Bill Sadler is recent graduate of Westminster, having graduated just last fall. While at Westminster, Bill interned at WKBN of Youngstown. At WKBN Bill honed in on his reporting/anchoring skills. As a member of The County Line staff, Bill frequently created excellent news packages in addition to serving as an anchor.
Following college Bill decided to take a break from the broadcasting world. He landed an internship with the college’s own admissions office. Here Bill put his news skill to work interviewing potential Westminster candidates and constantly maintaining the image of the college as a prestigious, small school with a great staff.
Bill mentioned two really big factors that contributed to his success at the Admission’s House. One of these factors was the ability to work under the pressure of a deadline. I can relate far too easily. Working in a newsroom can be extremely stressful. You are trying to pump out as many far-reaching and accurate stories as you can while constantly having to watch the time tick away.
Bill described the need to recognize this same deadline pressure while working as an admission’s officer. Students only have so long to get in all of their application material to Westminster. On the admissions side of things, the staff needs to be able to quickly and efficiently review these applications in order to provide enough time for these prospective students.
The other factor that Bill mentioned was his overall communication skills. Bill attributed his broadcasting interview skill to much of his success at the admissions office. Similar to creating a news package, Bill needed to be able to muster up the courage to effectively interview complete strangers.
Talking to complete strangers is no easy task. I have learned that one of the most difficult aspects of news is making that initial contact with an interviewee. You don’t know this person, you don’t know what kind of mood they are in, and you definitely don’t want to get shut down. Broadcasting however is a discipline of learning how to interact with people, no matter their mood. Interviewing skills, though difficult to master are truly a facet of broadcasting that can be applied to almost any area of life.
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