How I got my job: Brandon Benavides

Age: 27

Home: St. Paul

Title: News producer at KSTP-TV.

What do you do? I write everything the anchors say and I script everything you see in terms of graphics and pictures and sound during the newscast.

On the job: More than a year. In news, I am on my third year.

Salary: $30,000 to $60,000 -- this is a ballpark figure. It depends on your work experience and what you can bring to the organization. My first job was $22,000.

Education: Master's in journalism and public affairs from American University in Washington, D.C., B.A. in communications from St. Edward's University in Austin, Texas.

How did you decide your career path? I always knew I wanted to be in news. At first, I thought I wanted to be a reporter in front of the camera but once I started interning, I learned that the producer has more control of what airs, and I like that influence.

How did you get your job? I saw an opening and applied. I've done that with all my jobs.

What do you enjoy most about your job? I enjoy telling people stories. I like to tell people what's wrong, what's right, what happened, and everything we report affects people's lives.

What kind of person would be a good fit for a job like yours? A crazy person. Somebody who has ADD, who is always on the go and is OK with changes because we are on a constant deadline.

How do you balance your work and home life? This is a challenge. The news is my life. When breaking news happens, I drop what I am doing and go to work. The perfect example is when the 35W bridge collapsed. I was asleep when it happened and about 45 minutes later, I called my mom and told her I was on my way to work. I worked more than 17 hours straight.

Dream job: To be a political producer on Capitol Hill in Washington. But I know I need a little more experience before jumping to the network.

Career advice? The best thing I can tell you is to intern in as many places as you can so you can get the full idea of what life is like in TV news. I have interned at local stations in Austin and at the network in D.C. Both are completely different and both taught me what I wanted to do in life.

Previous experience: Before landing my first job, I interned at four places while I was continuing my studies. I worked as an intern at the U.S. House radio-TV gallery on Capitol Hill and at Dateline NBC in the Washington bureau. I got my first job at a small market in Tyler, Texas.

In this profession, you always move every two or three years depending on your contract.

Hobbies: I'm the Region 6 director for the National Association of Hispanic Journalists. My 13-state region represents most of the Midwest. I enjoy going to our national conferences to develop my journalism skills.

ELENA KIBASOVA