Dedicated to Opening the Doors to Opportunity
A career in music is both deeply rewarding and demanding. McNally Smith College Of Music’s Career Center aims to prepare our students with tools and skills that will serve them for a successful and scalable life in the arts. As we look to students to challenge themselves and step into what can be an ever-shifting landscape, we understand it is the Career Center’s responsibility to best support their endeavors as an extension of their education.
Preparation:
One of the first sure ways to have a fulfilling career is to be as informed as possible. We work with students through a robust series of field trips and seminars to help them better understand the career landscape. From advertising agencies to recording studios, we do our best to provide a varied presentation of what a creative career can look like. We work with students on setting up informational interviews in order to get a first hand account of their projected career paths and we work with industry sensitive job search resources to provide an up-to-date catalog of opportunities.
Presentation:
All creative industries tend to focus on talent as a benchmark for hirability, so it is imperative that McNally Smith College Of Music students are both comfortable and confident in discussing their experiences and contextualizing their body of work. The Career Center looks to establish a best practice for how Composition, Technology, Music Business and Music students should present themselves; offering workshops on branding, web development, study skills, headshots, resume development, interview skills and cover letters. Along with the more large-scale presentations, our career advisor offers daily walk-in hours where he will work one-on-one to answer concerns and address specific questions.
Exposure:
We believe deeply in getting our students exposed to the industry early and often. We see any professional opportunity as both insightful prep work and meaningful resume building material. To that end we offer a vigorous internship program in partnership with the academic department, we look to broker volunteer opportunities and hold frequent auditions and networking events on campus.
Contact Us:
Sarah Williamson, Career Services Coordinator, Sarah attended McNally Smith College Of Music where she studied Music Business. Her focus on management and passion for artist advocacy led to writing copy, offering insight, and helping shape the career of countless musicians. She then spent time in the College’s Admissions Department before moving into the Career Center where she worked diligently alongside Industry Relations Sr. Director, Debbie Sandridge to build the center into the force it is today. In the last year Sarah has looked to expand the scope of the center; offering a wider variety of options to an ever-increasing student need, developing a robust volunteer initiation and looking to solidify McNally Smith’s College of Music’s Career Center reputation as the preeminent word on career education.
David Lewis, Career Advisor, After graduating from the School of The Art Institute of Chicago with a degree in Film & Video, David Lewis founded the PR company Riot Act Media. With his own company David cut his teeth by focusing on public relations and media marketing campaigns for independent artists and musicians. Riot Act gave him the skills and abilities to work with clients of all shapes and sizes from Virgin, HBO, and Capitol Records to venerable Indies such as Dischord, Suicide Squeeze, and Jade Tree. His artist roster was equally diverse, from punk squawkers like The Bouncing Souls and Jawbreaker, indie-rock next big things like Minus The Bear and Dr Dog to Patton Oswalt’s Comedians Of Comedy and Chicago small press Featherproof Books. After working with hundreds of artists David moved into higher education and has since been featured on All Things Considered, PBS, and New City discussing the virtues of an arts and music career. He brings that same entrepreneurial spirit and passion to McNally Smith College of Music’s Career Center, proving workshops, guidance, advice, seminars, and encouragement to the school’s burgeoning talent.
If your company or organization would like more information about our student internship programs, please email us.
Employers who would like to post a job or post an internship in the Career Center can do so by simply submitting our online form.
Commonly Searched Phrases: Top Music Business College | Recording Arts College | Performing Arts School