Connecting Skills to Career Success

When I was a music education student at Boston Conservatory, I knew for sure I would be a K–12 music educator. An eager graduate student, I got involved in various clubs and student leadership positions and worked in the Student and Community Programs Department, learning the ins and outs of careers and student life at the Conservatory. Soon I was leading a team, producing events, programming guest artists, and supporting my peers with résumé reviews and chats about finding the “right” job. Although I didn’t fully realize it at the time, I was actually charting my path toward career advising.

While my career has been anything but linear, there are three key principles that led to my current role that I often point to when advising students:

Skills that students develop at Boston Conservatory can align with many different professional roles. 

• Stage presence is useful both onstage and off—for presentations, seminars, and all-around professionalism.
• Time management means balancing classes, rehearsals, and gigging—every day of the week.
• Improvisation and iteration are practices that help students become more perceptive, collaborative, and adaptable.
• Entrepreneurial instincts are how students market themselves, launch freelance careers, and envision new possibilities through technology and innovation.

Opportunities such as student employment and clubs, internships, and performances help develop these skills, which can apply to future work after graduation.

Networking is about building meaningful relationships within the industry to show who you are—which can lead to more opportunities over time. When students meet industry professionals at master classes and gigs, they should introduce themselves and start building connections.

Now that I have been working at the Career Center for over a decade, I have had the privilege of seeing students I advised come full circle in their careers. While some students end up in professions that they sought from day one, some—like me—have pivoted and found a new, valuable career path that they never imagined. 

One recent example is alum Nuala Imrie (BM '23, flute), who is now an A&R (artists and repertoire) publishing coordinator at APG (Artist Publishing Group) in Los Angeles. A classically trained flutist, she knew that performing in the classical music industry was not her ultimate goal. At Career Jam 2022, she was inspired by Amanda Samii '09, a Berklee College of Music alum who was previously senior vice president of A&R at Capitol Records and now runs her own firm, Good Play Music. This w as a turning point for Nuala that led to her A&R career today. 

Driven to connect with the right people, she consulted with me in the Career Center, which led to more internships and fellowships and ultimately to new connections in LA, where she was hired full time. The best part of this story? Now she is recruiting interns from Berklee, connecting our students and alums to future opportunities.

Nuala’s story is proof that everything students learn at Boston Conservatory is relevant to the ever-changing employment landscape, and while a career pivot might initially seem out of scope, it can be attained if students lean into skills, opportunities, and networking. 

Berklee’s Career Center is a lifetime service—we are here to support alums wherever they are in their careers and also to engage with them to pay it forward and educate the next generation of industry professionals.

“Connecting Skills to Career Success” first appeared in the 2025 issue of STAGES, Boston Conservatory’s annual magazine.