3 Career Tips for Aspiring Cable Executives

Clear Channel’s Leerone Anolik

Leerone Anolik, Revenue Strategy & Analytics Manager at Clear Channel Media + Entertainment, provides three strategies for young, budding cable executives hoping to land that perfect job in the media industry.
 

After working as a media planner at a leading advertising agency, I developed a passion for the competitive, creative and technologically innovative media industry and decided that my future career goal was to obtain a position in a leading media corporation. But as I started doing my research about the media industry, it became evident that even though I had the passion, I was lacking in knowledge and focus. Living in NYC and attending Columbia Business School (with a focus on Media) gave me the ability to attend dozens of conferences and networking events, which helped me find my way and navigate the industry, and the school offered many media classes. I also became co-president of the Media Management Association, a student club with over 100 members who each possess a variety of industry interest and experience. Even though I had all of these resources, I quickly realized that media is a people-driven industry and its professionals were the most valuable resource. Surprisingly, many of them were willing to dedicate their time to students who are beginning their careers in media.

As a student, I was able to hear from industry innovators such as Reed Hastings, CEO of Netflix and Jeff Zucker, President of CNN Worldwide and former President and CEO of NBCUniversal. Through cooperation with The Cable Center’s Cable Mavericks Lecture Series, we were able to bring Julian Brodsky, Co-Founder of Comcast and Comcast Ventures, to speak on campus. The MBA Media and Entertainment Conference (MEC), a joint effort of MBA programs at Columbia, Duke Fuqua, MIT Sloan, NYU Stern and Wharton, featured Eric Kessler, at the time COO of HBO, as one of its keynote speakers. Constant exposure to industry leaders became an inspiration and a reminder that with hard work, passion and leadership, anything is possible.

I was also fortunate to develop connections and personal relationship with young media professionals in various media companies, who became my mentors, supporters and advocates. Initiatives targeted at students helped me expand my network and gain deep knowledge of the industry’s challenges and upcoming trends. With time, I became proficient in key industry terms, had a better understanding of the day-to-day operations of media companies and was able to formulate educated opinions and thoughts about the industry’s future.

Eventually, I was no longer observing from the sidelines; I actually became part of the industry, taking on various internships. Building upon my advertising industry knowledge, I interned for CBS Local in product marketing, where I developed marketing and growth plans for various web products. Over the summer, I worked on strategic thinking and problem solving at Time Warner Cable as a summer associate for the corporate strategy group, through a deep dive business analysis of TWC’s Video-On-Demand platform. Lastly, I worked for Current TV as a social media strategy and analytics intern, where I tracked the effectiveness of Current’s social media efforts and analyzed the way audiences engage with Current’s content.

These three diverse internships not only built up my professional experience but also helped me understand what type of full-time roles I would like to pursue upon graduation. I had a better understanding of what types of products I would like to work on, what skills I would want to use and which cultures would be a good fit. With the help of my mentors, I was able to formulate a plan that would make the job hunting process a little bit easier. Five months after graduation, I am now working for Clear Channel, doing Revenue Strategy & Analytics, a role that encompasses everything I was looking for.

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Now I am eager to take my experiences and introduce more students to the vast career opportunities in media, to serve as a mentor and guide students through this exciting world. The people I met along the way brought me one step closer in becoming one of the global business leaders of the media industry. I look forward to participating in One Day Immersion in TV, Cable and Digital Technology (http://onedayimmersion.com/) on November 8 at the McGraw-Hill Conference Center in New York, where I hope that I will be able to begin to give back and impact someone’s life, just as my mentors impacted mine.