Scott Beardsworth
Listen to the interview (approx 1 hr, 32 min.) or download it.
Graduated in 2012 with a major in Music Business. Principal instrument: bass guitar.
Position: Project Manager at Keller Williams Realty‘s Corporate HQ, where under 300 people support over 170,000 agents worldwide. Scott is on the 25-person (Business) Operations Team, which administers software, helps with e-payments, and process implementation. Scott wears many different hats, from supervising renovations of office space to being the liaison between different business teams when a new software or process is being rolled out to whatever is needed next. Most of his time is spent in meetings or emailing.
Overview: Scott’s Music Business internship led to a job on the road with Aerosmith, doing VIP tours and meet-and-greets. However, after 6 months he sensed that he didn’t want the roadie life long-term, and shortly after that the company he worked for folded. Scott moved back to Boston and, unable to find a good opportunity (“With only a roadie job on my resume, people probably assumed I was a party animal.”), spent most of the year driving a delivery truck and doing a bit of small website jobs to make rent. Feeling ready to leave Boston, Scott was able to live cheaply, but temporarily, in the home that had belonged to a deceased relative. Using a Berklee job board, he found a job as a music administrator, helping the guy (also a Berklee alum) who composed music for the NFL. It was a good job, but Scott was hired as a contractor and after 10 months the contract ended, and the house he was in was put on the market. Scott was ready for another change. He recalled seeing and loving the scene in Austin, Texas while touring, and decided to move down there.
Arriving in Austin, Scott applied widely to jobs, which meant non-music business jobs given the lack of that industry in that city. His then-girlfriend’s friend helped him get a job at a quickly-growing tech startup selling software. Scott worked really hard, but wasn’t giving any coaching or training. 6 months later, he hadn’t made any sales and was let go. Scott realized that all these short-term jobs might become a liability and he search for his next job more thoughtfully, wanting someplace he could work long term and grow with. He applied online for to Keller Williams and was hired as an Operations Manager (a half-step below Project Manager) in May 2015. Scott found himself with not enough work to fill his day, so he regularly asked for more work. He was given projects to do and did them well, so his job gradually evolved into his current one.
You can see Scott’s LinkedIn profile here.
Choice Quotes: “I hadn’t really been into Real Estate, but Keller Williams seemed like a great opportunity. They seemed authentic in how they pitched themselves to potential employees, and you see them everywhere. I figure they’re doing well and I was looking for a company I could see my career grow within.
“When my manager throws a project at me with no details and tells me to figure out how tio get it done, I see that as a challenge and enjoy that a lot. I like to be challenged, pushed, and out of my comfort zone. ”
“Yesterday I was in meetings straight from 9- 4:30! Some meetings I run, others I’m there. Some I’m just a fly on the wall.”
“The thing Berklee armed me with the most for any job is emotional intelligence and social awareness. Innate communication via music gives us a method that non-musicians have a really hard time emulating. Our communication skills–there are so many ways to communicate while playing music. Picking up on social cues is hugely important–we know how to listen for things and be analytical about listening.
Scott as a Berklee student. “People ask if i’d go to a different school. Your’e the sum of all the parts of your experiences. Berklee gave me that X-factor, which is very appealing if you can sell yourself the right way.”
Scott’s relationship with music has continued! He plays bass nearly every day and is in a band–with people who also work at Keller Williams– which gigs out and is working on its first album.
Scott with colleagues. “One nice thing about my job is that I really like my team. We have a great rapport, with a lot of backgrounds and points of view, but we’re all pulling together and doing something awesome.”
Scott having fun on his bike. “My trajectory shows it’s not always a straight ladder up. Just keep moving forward. Right now I’m in a good plateau in my career. There may well be more laterals. I will roll with it.”
See the full index of successful Berklee alumni.