Alumna lands dream job at Mets' cable network
By Beth Osborne '10
Brooke Schneider '08 says being laid off was the best thing that ever happened to her. After being let go from a public relations position, she landed at a place she considers her dream employer - SportsNet New York (SNY), the New York Mets' home on cable television. As an associate producer, she touches all of SNY's original programming.
“I use a cooking analogy when I explain my job,” she says. “I get the ingredients, my producers create the recipes, and the editors cook it up.”
Schneider started with SNY as a freelance production assistant two years ago, and was promoted to her current job in January 2010. She has always been a sports fanatic, but says her Binghamton experience is what helped put her in position to land a gig at SNY.
During her time as a student, she produced, co-wrote, and hosted a variety show for BTV with news, local celebrities and even the weather. Also, she wrote for Pipe Dream (where she wrote a series of articles about dream jobs in sports and made a contact that helped her get in the door at SNY), started a weekly newsletter for Mountainview College, and created Binghamton’s Got Talent.
Off campus, she interned for Major League Baseball (MLB), started a media blog, and interned with the Binghamton Senators hockey team and the Mets' minor-league team in Binghamton.
“If [SNY executives] wanted to hire the biggest sports fans, they could just go to Citi Field and take them,” she says. "You need to stand out and prove yourself. I always wanted to prepare myself to be the best candidate for anything I might end up doing in my career."
When talking to current Binghamton students, she tells them to be open to different working and learning experiences, even if they're unpaid. The contacts and knowledge gained can be valuable.
“I used to sit in front of an Excel spreadsheet and have to remind myself I was working in sports,” she says about when she interned at MLB.com. "Now, I don't have to remind myself. I work with it every day and I wouldn't trade that for any other job in sports."
