Three television production alumni spoke to students last Thursday about what working in the industry is like, showing them that they can get there from here.

Briana Harsany and Micky Haney both have degrees in broadcast journalism and currently freelance. Katie Serevicz has a degree in cinema and digital arts and works full-time for Entertainment Tonight.

The trio spent the afternoon sharing stories and giving advice about working in the production field at “The Power of Point Park Women” event hosted by The Pittsburgh Center for Sports Media and Marketing.

“Today reaffirmed for me that you can get from Point Park to work, and that there are people who have done it,” freshman public relations and advertising major Zac Seymour said.

Each speaker made it clear early on that the most important piece of advice they had to offer was to take advantage of every opportunity.

“Always say yes to new opportunities,” Serevicz said. “You’re not too good for any type of job, and you should take it when you can.”

While Serevicz works full-time in production, Haney has found success freelancing since graduating in 2012. Haney told students that every job she’s had came through previous connections made from working. She concluded that it gets easier after you get started.

“Once you start freelancing, it’s not so difficult finding work because your name gets passed around,” Haney said.

Along with leading to jobs, all three speakers agreed that opportunities are what help students figure out what they want to take on as a career.

Tom McMillan, co-director of the Center was in attendance, and chimed in saying that many students don’t realize most production jobs even exist.

“When you watch TV, stuff doesn’t just happen,” McMillan said. “A lot of people do a lot of work to get that silly stat on the screen.”

Harsany agreed, as she works for Root Sports as a graphics operator. Harsany added that production trucks are filled with people doing a number of tasks from graphics, replay and producers communicating information to the broadcasters.

This brought up the point that opportunities can reveal what jobs a student doesn’t want to do in life.

Harsanay shared that she had always intended to go into on-camera work, until an internship with KDKA changed her mind. She said that was the most important thing that has happened.

“Sometimes people say, ‘I don’t know what I want to do.’ Well just take a step back and figure out what you don’t want to do,” Harsanay said.

The floor was then opened to students for questions regarding topics discussed during the presentation. One student asked about the importance of grad school as each speaker agreed there are no cons in attending. Resume building was also brought up during questioning.

This was the first event of the semester for the Pittsburgh Center for Sports Media and Marketing. The Center works to bring speakers in to talk to students about working in the sports industry. NBC’s Doc Emrick, the PGA’s David Flora and the Cleveland Cavalier’s Fred McLeod were brought in last semester.