Career development: part 1

American Music Teacher, Dec, 2004 by Derek Mithaug

Editor's Note: This is the first of a two-part series

Each year, thousands of soon-to-be music graduates begin thinking about job prospects after graduation. Some of their concerns are reflected in questions like, "What am I going to do?" "How am I going to support myself?" "Will I be able to survive as a musician?" Here in the Career Development Office at Juilliard, we are no strangers to these questions. I want to share some general career issues I believe are germane to all music students and offer some practical advice to help music students succeed in their careers. As a student, you may find these issues apply to you. As a faculty member or an MTNA Collegiate Chapter advisor, this information may be useful in your role as a mentor.

Contrary to popular opinion, career development is not about getting a job. Surprised? I certainly was when I first began to learn about the professional field of career development. It seemed obvious to me that the word "career" must have something to do with "job," until someone asked me to provide a solid definition. I was hard-pressed to give a definition my colleagues would agree on. After struggling for a few painful minutes, I gave up and ran to the nearest dictionary. The first words given for career are "course" or "passage." Career development is literally about developing the course of one's life.

I discovered early in my work that I was not alone in my initial interpretation of the word "career." When asked, many colleagues and students struggle to define the word--even though they generally know its gist. This quasi-understanding has implications on how all of us approach our career.

The concept of career development is especially difficult for music students because the course of a musician's life is so uncertain. For students majoring in a profession like law or medicine, the future is considerably more focused. After graduation, a medical student usually will apply for an internship at a hospital--followed by either a promotion, a job offer by a private office or plans to start a private practice. For musicians, there are few certain paths. If you currently are enrolled or recently have graduated with a music degree, I encourage you to consider some of the following thoughts and suggestions.

Niches

In the ten years I have been working in this field at the collegiate level, I've discovered essentially two career approaches that seem to be the default setting for most students. I've loosely titled these approaches as find-a-niche and create-a-niche. The find-a-niche or FAN is the easiest to consider. Students who are interested in finding a job in an orchestra or ensemble, a teaching position or some other work such as directing, presenting, producing, marketing, consulting and so forth, are looking for a niche in an established organization. They are, in essence, using a FANing approach in their career development. To succeed using FAN, students must learn certain skills--some of which pertain to their craft, many more that are needed to find the jobs and succeed in them.

The other approach is the create-a-niche, or CAN. Students who prefer a CANing approach to their career development like to create their own jobs. They usually are entrepreneurial and tend to be independently minded. Some of my professional colleagues have drawn the conclusion that all music graduates should be "entrepreneurial" to succeed. To some degree, this might be true. But I'm weary of any strategy that applies one solution to everyone. There are many graduates who find incredibly meaningful and successful careers but who do not fit the "entrepreneurial" definition.

In the first meeting, students usually indicate which approach they are leaning toward by their initial question(s). "I am interested in job opportunities after graduation. What can you tell me?"(FANing), or "I have this idea, but I'm not sure where to begin. Can you help me?"(CANing). Sometimes, students will start off a meeting with interest in job opportunities but suddenly change course by sharing what they really want to do--which is often a CAN idea. This is because some students are shy about sharing personal ideas if they perceive a potential rejection. This is why an open and encouraging environment is critical to this process. If you are a student, seek someone who is open to your ideas and will encourage you to explore all your interests. If you are a faculty member, or professional staff member, focus on listening instead of advising.

Getting to Know You

I like to spend some time getting to know students before working on a career strategy. I want to establish a welcoming environment where students feel comfortable sharing all their ideas. The meeting is about them. Too often, I find myself chomping at the bit, ready to download 600 gigabytes of information at the slightest sign of interest. After all, I have both experience and resources to offer. This is a tricky path to navigate. Once the downloading begins, it's difficult to stop. The result is information overload, and the student becomes paralyzed because he or she doesn't know where or how to begin. Downloading also robs students of their time to learn about themselves.