day. Television is exactly what we would expect it to be: exciting, exhilarating and a lot of hard work. During those long 4am drives to work from Keswick, Kevin smiles knowing he is driving towards his childhood dream.

Just like he does every morning, our Breakfast Television superstar woke-up extra early starting in grade 7 to watch his favourite morning show, BT. He liked the idea of working on a television show, “I thought it would be a cool job.”

To prepare, Kevin took public-speaking courses in high school and learned organizational skills while in the student council. He then studied Television Broadcasting at Fanshawe College and Broadcast Journalism at Loyalist College, to gain hands-on experience. Both colleges require students to complete an internship, Kevin interned at Columbia Tri-Star Pictures for 6 weeks and ironically, landed his second at Breakfast Television.

It was Kevin’s persistence and opportunities that got him such incredible internships. Spaces are limited, “so get on the phone fast and make that call” he says. Once his internship at BT ended, Kevin continued to volunteer, sleeping on friend’s couches so he could make it to BT for 5am, until a position opened-up. “Do anything, any job you can to get your foot in the door, once you get your foot in the door you can always prove that you can do more than just bring coffee and you make contacts.” Which is definitely a bonus!

Paying his freshman dues as a Unit Assistant, Kevin’s duties included coffee runs, office mailman and administrative work until he was hired two years later as a Segment Producer. I asked Kevin what made this job his dream job? His answer: “Everyday is a different day. Live t.v. is a lot of fun, it keeps me on my toes seeing that we have to be prepared for anything that may happen.”

If your dream is to work as a television producer, our McDreamy suggests that this job is ideal for a morning person, creative mind-someone who works well under-pressure on a live t.v. setting and can make decisions on moments notice. A desirable applicant will have a television background, organizational skills and a BA in communications.

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