Motion pictures, television, music, radio, theater, and live performances are all aspects of the ever-growing entertainment industry. These businesses heavily rely on internships and other employment programs of little-to-no-cost because of their highly competitive nature. It’s hard to break in, but these positions just below the entry-level provide an avenue for the unknown to make a name for themselves and prove their worth. But all of this shouldn’t be an issue if you have a college degree, right?

“The thing that bothers me most is when somebody sends me a resume and says, ‘I want to come work for you,’ and I look at the resume and there’s nothing on it that tells me they were a part of broadcasting,” says Steve Cohen, the Senior Vice President of Sports Programming at Sirius Satellite Radio. “Then I say, ‘You want to apply for a job, but you have no experience?’ and they reply, ‘Of course I have no experience! I just graduated college!’’

Steve having some fun in the studio at Sirius XM Satellite Radio.

Mr. Cohen has spent years working hard and burnishing his skills, especially prior to graduating college. He doesn’t buy the whole “I have no experience” excuse that many recent college graduates seem to promptly pull out of their left chest pocket. He has endured an arduous road before earning his coveted position of influence at Sirius Satellite Radio. But just exactly how did Mr. Cohen arrive at this point of his career? It would only be appropriate if we outline (a few) of the myriad jobs and experiences that led to his success.

It all started for Steve Cohen on an airplane. Shortly after the plane took off he became airsick and had to seclude himself from the other passengers. This wasn’t a passenger airline. It was a small prop plane. Cohen was on an interview assignment for his first internship during his college years at the University of Arizona. KTKT radio, an AM talk news station, sent Steve out on a mission with Arizona State Senator Dennis DeConcini and his crew to track drug dealers coming across the border of Mexico. So Steve went and sat down by himself when his feelings of nausea arose. A few moments later, Senator DeConcini approached him with concern and asked, “Son, are you all right?” Mr. Cohen picked up his head, looked at the Senator and replied, “Yeah. But while you’re here, can I asked you a couple of questions?” Since then, Cohen’s career took the inside track and left the others in the dust. (Literally. He also started the NASCAR channel on Sirius Satellite Radio.)

One of Mr. Cohen’s numerous achievements.

Mr. Cohen will be the first to admit that the path to following your aspirations is less than gratifying. One might be unsure of where they want to be, remain stuck somewhere for too long, or perhaps feel under-utilized. But none of this should cloud judgment, especially if one is active prior to entering the post-college workforce. Internships and student-oriented work programs can provide an opportunity to ask questions, learn various jobs, find out what made current employees successful, discover what needs to be done to get ahead in the business, and last but not least, build your resume. Mr. Cohen believes that internships prepared him for what was to come in the daunting and competitive workforce, so when the time came he knew when and how to ask questions as well as how to get ahead, which ultimately would help him work harder and separate himself from the crowd. And if he was able to go from intern to Senior Vice President before the emergence of modern technology, young adults could be at an even greater advantage today.

“We didn’t have the Internet. We weren’t on computers checking scores or on our iPhones or any of that,” said Mr. Cohen. “If you needed to know a score, you picked up a phone and called the press box to find out what the latest score was.”

How’s that for some perspective of the time period? Imagine that you were traveling for the day and had no access to find out what was going on with your favorite team. Maybe you would find a payphone at some point and call the press box only to be devastated when you found out they got crushed. Nowadays, if your phone’s battery is at 20% there’s an onset of lightheadedness, followed by an aimless scramble to find your charger. This reliance and obsession with various forms of technology has led Mr. Cohen to identify some potential communication disadvantages in the modern day workforce. Despite being able to effortlessly contact people and find almost anyone’s information, technology can sometimes act as a veil and inhibit the development of relationships; especially personal relationships that are essential to advancing your career. E-mails, for example, are usually read as a monotone message devoid of any personality, which can greatly influence interactions with others.

“You don’t build relationships texting and emailing people,” asserted Mr. Cohen. “You build relationships talking to people, seeing people, meeting people, hearing their voice, feeling their vibe, engaging them in conversation. Today everyone is communicating through texts and e-mails. It’s nameless. It’s faceless. There’s no emotion to it.”

With technology being such an integral part of today’s society, members of the workforce, especially the youth, must be conscious of how to properly communicate with work connections and superiors. It’s imperative to make an impression once granted the opportunity to do so. Nobody wants to be remembered as a thread of texts or a trashed email. Which is why Mr. Cohen cherishes who he has met as well as the manner he was able to meet these people.

Mr. Cohen wasn’t lying when he assured “expert talk radio.” Tony Dungy is on the air with Mad Dog Radio.

He recalls his “big break” during the summer of 1986 when he was interning at WNBC for the Joey Reynolds Show (Note: another internship). He was granted autonomy in various respects; he was writing comedy and movie reviews (among other things that were going on the air), he got a glimpse into the world of producing, and he established relationships with people who would be part of his career as well as his personal life. One person in particular was Mike Breen, who today is the lead announcer for the Knicks on the MSG Network and he’s also a play-by-play sports commentator for the National Basketball Association on the ABC Network. Back in 1987 Mike was doing overnights at WNBC and sleeping in the office; doing whatever he had to do to stay afloat in the business. Steve kept him as a connection after meeting him at the Joey Reynolds Show.

A year later, Steve graduated from the University of Arizona in 1987 and got his first full-time job at KGUN TV, which was the ABC affiliate for channel 9 in Tucson. After spending some time there, he was unsure of what he wanted to do and where he wanted to be. His next move was taking a sixty-day leave of absence to return to New York to figure it all out. And whom did he call for some advice? His old buddy Mike Breen. “Mike told me they were starting an all-sports radio in Queens,” Steve recalled. “’All sports radio?’ I thought to myself. ‘That would never work!’” (Funny, right?) Nonetheless, he took the information Mike gave him and called the director to inquire about any open positions. And just like that, Steve was granted an interview and got hired as a board and tape operator. But perhaps even more significant was the fact that before being interviewed, Steve sat in the office for three hours while he waited for his interviewer to arrive back from a lunch date. He was waiting on a couch alongside a man named Joey DeFazio who was also interviewing for a position. After a few hours of speaking with Joey, Steve found a future producer and friend of his, who is currently working with him at Sirius.

Through that single internship experience, Mr. Cohen was introduced to the post-college workplace environment along with the various assignments that came with it. He developed skills he never thought he could wield. He made connections, and they helped him officially begin his career, which led him down a path to make more connections. His first job and his connections’ connections helped him obtain another job at WFAN radio network. A 17-year career at WFAN had him working inside the locker rooms of the New York Giants and the New York Jets and gave him the exposure that he needed in the sports world to comprehend what it took to successfully and creatively operate a sports radio station. Additionally, his close interaction with radio hosts Mike Francesa and Chris Russo on the “Mike and the Mad Dog” afternoon drive sports radio program guided him toward new heights as a producer, which included booking guests, screening live phone calls, and monitoring the show’s commercials. And finally, his career at Sirius Satellite Radio has been a pioneering effort, where Mr. Cohen helped build a team to establish a multitude of sports radio channels (NFL, MLB, NBA, NHL, PGA, NASCAR, and more) with an expert-talk theme. Each channel now features a professional, a former professional, or anyone at the front lines of the business who can provide meaningful insight from their perspective. He began his career at Sirius in 2004 as the Director of NFL Programming and soon became Senior Vice President of Sports Programming; a position that allows him to oversee the entire sports department and make decisions regarding new sports programming initiatives.

It’s never too late for you to begin seeking out opportunities to create a foundation for your experience, and Mr. Cohen can assure you that it’s certainly better than lamenting about your lack thereof.