Choosing a career isn't easy, but it shouldn't be something that makes you cringe, either. This is your future you're talking about. That's too important to leave to chance. You are at the age when you should start to think about your future and what you would like to do with it. With a little planning, your future can be something to look forward to, rather than something to be frightened of. The choice is yours.

Decisions, decisions. There are so many careers out there that it's difficult to pick one. At this point in your life you should be narrowing your choices down to a handful, maybe within the same field. If you don't have a plan when you go to college or enter the job market you'll probably be disappointed. The fact that you're reading this report says that you have begun to think about your future, and that's good. Continue to find out more and think about it, because you're just getting started.

Radio broadcasting is what is known as a glamour profession. A lot of people want to do it because it is perceived as a fun, exciting way to earn a living. And it is, sometimes. Like most glamour professions, radio broadcasting is one percent glamour and 99 percent grunt work. But even the grunt work can be fun, and the biggest reason most people go into the field. All notions of glamour aside, radio is more than anything else, a really cool business to be in. And you can join the party if you start now.

Careerists who do their jobs on the air are broadly known in the radio business as "talent." That doesn't mean that the people who handle the technical and business sides of broadcasting aren't talented, it's just a holdover from the days when most of the on-air personalities in the radio business were actors and actresses and the word "talent" was an apt description of their show business flair. On-air talent today is equally talented, but more likely to be required to lead discussions or conduct interviews rather than perform as a voice actor or actress.

So it's not enough for today's radio broadcasters to simply possess excellent speaking skills. They also have to have something to say. Relatively little on modern radio is scripted, so broadcasters have to be smart, welleducated and able to think on their feet. A nice speaking voice is an asset, to be sure, but that voice has to convey content that listeners want to hear. With competition from other media, and especially the explosive growth of the Internet, audiences will quickly take their ears elsewhere if the person on the radio doesn't have anything interesting to say. Radio may be glamorous, but it's definitely not easy.

As you read this report take careful note of the information it contains. If you like what you read, don't stop here. Get in touch with the resources listed. These professional associations