Sometimes I run ads on radio trade sites to get some good backup. We all take sick days and some of us get vacations too 😉 and we need fill-in/substitute anchors for our clients.

This last time I ran an ad, it was because I actually had an immediate need for someone to take over a client, as one anchor was leaving and another became too overworked and needed a break. The usual suspects applied. Not to say I wouldn’t hire them, but I was looking for some “freshies”.

But people, since when do you open with “how much does it pay”? And during a pandemic when people are clamoring for work? Stations are not making as much, some are still struggling and you want to know if you will get up off the couch BEFORE you know anything about the job? (Insert curious, scratching chin emoji here.)

“In my day” (don’t you hate that dumb saying?), but for realz, in MY day, we didn’t open with that. I took one of my favorite radio jobs EVER, without knowing. Ya, it paid crap, but the experience was invaluable. (Radio generally doesn’t pay that well, unless you’re Howard Stern, god bless him.) I’ve also worked for free, taken on clients for $150 month for M-F news, and I could go on.

When you truly want to work, you don’t open with: “what will I make?”. Of course we all want to earn a living, pay our bills, and enjoy our hard earned cash. But, to ask that as the first question? Or go slightly down the path of: “yes I’m interested”, but I’m not taking what you’re paying, so let’s negotiate.

That’s when I turn and run.

Please chime in, tell me I have it all wrong! And while you’re at it, can you send me a demo?