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      WUSA9

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      Production Assistant Interview

      16 May 2020
      Anonymous interview candidate
      Washington, DC
      No offer
      Negative experience
      Average interview

      Application

      I applied online. The process took 5 months. I interviewed at WUSA9 (Washington, DC) in Mar 2019

      Interview

      This was for the part-time production assistant position at WUSA9. The job position is an early- morning position from 4 AM to 1 PM. At first, the company wanted me to come to their office at 8:00 AM in-person to meet their team for the morning show, “Get Up DC". I opted for a telephone interview instead. The company did not have my resume on file when they interviewed. They said that they lost my resume. The production assistant position involves running the television production floor, operating the teleprompter, and telling the on-air talent where to go and which automated camera to look at, even when there is a commercial break, and making sure nobody walks through the camera. The company also informed me that the position also deals with another morning lifestyle show. “Great Day Washington” and 12 PM newscast where they must escort guests and mic the guests, and clean the news desk and its set. Everything (camera, etc.) are automated, but the production assistant must tell the on-air talent where to look and where to go. I was told the position may possibly involve writing some content for the newscast using a content management system (CMS) for web posting and would need to bring up the news crawl /ticker that is already loaded and put it in the newscast. I informed the company in an honest way that I want to start their news journalism career in a small-market television news station either as a newscast producer or news reporter and eventually be a news reporter. The company told me this: "We had a production assistant who is now a newscast producer with our television station. This position is not a stepping stone to be a television news reporter. I suggest that you go to a small-market television news station to be a news reporter, where news reporters learned how to do everything. The nation’s capital is a top market – top # 6 market. Without experience, again, you must go to a small-market to be a reporter. You can learn from the reporters here (e.g. go out on shoots), but you cannot be a reporter in the nation’s capital.” I, as a job candidate, thought about the role and declined the invitation to simply visit the company in-person because #1: the company made it very clear to me that they cannot help an entry-level job candidate like me be a television news reporter/multi-media journalist (MMJ), especially for a television news affiliate station company that is unionized. #2: the company has a comedian anchoring a newscast. Comedians are NOT news anchors whatsoever and do not do real, genuine journalism. I cannot work with a comedian in that aspect. # 3: I also know someone who graduated around the same time as I did in undergraduate journalism school and I was very concerned that they might tell the alma mater and undergraduate journalism school what I was up to since graduating from college and ridiculing me for working as a production assistant. I did not want ridicule from them. They are a news anchor/reporter (already signed to a news talent agent) and came immediately from a small-market television news affiliate which they were a news anchor for 2 years immediately following college graduation. They and others might not genuinely help me with my career endeavor in being a television news reporter and multi-media journalist (MMJ). The other staff on the news team might not help me as well. #4: This job is at 4 AM in the morning. This is very extremely dangerous for a young woman or even a young man. My safety was being compromised/in peril / in jeopardy here where it is very extremely dangerous to drive on the road around 12 AM to 6 AM, especially at the start of the morning rush-hour where it is pitch dark and one cannot see anything clearly at the middle of the night and at the crack of dawn. The wise council that is close and related to me advised me not to pursue this job any further. Also, being a production assistant, might not genuinely help me with my career endeavors to be a news reporter. After I withdrew my application, the company kept reposting the position for four more months until they permanently removed it in mid-August 2019. A production assistant position might not help an entry-level job candidate, a college student, a college graduate, or an entry-level job seeker who has a true, genuine desire to be a television news reporter and multi-media journalist (MMJ).

      Interview questions [4]

      Question 1

      Tell me about yourself?
      1 Answer

      Question 2

      What can you tell me about your professional experience as in newscast producing and news reporting/multi-media reporting?
      1 Answer

      Question 3

      What do you want to do in television news?
      1 Answer

      Question 4

      Any other questions about the job?
      Answer question
      1