Establishing yourself in the media field is desired by many people who attend college for communications. Unfortunately many people fall short of this desire in their professional field. The thing about this field is that you can’t do it all on your own. At some point you need some kind of an “in” that allows you to network with people who have been in production/media for quite some time. These people will teach you things that you don’t learn in textbooks, and will help you grow in the field. So you might ask “How do I get these opportunities?” The honest truth of it is, these opportunities are all around you. Whether it’s a professor at your university, a friend, a parents friend. If you attend a school with the hopes of being in some kind of production, there are tons of opportunities out there for you. Now for people that attend Division I schools it can be a little bit easier because there are more opportunities for students through their school. For example, students who attend Penn State University get experience with working with the Big 10 Network throughout college. The Big 10 Network is a major college sports network and is an amazing thing to have on your resume. It’s also a great way for these students to meet people in the field who can help get them internships and jobs in the future. Now for students who attend smaller schools such as St. Joe’s, or Shippensburgh, it is much more difficult to branch out and become involved with professional companies to build your network. While it might be more difficult, that does not mean it’s impossible. Many students at smaller university’s make the mistake of doing what they need to get a diploma in communications media but learn nothing outside of the textbooks. Then, there are a lot of students who do all of there school work and are involved in things such as the television studio on their campus. But then, there are few students who reach out and strive to build there network by working with major networks while also doing well in classes and are also extremely involved in their universities productions. Now what a lot of my colleagues have asked me is how I am able to get some of the jobs I have over the last few years. My answer, is I never stopped trying. I emailed tons of companies to be a runner for different broadcasts that they were doing. When I finally got my nose in the door with MLB.com, I met many people, one of which was a production coordinator for NFL Network. From there I was able to work jobs with her for Thursday Night Football as a production assistant and met more people along the way to continue to build my network over the last three years. What people don’t ever ask me is if I can help them out. The answer would be “absolutely”. The truth is, I’m not going to offer opportunities to people that are not willing to ask for guidance. Now if you go to a smaller university, and know of anybody in your department that works jobs with networks that could help you build your network, don’t be afraid to ask. The worse thing that could happen is that person says no. Then you move on and continue to ask people for help to gain experience in the field. Even if it’s something as basic as being a runner, you never know where that first opportunity will take you. Be confident, and reach for the sky. If you decide that this field is for you, then use your communication skills to help build your network. Never be afraid to ask someone for their help. There are very few people in this field who got to where they are on their own. Everybody needs help, and you have to start somewhere. So don’t let attending a smaller university get you down. Work hard in every aspect at your school while always reaching out to people around you until you get your first opportunity. When you get that first opportunity, take it and run with it. Give it everything you have and show the people you work with how hard of a worker you can be, and eventually you will find yourself in the field you’ve dreamed of working in.

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