Considering the Fellowship? (part 4: triple prong)
Read other parts of this series 1 | 2| 3 | 4 | 5
When we last left off, I had decided that orchestra management was going to be my career. It was then that a sea of questions began to persistently haunt me.
Eventually, I would find many answers to all of these questions but in the meantime, I focused the most on the last question and developed a personalized “three-pronged” approach to entering the field.
Prong One: the Fellowship.
By then it was obvious to me that this program was a “holy grail” of sorts for young professionals with high ambitions in the industry. In my opinion, the Fellowship would be a logical career upgrade for at least the first several years of my professional life and having not even graduated yet, that point was far off. This prong seemed to be the best choice but also the least likely (or so I thought) because of my lack of full time experience.
Prong Two: grad school.
If I did not have the experience to become a Fellow, the next step in my mind was to work toward a graduate degree in arts administration. I figured that having an advanced degree would enhance my competitiveness in the market. Plus, hands on experience with orchestras were core components of the programs I researched. This prong meant gaining higher level experience while working toward a degree. However, I quickly found that even most grad schools wanted new students to already have a few years of full time experience.
There are dozens of arts management graduate programs in the states but I specifically wanted to attend a school where I could simultaneously earn an MBA. This course included studying up for the GMAT. After countless hours of independent research, I had finally settled on applying to three schools that offer such dual degrees and one that did not. These schools were Southern Methodist University (Dallas), University of Wisconsin (Madison), University of Cincinnati and Carnegie Mellon (Pittsburgh, not dual degree).
Prong Three: take a job…any job!
Well, not just any job. If my first two prongs failed, I was prepared to stalk the League’s career website and send out a fleet of resumes for entry level positions. Seeing how it was currently my most well versed area, I focused on marketing positions. Of the three prongs, finding an entry level job seemed to be the most probable.
So that was my plan, I simultaneously pursued all three prongs. I had decided that the opportunity cost of passing up the Fellowship was greater than that of turning down grad school which was in turn greater than declining a job offer. Another way of stating it would be to say that it is much easier to find a job than to be accepted into grad school than to be offered the Fellowship. The plan was simple enough but it also meant a heck of a lot of hard work.
The more I knew about each of my options, the better. I ate up just about every opportunity to learn more about each of my schools of interest in addition to the Fellowship and the field in general. This meant independent research and plenty of it.
I will pick up from here in the next part of the series. In the meantime, stay tuned for some updates on my time so far with the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra.
Read other parts of this series 1 | 2| 3 | 4 | 5
When we last left off, I had decided that orchestra management was going to be my career. It was then that a sea of questions began to persistently haunt me.
- What is the best way to break into the industry?
- How have other people done it?
- Should I consider a graduate program in Arts Management?
- How many people in the field have these advanced degrees?
- What is this Fellowship and how can I benefit from it?
- Am I even qualified to apply for the Fellowship? Do I have enough experience?
- Should I apply to grad school, the Fellowship, or look for entry level jobs?
Eventually, I would find many answers to all of these questions but in the meantime, I focused the most on the last question and developed a personalized “three-pronged” approach to entering the field.
Prong One: the Fellowship.
By then it was obvious to me that this program was a “holy grail” of sorts for young professionals with high ambitions in the industry. In my opinion, the Fellowship would be a logical career upgrade for at least the first several years of my professional life and having not even graduated yet, that point was far off. This prong seemed to be the best choice but also the least likely (or so I thought) because of my lack of full time experience.
Prong Two: grad school.
If I did not have the experience to become a Fellow, the next step in my mind was to work toward a graduate degree in arts administration. I figured that having an advanced degree would enhance my competitiveness in the market. Plus, hands on experience with orchestras were core components of the programs I researched. This prong meant gaining higher level experience while working toward a degree. However, I quickly found that even most grad schools wanted new students to already have a few years of full time experience.
There are dozens of arts management graduate programs in the states but I specifically wanted to attend a school where I could simultaneously earn an MBA. This course included studying up for the GMAT. After countless hours of independent research, I had finally settled on applying to three schools that offer such dual degrees and one that did not. These schools were Southern Methodist University (Dallas), University of Wisconsin (Madison), University of Cincinnati and Carnegie Mellon (Pittsburgh, not dual degree).
Prong Three: take a job…any job!
Well, not just any job. If my first two prongs failed, I was prepared to stalk the League’s career website and send out a fleet of resumes for entry level positions. Seeing how it was currently my most well versed area, I focused on marketing positions. Of the three prongs, finding an entry level job seemed to be the most probable.
So that was my plan, I simultaneously pursued all three prongs. I had decided that the opportunity cost of passing up the Fellowship was greater than that of turning down grad school which was in turn greater than declining a job offer. Another way of stating it would be to say that it is much easier to find a job than to be accepted into grad school than to be offered the Fellowship. The plan was simple enough but it also meant a heck of a lot of hard work.
The more I knew about each of my options, the better. I ate up just about every opportunity to learn more about each of my schools of interest in addition to the Fellowship and the field in general. This meant independent research and plenty of it.
I will pick up from here in the next part of the series. In the meantime, stay tuned for some updates on my time so far with the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra.
Read other parts of this series 1 | 2| 3 | 4 | 5
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