You have to listen to a shite-load of music, be prepared to cover the best festivals in summer, interview the hottest international artists, dig through piles of clothes that sponsors want you to wear, co-present with foxy MTV VJ's, and turn up at all the kick ass parties yep it's a tough job but someone's got to do it!
And because I care about you dear reader, I am going to provide my top ten hints for landing your dream job whether that be VJing or fulfilling your life long dream to become a lizard relocation engineer.
Believe in yourself, get your A into G and never give up!
1. First, ditch the suits. Sell them, give them away, burn them if you have to! If you like your routine 9 5 desk job, then VJing probably isn't your bag baby.
2. Get some tough stickers (commonly known as tattoos), preferably very visible. This will ensure you will never get a 'real' job again.
3. Get an agent. Landing one with the promise of sexual favours, while proven successful back in the 80's, probably isn't the way forward these days. You will also need to get yourself a show reel and skin of steel. There aren't a whole of VJing jobs out there, and unfortunately, everyone wants to do it. Be prepared to go to a lot of auditions, and take a lot of rejection.
4. I am a strong believer in manifesting your own destiny. If you want something bad enough and you truly believe you can do it then the world is your oyster. So watch a lot of TV and do you research. Talk to people that work in the industry and try to get the inside word before channels 'advertise' the position. Not what you know but who you know and all that.
5. Believe in your own skills. My first job was for a car show called Ignition. I knew f*#k all about cars, but if you can emulate confidence then no one needs to be the wiser! Think of yourself as the communicator. Your job is to decipher the information and then deliver it in a way your audience is going to respond to.
6. Work you mission and know why you're doing it. I wrote down on a piece of paper I am an MTV presenter and I stuck it to my wall so it was the first thing I saw every morning when I woke up. I know, very 'new age', but before you snort your disbelief, I'm living proof that it works. Lo and behold, a few weeks later I over heard someone a few conversations away talking about VJ jobs going at MTV.
7. Don't give up. I was called in for a series of auditions but as it turned out the Executive Producer didn't want someone on the channel with a Scottish accent and they opened up the casting to a national cattle call. I was gutted but I didn't let that stop me. I went to an elocution coach and learned to speak with an Australian accent. Then I went back and started my audition process again.
8. Be yourself! When I got down to the final two and I realised how ridiculous it was speaking with a different accent. I wasn't acting for God sake, I was meant to be myself. So I told them that I wasn't prepared to do a fake accent anymore and if they wanted me they would have to take me as is, a Scottish, Australian or SCOZZY! My gamble paid off, the Executive Producer liked my attitude and I became MTV latest VJ.
9. Be nice to everyone and try not to let your new found fame make you a cock-wit. You never know, those people that helped you on your way up are probably waiting to tear you a new a-hole on your way down.
10. N.B This job also gives you permission to act like a complete fool, while being paid for the privilege. Like the time I jumped the fence at a pool shop, stripped off completely naked and proceeded to dive in and out of all 15 pools in the front of the store. It was funny as f@#k, all the customers ran away and the burley manager ran out, grabbed me by the hair and threw me over the fence. Bastard wouldn't give me my clothes back either.
11. Be happy that you're working for a company that not only lets you get away with stupid behavior, but actually encourages it. Like the time I stripped off naked at a press conference and got all the journos to jump up and down on a bouncy castle with me. Or the time I dressed up in the Borat swimming costume and ran in front of 15 army recruits fortified with paint ball guns. If this doesn't sound like your idea of fun, or you're the shy and retiring type, then you could be in the wrong profession.
Everyone should work at MTV at least once in their life. It really is the most fun you can have with your clothes on or off!
Copyright : MTV Australia
