Fancy the chance to meet Tom Cruise? Getting into the radio industry isn’t easy, but once you get there the sky’s the limit. nzgirl profiles The Edge’s Jay-Jay Feeney…
Name: Jay-Jay Feeney
Age: 29
Job: Morning Show Radio Personality
Salary range: You start off in radio on a MINIMUM wage. (I started on $16 000 a year). The money is not excellent, but the job is fun. Really successful broadcasters can earn six figure salaries, but there aren’t too many of those in New Zealand.
Dress code: Whatever I like. (Right now I’m wearing my gym gear!)
Describe a typical day at work?
Get to work at 5am and spend an hour finishing writing Scandal. I surf the web for latest news and gossip. It’s my wake up hour! At 6am, we are on the air. During the show, we talk after every song, so that’s about 8 times an hour… 4 hours a day… that’s 32 things to talk about every day!
We also answer our own phones, read the txt messages and organise our next bits. At 10am we sometimes have to voice commercials or have a meeting with the boss about stuff coming up.
We do the occasional public appearance or school visit, but otherwise we spend all day preparing our show for the next day. Writing bits like ‘The Place Not To Be’ and ‘Scandal’ can sometimes take hours!!! We organize our own guests and prizes. I spend so much of my day answering emails. I wish I didn’t get so many! At night we watch the Prime Time TV shows our listeners are likely to watch and go to new movies when we can. We also go to lots of launches and functions. We actually work really long hours. I go to bed about 10pm and get up at 4.30am.
Best perks of the job?
Getting to meet celebrities! Getting invites to cool parties. We often get sent new products like food or gadgets or clothing. We get to work flexible hours (after the show, it’s Glide time!), we don’t get our hands dirty. We have so much fun at work and it’s a really relaxed environment.
Mundane aspects of the job?
Getting up at 4.30am! Answering emails from people who want stuff all the time. (People expect the people on the radio to know everything!! I’ve had emails from people asking me what the bus schedule is for their area!)
Most memorable moment since getting your job?
Meeting Tom Cruise
What do you enjoy about your job most of all?
It’s different every day and I love making a difference in people’s lives.
Qualifications and previous experience that got you the job…
Straight from school. Sheer determination and enthusiasm got me here!
What personality traits/skills/attributes help a person to get a job like yours?
Media training is an absolute must. (I did it at school and Polytech). To be on air, you have to suit the personality of the station. For The Edge, you would have to be outgoing, daring, liberal, confident, creative, enthusiastic, and likeable.
Advice for people wanting to get into your industry…
Go to Broadcasting school! Don’t do radio for the money, coz chances are, you’ll be very disappointed.
What sort of job could you go to from here?
I could do so many different things in radio… producing a show, programming the station, etc. I could also get into Television presenting, writing for a magazine, Public Relations, Promotions, I could work for the Record industry, public speaking…. The list is endless. But I don’t want to do
anything else yet. I love my job.
Last thoughts…
We need more girls in radio!
Check out Jay Jay’s website
www.radiochick.co.nz and
www.theedge.co.nz
