I Am Not A Big Fan Of My Job Title

It's always been a little awkward for me to tell people what I do. I have never liked the term "disk jockey".  I'm not sure why.  I guess when I think of a "disk jockey" I think of a dude that is what we call a "puker" in the industry jargon. You know, the guy who affects a different voice than what he really uses, and personifies the cheesy, almost sleazy stereotype you've seen on television a thousand times. It's just always bothered me. And really, nowadays when someone says they're a "DJ" I think of the person who plays music at weddings and raves. That's not what I do (Although I have done it, I'm just not good at it. Those people are a different animal and something really special. It really does take a lot of time and work).

And even worse, the professional term for my job is "On Air Talent" or "Talent".  It just sounds arrogant for my job to call me "talent".  And (I know, I bring it up too much), when I lived in England in college, "talent" was a term for a lady a man found attractive.... but kind of in an insulting way.  To use it in a sentence the way it's intended, here goes: "I went out last night, and I got a good look at all the talent."  So it's awkward to use that name for me.

I've tried saying "On Air Host", which doesn't seem as bad.  Sometimes when people ask me, I'll tell them I host a radio show. Which is kind of okay, but also makes  me feel like I'm telling people I'm Carson Daly or something. I have a little more to do with what happens in the show then just a guy saying, "Welcome to the show" or whatever he does.

"On Air Personality" is kind of bad, too, because in my mind, it makes me sound like Sybil. "This is my On Air Personality, and this is my  Home Personality".... I don't have seven people in my head. Who I am on the air is pretty much me. I talk less at home.

So hopefully one day, there will be a term that I actually really like to describe my job. Maybe I just need to get a promotion and get one of those fancy titles like Brand Manager or Market Manager or whatever. I doubt that'll happen, though. I'm kind of too goofy to be in charge of anybody.

Awkwardly yours,

Behka