Category: Presentations

Graduated in 2023 with a degree in Professional Music. Principal instrument: guitar.

Position: Alumni Relations Assistant, working for the Harvard Alumni Association at Harvard University. Most of Andrew’s work in this entry-level administrative position involves planning events, on-campus, off-campus, and virtual, for Harvard alumni.

Overview: In his final semester Andrew launched a music-based site, but it didn’t take off, so upon finishing in December 2023 Andrew applied to many jobs: music, music-adjacent such as A/V, and general. One of the applications hit and he was hired at M.I.T. as a desk associate at a grad student dormatory. Initially this was as a contractor but M.I.T. brought him on as a regular employee. Unfortunately, the job was all evenings and weekends. During this time, Andrew took a data analysis course, then started looking for other positions with a better schedule. After about a year at M.I.T. Harvard called him back for a job he had applied for and he was hired into his current position in January 2025.
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You can see Andrew’s LinkedIn profile here.
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Choice Quotes: “Working at Harvard gives great benefits; it’s a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to work at such a prestigious institution. As to job itself, I get to work with data a lot, managing registration lists, updating CRM database. I’m getting more valuable hands-on expeience with Excel.”

“Berklee’s best skills it teaches you are soft skills and won’t show up on a resume. Being at Berklee taught me persistence. Being in an environment with many musicians more talanted than I was pushed me to work extra-hard.”

“If you’re pursuing a project, you have a actually enjoy the work–that’s the only way you’ll be able to sustain yourself when you’re not getting the success. I had a fairly successful presence on YouTube, but doing videos stopped being fun, and when I forced it the results didn’t make me feel good because it wasn’t my best work. Tbhis applies to job as well, as if you don’t enjoy it you’ll find yourself competing against people who enjoy what they do 10 times more than you. For jobs, it’s also important to build up the soft skills that’ll help you stand out. Unless the recruiter enjoys talking with you they won’t forward your application.”

“For a while I didn’t apply to work at Harvard, thinking I wasn’t good enough, but finally I went for it and my 2nd application hit. You can’t get in if you don’t try.”
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See the full index of successful Berklee alumni.

Gradated in 2018 with a major in Music Business. Principal instrument: trumpet.

Position: Marketing Manager at Comikaze Entertainment, the 8-person outfit which puts on the annual L.A. Comic Con, which happens every September, featuring around 130,000 guests, close to a thousand exhibitors and artsts, and around 150 temporary staff. Like everyone else there, he’s onsite during the convention itself. But during the rest of the year, “I handle every visual asset, ad push, strategy, website, marchandise,” as one of two people (him and his boss) working in marketing.

Overview: As a Berklee student, Nilsen helped put on house shows. Nilsen wanted to work in the music industry, particularly live entertainment, in L.A. but without a job lined up he moved home to San Francisco and worked two full times jobs (at the Apple Store and Trader Joes) for a year to save money. Then he moved to L.A. to pursue music and to be with his now-wife. He applied to a huge number of positions in the music space, including his job which he thought handled music at the time he applied. But he quickly realized the deal but thought it was a really cool position that would get him valuable experience. He was hired as a Marketing Assistant, generating lots of content, and started his job the day that everything shut down for Covid.

2020 was a major challenge for his employer, as there was no live convention, though federal aid kept his job going until January 2021. 2021 there was an in-person convention, and Nilsen saw that year as his opportunity to really prove himself. At the convention itself Nilsen did a great job handing an awkward situation, which impressed the higher ups. Soon after, he was promoted to Marketing Manager and his responsibilities expanded.
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You can see Nilsen’s LinkedIn profile here.
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Choice Quotes: “The smiles of the people entering the con is my favorite part of the job! I also like the problem-solving challenges of running the con. It’s stressful and you get yelled at a lot when things don’t go right, but I like figuring out solutions. I never get bored!”

“At Berklee Valencia I took a Music Business class where we had to plan and put on an event. I loved that class so much I realized that’s what I wanted to do. Back in Boston, I started hosting house shows in Allston. That’s how I stated working with events, and I realized I wanted to keep doing it as a career.”

“If you want to work in marketing, do as much as you can without the job. Many folks want an entry-level job, but they have no relevant experience. Had I not put on shows, made show posters for folks for free, helped with graphic design, and so forth, my company wouldn’t have hired me. Try writing up marketing campaigns on your own. If you do enough of this work, you’ll have examples to show brands.”

“Find something you’ll like doing. I”‘m in a role I woudln’t have considered in college, but I’m having fun, and I’m picking more skills and connections than if I were waiting around for the so-called perfect job.

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See the full index of successful Berklee alumni.

Graduated in 2024 with a major in Music Production & Engineering. Principal instrument: saxophone.

Position: Financial Salesperson. Tom works for Getty Advance, which provides private loans to businesses. In this commission-based sales, job, Tom reaches out via telephone to small businesses who may need a short-term loan and need it quickly. In a good week he’ll put together two or three deals for loans.

