High school courses in English, public speaking, drama, foreign languages, and electronics, plus sports and music hobbies, are valuable background for prospective announcers. A liberal arts education provides an excellent background for an announcer, and many universities offer courses of study in the broadcasting field. Students at these institutions also may gain valuable experience by supplementing their courses with part- time work at the campus radio station and summer work at local stations, filling in for vacationing staff members. A number of private broadcasting schools offer training in announcing. Persons considering enrolling in any school, whether public or private, that offers training for a broadcasting career should contact the personnel managers of radio and television stations to determine the school's reputation for producing suitably trained candidates.
Announcers generally get their first broadcasting jobs in a small station.
This qualifies them to become involved in the routine operation of radio transmitters and makes them much more useful to these stations. Announcers usually work in several different stations in the course of their career. After acquiring experience at a station in a small community, an ambitious and talented announcer may move to a better paying job in a large city. An announcer also may advance by hosting a regular program as a disc jockey, sportscaster, or other specialist. In the national networks, competition for jobs is particularly intense, and announcers often must be college graduates and have several years of successful announcing experience before they are given an audition.