Ten qualities you jolly well need for a media career… or so I believe!
1. The infinite ability to understand human behaviour, however weird people may be.
2. Communicate effectively and yet listen intently.
3. Ability to get across to all levels of people you meet… CEOs to harassed individuals.
4. Deep understanding that media is as much a business as anything else – considered sacred since it’s supposed to work with a high degree of credibility.
5. Passion to constantly learn, be it from books, seminars, peers or bosses… Some of them often know more than you do.
6. Stick to your conscience and yet learn the fine art of diplomacy when it’s needed, be it advertiser or reader.
7. Adapt to change. Don’t imagine you can always change everything that happens around you.
8. Respect effort and grow with a fine sense of maturity and professionalism.
9. Learn to call a spade and spade and yet, be ready to shovel when asked to…
10. Breathe, eat and sleep media. It must run in your blood stream. Alcohol isn’t all (wink).
Now that you have painstakingly read all the points in the charter (grin), remember that this is not gospel truth. It’s just a die-hard media fan / man speaking his heart.
You will probably be a legend in media with none of this. Remember all of us are programmed to win! It’s just the measure of winning that is different; hence, feel happy with what you have.
Q: Is it a good idea to settle for variable pay?
Normally variable pay is offered as a component of your total earnings, hence it acts as a good motivator, and brings in the extra cash based on your performance. Rarely does one see only variable pay being offered, and that may not be a good idea since certain basic costs do have to be incurred by you in the course of your work.
Yes, freelance and work-from-home on a variable pay package is fine since expenses are minimal and earnings could be good.
It is therefore important to know what segment you are in, and whether it makes sense for you to accept variable pay. As I mentioned, as a percentage of your total this is quite the norm in most companies now, especially for the sales department, and works well for both company and the employee since it is often largely based on performance.
Q: I want to leave my office because of its poor infrastructure facilities. Improper loos for women, bad furniture, etc. My colleagutes tell me that these are flimsy reasons for leaving. Most news media organizations are badly run, they say. Is it true?
No, media organizations are not badly run across the board. You may have one or two which haven’t taken care of basic infrastructure in some of their offices but it’s rare now, since everyone strives to provide some fundamental comfort to their staff.
These are important issues indeed, and I think they could be resolved if taken up by a group of colleagues with the top management.
It works best when you approach such issues as a team, and with the top management directly. I’m sure they will remedy this, rather than losing people for such reasons. You are entitled to a good environment, however spartan it may be, and you should ask for it unabashedly.
Q: I have recently switched jobs and find that I am not being offered PF in my new workplace; I’m going to be given a consolidated salary minus TDS. Is it okay to go without PF? My father and uncle tell me that PF is a good way to save, and I know how much those savings helped in my sister’s marriage recently.
PF is not offered by all companies and most often the small / newer firms don’t enroll into PF funds.
Yes PF is a good forced saving and is probably the only tax-free money you have when you leave or retire. But if the overall package and role is good, I don’t think you should lose out for this reason. You could always start a recurring deposit, SIPs etc with standing instructions from your bank, so it becomes forced saving.
Not the best option, but I guess that’s a call that you have to take.
Q: I am planning to make a career in outdoor advertising. Is there any pre-requisite?
None that I am aware of. It’s pretty much the same skill sets like any other media firm. It is not clear which area in OOH / Outdoor you may be targeting, but rarely does it require a special qualification at entry level. More senior roles would require experience in the same genre quite often, but that’s so of any media segment.
It’s certainly a good market to enter, with technology rapidly changing the face of the OOH industry. It is getting very innovative and also attracting more eyeballs. With areas like retail etc on the expansion mode, I am sure you can see good growth coming your way, provided of course you get the right dynamism in the company.
Read on, friends. We will be back next week with more.
If you have any more questions for us, write in at dearmxm@mxmindia.com. Or post your question using the form alongside. We will be back next week…