The Employment Report

Thriftiness, hard work and an attitude of gratitude are among the career secrets of Chris Roberts, who has one of the most fun jobs in the world. Roberts is the longtime radio voice of UCLA Bruin basketball and football.

His tips for young people were in response to recent interview questions from Terry Corbell, The Biz Coach, a business-coaching column that appears on the Money Page at www.kirotv.com.

Now in his 17th year of play-by-play for UCLA sports, www.uclabruins.cstv.com, Roberts is also a part-time real estate broker. Roberts also shared tips for getting started in broadcasting. He added that sports lessons are applicable in other ways.

“Sports mirrors real life,” said Roberts. “It prepares you for the ups and downs for real life.”

Roberts also actively appears at UCLA events, but his actual employer is ISP, a sports broadcasting company in North Carolina. ISP, www.ispsports.com, produces sports broadcasts for major universities.

He is very complimentary of ISP as an employer and as a broadcast company. “They are very professional.”

Roberts has an informative Web site: www.chrisrobertsonline.net.

Note: Roberts and Corbell are distant friends. Early in their careers they worked together at KFXM, the No. 1 radio station in the nation’s 26th market in southern California. Both garnered top ratings – Roberts was a top-40 DJ and music director, and Corbell anchored newscasts. Roberts successfully pursued sports broadcasting and Corbell segued into business and writing, and attended the Executive MBA Program at UCLA.

Based in the Seattle area, Corbell has written 400 columns. He’s a business-performance consultant at CMS Associates LLC, www.cmsassociatesllc.com, and is developer of The CMS Approach.

The CMS Approach solves complex issues impacting revenue: competitive marketplace forces as well as the internal factors that impede the control of costs, performance and quality. The CMS Approach saves time and money while increasing revenue with systems and strategies in marketing, human resources, and special projects.

“Because of our deep media relationships, The CMS Approach generates 10 to 55 percent more reach for clients’ marketing investments,” said Corbell. “Our training systems turn client human resources departments into centers for increased profits.”

Corbell is also partnering on an economic development campaign with KIRO 7 TV and www.kirotv.com in Seattle. The project, “Regional Spotlight”, will highlight communities and businesses helping their regions become ideal locales to work, live, play and shop. Corbell is the person to contact regarding the project.

New York Times columnist Brent Bowers interviewed Corbell and featured him twice in 2008 at www.nytimes.com: “Been There… Done That… Here’s How” and “Advice on Taking an Entrepreneurial Leap”.