Cover letters, resumes, interview, and references are the key ingredients to any successful job search. How you handle each of these components can make or break your candidacy for any given position. ArtistsHouseMusic.org has pulled together information and insight from many experts in the industry to help you navigate these job-search waters successfully. This guide contains several to help get you started.

 Jan Moppert, Coordinator of Graduate and External Programs for the College of Business at Loyola University New Orleans explains that as a job seeker you are the product as well as the sales person. To be successful in your job search, you need to create an entire marketing strategy. Do marketing research, needs assessment, and product (self) assessment.

Keith Hatschek, Director of the Music Management Program at the University of the Pacific, offers additional information about effectively marketing yourself in his article entitled “Four Tips to Market Yourself.”  Keith believes that it’s not that you had an internship at a record label that’s important. It’s what you did while you were working as an intern at that record label that helped the company meet or exceed their goals that will get the attention of your future boss.

Cover Letters

According to Jan Moppert, the cover letter must be rewritten every time it is sent out so that it is unique to the job in question. Your cover letter is your introduction to your resume. It links back to the resume and says, “I’m going to help you to solve your problem.” As the job-seeker, you’ve got about 15-20 seconds to make it past this stage, so make your cover letter strong. You’ll need three paragraphs:

1. Introduction

2. This is what’s in the resume and this is how I’m going to use it for you.   Please read the resume to see why we’d make a good team

3. Close. Ask for the business.

Tell them you want the next step. Jan offers even more practical advice on the cover letter in this video segment.

Resumes

Competition is fierce and so your resume has to stand out from the rest. The average open position in the US gets 300 more than applicants. Create a professional format for your resume that is unique. Highlight the experience that align with the skills required for the job you are seeking. Highlight your education and well-rounded, diverse set of interests. Avoid what Jan Moppert sees as two of the biggest mistakes job seekers make in their resumes:

1. Spelling problems. This shows sloppy work, disorganization, and a lack of eye for detail. Your resume should be perfect.

2. Objectives: Don’t include objectives in your resume. Objectives are about you. Give your potential employer information about what you can do for them. Jan believes resume objectives work against basic marketing principles. Your resume should be about your customer’s needs. In this case, the potential employer is your customer. How can you help them?

Here is some more helpful advice from Jan on the subject. 

Keith Hatschek offers advice on resumes with his article, “Resume Building Blocks.”  Keith’s thoughts on objectives are quite different than Jan’s. It’s good to see differing opinions. Ultimately, you’ll have to do what is best for you and the position you are seeking.

Interviews

If your cover letter and resume open the door for an interview, you are well on your way. Jan Moppert offers excellent interview advice, including be your best self, dress appropriately for the culture, be confident but not arrogant, and be happy to be there. Practice typical interview questions. Videotape yourself and see how you come across. You must ask questions of your potential employer to show that you’ve done the research. Ask about their mission and goals. Be sure to write a thank-you note and reiterate why you are a good candidate now that you know what they are looking for. Send a thank-you note to everyone on the interview team.

Arny Schorr, president of S'More Entertainment, talks about what he looks for in a job candidate. Arny looks for people who have enthusiasm, passion, and have taken the time to research and develop an understanding of what they're doing at S’More Entertainment. A willingness and openness to learning is another quality that is important in order to be part of their team.

References

The next piece that will help to close the new job is the all-important reference list. Jan Moppert recommends that you get your references in order ahead of time. Go to these individuals beforehand. Ask permission to use him/her as your professional reference. This gives a person an opportunity to say, “I don’t’ know that side of you well enough to recommend you.” It is much better to have them say that to you rather than to your potential employer.

Also, don’t let your references get a surprise call. Even if you have arranged for someone to be your reference for future opportunities, tell him/her you are interviewing for a given position so they can expect a call. Also, be sure to follow up on the favor. Call your references afterwards to tell them how it went. They are doing work for you, so keep them abreast of what’s going on. Learn more about references with Jan Moppert. 

This job-seeker’s guide is just a small sample of the kinds of job-seeking advice that is freely available on ArtistsHouseMusic.org. For additional information, search keywords such as “interview,” “resume,” “internships” and “job search.”

Wishing you the best of success!