Overview: Tom’s big goal in life is to run his own recording studio. But he’d put himself through college selling things, and he figures the best way to achieve this dream is to earn enough money elsewhere to make it happen. Both before and after graduation he sold solar panels door-to-door, which often included financing options. But ultimately he grew tired of this job and wanted something better. He got an apartment in NYC, then left that job in late October 2024 and spend the next six months or so traveling, working short term in various places.

By the spring of 2024 Tom had settled in New York and started applying for various sales jobs on Indeed. He was pleasantly surprised to hear back from his current company so quickly, and was hired into his current position within a month.
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You can see Tom’s LinkedIn profile here.
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Choice Quotes: “I enjoy sales–it’s like mental gymnastics. You’re forced to talk to people, be good in uncomfortable situations.”

“In sales, it’s very helpful to have a routine. You do the same type of thing for the same amount of time every day, so when you measure what you got out of it you have a control variable….Sales is a brutal skill to learn, a useful skill to have. The returns you get, it’s like learning music. Based on fundamental principles you develop and apply. There’s also an overwhelming amount of rejection. Learn to not attach your ego to those nos and that separates a great salesperson from a mediocre one.”

“At my job, if you don’t perform you get cut. At Berklee, it was very similar. You have to deliver. So I went into my job knowing how that works.”

Many things don’t go as planned. Take opportunities when they appear in front of you, even if they’re off the path you envisioned, will lead you to be happer and have an easier time, at least financially. It’s scary, it’s hard, you’ll fall on your face and feel overwhelmed, but everyone who tries to figure it out will, it’s just a matter of time.
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See the full index of successful Berklee alumni.

This presentation was given to LHUM-400 classes in the fall of 2022. It reflects data from 212 interviews.

This presentation, similar to #5, is being given fall, 2019 to multiple sections of the Career Development Seminar (LHUM-400).  It features many direct quotes about what Berklee is doing well to prepare folks for careers outside of music, as well as advice which these folks have for current students.  The presentation also summarizes data about careers and career paths.

In addition to updated data,  a direct student quotes is used in each of two other sections (how their music careers related to their current ones and their current relationship with music.

Download the presentation.

Data from everyone class of 2005 or later interviewed in 2015 – Aug, 2019 was tabulated and used: interviews #1 – 176, except for #7.

This presentation, similar to #4c, is being given fall, 2018 to multiple sections of the Career Development Seminar (LHUM-400).  It features many direct quotes about what Berklee is doing well to prepare folks for careers outside of music, as well as advice which these folks have for current students.  The presentation also summarizes data about careers and career paths.

In addition to updated data,  a direct student quotes is used in each of two other sections (how their music careers related to their current ones and their current relationship with music.

Download the Presentation.

Data from everyone class of 2005 or later interviewed in 2015 – Sep. 18 was tabulated and used: interviews #1 – 151, except for #7.

This presentation, similar to #4a, is being given in the summer of 2018 to multiple sections of the Career Development Seminar (LHUM-400).  It features many direct quotes about what Berklee is doing well to prepare folks for careers outside of music, as well as advice which these folks have for current students.  The presentation also summarizes data about careers and career paths.

It features two minor additions relative to #4a:  a page showcasing where people are living how, and a conclusion page.

Download the Presentation.

Data from everyone class of 2005 or later interviewed in 2015 – Dec. 2017 was tabulated and used; interviews #1 – 110, except for #7.

This presentation, similar to #3b, was given in the spring of 2018 to a section of MB-P 425 Strategic Management.  It features many direct quotes about what Berklee is doing well to prepare folks for careers outside of music, as well as advice which these folks have for current students.  The presentation also summarizes data about careers and career paths, and in several places contrast Music Business alumni with Berklee alumni with different majors.

Download the Presentation.

Data from everyone class of 2005 or later interviewed in 2015 – Dec. 2017 was tabulated and used; interviews #1 – 110, except for #7.  This includes 55 MB alumni (including those who double-majored in MB and something else) and 54 alumni with other majors.

This presentation, similar to #3a, is being given in the spring of 2018 to multiple sections of the Career Development Seminar (LHUM-400).  It features many direct quotes about what Berklee is doing well to prepare folks for careers outside of music, as well as advice which these folks have for current students.  The presentation also summarizes data about careers and career paths.

Download the presentation.

Data from everyone class of 2005 or later interviewed in 2015 – Dec. 2017 was tabulated and used; interviews #1 – 110, except for #7.

This presentation, similar to #3a, was given in September, 2017 to multiple sections of the Career Development Seminar (LHUM-400).  It features many direct quotes about what Berklee is doing well to prepare folks for careers outside of music, as well as advice which these folks have for current students.  The presentation also summarizes data about careers and career paths.

Download the presentation.

Data from everyone class of 2005 or later interviewed in 2015 – Aug. 2017 was tabulated and used; interviews #1 – 98, except for #7.