Bloomberg TV markets reporter Dominic Chu is the subject of mediabistro’s latest “So What Do You Do?” interview. Chu was a trader and investor on Wall Street until 2010, when he was hired at Bloomberg after responding to a casting call he saw on the company’s website. As a relative newcomer to the business, Chu talks about the transition:
I don’t think any kind of broadcast media job is ever easy right off the bat. I came into this role with no real experience with broadcast journalism. I’ve done public speaking before but nothing really prepares you for what it’s like to stare into a camera lens and know that you’re on live television. I think for me, the hardest thing to get used to at first was this idea that when you’re going on air, you have to be “on” right away. For live television, there is no double take, no stopping and starting over. You just kind of have to deal with it and move on. I wish I would’ve been a little bit more geared up, prepared. It was definitely a rude awakening. I had butterflies in my stomach like I couldn’t believe. You slowly but surely get used to it and luckily, the more you do it, the easier it gets.