Conservatory searches for career services replacement

Dedicated position approved by senior staff

Not all Conservatory students know how to toot their own horn. The Conservatory will be hiring a career advisor this year to help students learn how to make themselves attractive to potential employers.

The advisor will replace former Director of Public Relations and Career Development Larry Herman, who left the College this summer.

According to Peter Nicholson, the Conservatory's acting director of public relations, the Conservatory approved a split of public relations and career advising last year.

"It's rather remarkable the he could do both," Nicholson said about Herman's dual position.

Nicholson said a search is currently underway for a career advisor, but until that time he is acting as the career advisor for Conservatory students.

"It is really important because the careers of music students are different. There is a diversity of routes that people can follow," Nicholson said about the position of career advisor.

The Conservatory started advertising the position about a month ago and the applications are due October 15. Nicholson said ideally the position would be filled by early next semester.

The new full-time dedicated position does not yet have a secured location. "We would like a centralized location for all the reference materials," Nicholson said.

The career advisor will also serve as an informer to faculty members in the Conservatory, keeping them posted on careers and summer programs for their students. Conservatory students have special needs with respect to programs outside the school, Nicholson said. Summer programs, fellowships and graduate schools are some of just a few options students often pursue after their schooling here is finished.

Formerly, Herman would "informally teach students how to write their own biographies and how to get gigs," Nicholson said. The advisor will teach "the sort of off-stage part of business...what every musician needs to know," he said.

Nicholson hopes whoever is chosen for the position will draw on the vast network of Oberlin alumni in the music world today. "There are so many routes you can take when you leave this place. The good news is there is probably an alum ahead of you in all of them," Nicholson said.

With international positions in orchestras and other musical ensembles, the career advisor has special duties attached, Nicholson said.