With December graduations complete and the holidays over, news directors all around the country will be watching a lot of resume reels, but not for very long.

News director Lee Thompson oversees KTVZ/KFXO in Bend, Oregon.  He says he gives job candidates all of :10 before he decides whether they’re worth looking at longer.  If not, he puts the them in the “Good luck with your career” file.

As we reported in a post last year, at WPMI in Mobile/Pensacola, Bob Noonan says he watches a resume reel for :30, but only after he’s read the “paper” resume.  On that resume, he says he’s looking for evidence of internships and for where the candidate went to school in case he knows one of the professors who teaches in the program.

News director Dave Beech is more generous with his time.  When hiring for WTVA in Tupelo, Mississippi, he might watch a reel for as long as :90, unless he gets bored first.

Beech says the reel should include 2-3 stand-ups and 2-3 stories—no more.  He’s also OK with candidates including a little anchoring at the end.

(Reporter Aubry Killion works at 5News in Ft. Smith, Arkansas.  This is the reel he used to get a job right out of school.)

Noonan says his last hire’s resume reel began with a few stand-ups in which she moved and was creative.  Thompson says he met his last hire at News Director Day at NAB.  He found her engaging, and within 24 hours she had made contact again with him.  She included links to her resume and video work within the email.

Thompson’s advice to job seekers is to meet as many people in the business as possible, and give them your card and resume.

Just make sure your reel is dynamite right off the top.

Thanks to Dr. Nancy Dupont at the University of Mississippi for her contributions to this post.