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10 Questions with ... Dan LaBuda
November 8, 2016
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BRIEF CAREER SYNOPSIS:
DEMO:
After college I started working at WRLR as a DJ, then I got hired by WXLC/WKRS doing promotions and producing mid-days, then was laid off six months later during the recession and went back working for WRLR. I was simultaneously hired by Acoustic Alternative Radio, an Internet station, as MD, telecommuting for a year, and at the same time I was offered the MD position at WRLR.
1) How are you occupying your time, besides looking for a job?
Listening to the radio, keeping up with new music and working on my demo that I have been updating regularly. I've been podcasting, but I don't put it online ... just something to keep my skills up.
2) What's the longest stretch you've had on the beach?
This is the longest stretch I've been on the beach. Of course, there really isn't any beach ... I really need to find one.
3) What has been your best resource for finding out about job openings?
All Access of course ... and networking. Unless you know something better, seriously I'm up for ideas....?
4) What's the craziest thing you've ever done to get a job?
I did try to hang out at a station I enjoyed -- like just in the parking lot -- and try to get the PD to finally talk to me once. That ended up going nowhere. But at that point I had done every normal avenue to get employed and figured maybe crazy would work. I found out it didn't work. I'm back to doing normal, keeping in touch with stations I would love to work with, throwing them a demo now and then, making contacts with the on-air people, the usual.
5) What is the next job you'd like to obtain?
I'd like to get a job on an Alternative or Active Rock station doing on-air and hopefully MD duties if they will let me. That was my favorite. Of course APD would be a nice step up that I wouldn't mind trying.
6) How are you finding the "courtesy level" at places you've applied? (Callbacks, e-mails, rejection letters, etc.)
Generally people are very receptive at first. In the past it was near impossible to reach anyone (of course it was the recession so maybe they just avoided all human contact ... I'm not sure), but lately I've been able to get responses through e-mail a lot, a few phone calls, and I've been able to strike up minor e-mail conversations. So it's not been total radio silence.
7) What's the most unbelievable question you've ever been asked in an interview?
I'm not gonna name names here but.....
I went up for a weekend board op job once back in 2010. The PD asked me about my at-the-time current position and said that they liked to hire former people at one of the last stations I'd worked at. My first impressions were that she seemed angry, almost scared and definitely nervous. She would barely look me in the eye and kept playing with her computer the whole time. I figured she was having a bad day or something. As I was talking about the show I was currently doing, she started acting incredibly erratic and fidgeting nervously. She left the office mid-interview ... didn't even let me finish a sentence, and I was sitting in her office alone for like 20 minutes when she burst in with someone else who I assume was her boss, but I'm not sure. He didn't know what she was going crazy about and he looked about as confused as I did. I never did get his name. He left after a minute or two. She then asked me how many mp3s I owned, then she quickly ended the interview after two more mundane questions about my goals and eventually kept pushing (not literally) me out of the station while simultaneously introducing me to other people in the offices I passed while on my way out. I didn't get the job obviously, but maybe that was a good thing. I followed up and she told me to keep in touch and keep sending her demos. So I was getting many mixed signals and it really got my head spinning. It was definitely the strangest interview I ever had in my life.
8) With consolidation there are definitely fewer jobs. How do you separate yourself from the pack?
What I did from the beginning was to focus on being able to wear several hats at the station. Obviously my favorites were DJ and MD, but I also needed to be able to handle any job they threw at me. So I tried to be able to at least know how to do the basics of any of the jobs at a radio station; that way, if I make myself valuable I might have a chance at not being the first guy cut. (Hopefully.)
9) Are you able to slow down and enjoy free time doing things with your family and friends that you probably did not have time to do while you were working?
I really don't like to slow down, nor can I. For me, being unemployed means fully engaging in activities to get employed again, whatever they may be. I'm a workaholic.
10) Where do you see yourself in five years? Ten years?
Assuming that I don't get offered something crazy like A-list actor, singer in a Platinum selling Rock band or win the Powerball? I'd like to be PD for a Rock station in five years unless I get a syndicated show ... whichever comes first.
Bonus Questions
Seen any great movies?
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out Of The Shadows is awesome! Of course, I'm a Megan Fox fan, so I'll watch anything she's in.
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