“I finished my DMA in piano from a top program a couple of years ago and have two MM degrees from one of the best conservatories in the world. . . . I have always felt that with my many abilities and terrific recommendation letters, a full-time job was just around the corner but in spite of being shortlisted for a number of academic positions, I have come up empty-handed.” –Overqualified and Underemployed
–Letter to the “Ask Edna” blog on MusicalAmerica.com, May 5, 2011
I suspect that the above letter writer’s pseudonym is only half accurate.
Why? Because during my 30 years in academia, I’ve found that few applicants for faculty positions merit the label “overqualified.” Quite the opposite.
Sure, applicants typically come with advanced degrees and flattering recommendations. But degrees and kudos represent only two items in a complex qualification package.
Here are pointers to help musicians compete for full-time positions as studio faculty in colleges, conservatories, and universities (I’ll use the term ‘colleges’ from now on). Also see my post “Ace Your Interview.”
3 Keys to Successful Higher Ed Music Faculty Applications
1. Build Professional Credibility
Successful applicants demonstrate excellence in all of the things that faculty do. So, aside from earning degrees, aspiring educators need to amass track records in the following key areas:
Artistry. First and foremost, applicants must show that they’re inspired performers, composers, and/or recording artists with reputations for accomplishment in the music profession.
Teaching. Applicants need to prove that they’re knowledgeable, effective teachers who are aware of best practices and standard texts such as The Musician’s Way, and whose students consistently achieve. Rising musicians can grow their credibility as educators through private teaching, adjunct positions at colleges, teaching assistantships, pedagogical training, and working as faculty at summer music schools. 
Recruiting. Colleges depend on studio faculty to recruit and retain burgeoning classes. Would-be faculty need to show evidence of successful recruiting and that they have comprehensive plans to recruit at the colleges they apply to.
Leadership. Studio faculty function as leaders and role models. Applicants should demonstrate their leadership and artistic visions by things such as founding ensembles, commissioning new music, organizing tours, heading up innovative projects, speaking at conferences, and so forth.
Technology. Applicants who are fluent with technology and well-versed in Web culture are best suited to prepare students to succeed in today’s music scene. Therefore, aspiring educators should develop their Web presence and tech skills.
Collegiality & Service. Music faculty work closely together and often form bonds with their communities. Applicants should gather experience with institutional governance, collaborative projects, professional associations and community engagement, building reputations for reliability and collegiality.
Research/Publication. Although studio faculty largely perform, compose, and teach, they also publish recordings, arrangements, and methods, research topics of interest, write articles, appear as guest lecturers, and otherwise impact their field. Successful applicants do so too.
For assistance with qualifying, applying and interviewing for faculty positions, contact Gerald Klickstein for coaching.
2. Forge a Professional Network
Participate in Festivals & Conferences. Musicians who perform, lecture and connect positively with diverse colleagues multiply their knowledge and gather allies who can attest to their abilities and character.
Collaborate. Collaborative projects stretch our skills and, in the process, expand our networks.
Grow Your Online Community. Via websites, blogs, YouTube, Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and more, musicians can extend their reputations and broaden their networks. Use your website as well as your LinkedIn profile and other social media accounts to build connections and reinforce your professional identity.
3. Submit Polished Materials
Address All Listed Duties and Qualifications. Search committees often employ spreadsheets that itemize each duty and qualification described in a position announcement; they then rank each application according to the listed criteria.
When applicants don’t address every duty and qualification it lowers their ranking and diminishes their impact.
Take care that your cover letter and CV show how you meet a job’s qualifications and how you have acquired expertise carrying out the duties specified in the position description as well as other essential duties that the description might omit. Also indicate any additional skills you’d bring to an institution.
Be Clear and Concise. Your application materials should indicate your achievements, vision, and abilities, but without being cluttered or overlong.
To that end, keep your cover letter to 1-2 pages of crisp prose, and distill your CV. Readers shouldn’t have to wade through verbose text or dozens of pages to learn about you. For instance, refrain from listing hundreds of performances or compositions; instead, your CV can present selected or representative ones, and your website can provide complete lists.
Be sure that everything is neat and well-formatted so that readers can grasp your accomplishments at a glance.
Guidelines for crafting materials can be found on sites such as the Chronicle of Higher Education. For further help, feel welcome to contact me.
Obtain Pre-submission Critiques. Before you apply, be sure that experienced mentors review your materials and website.
If you’re still in school, establish relationships with faculty mentors as well as staff members in your school’s career services office and ask them to critique your qualifications, CV and cover letter.
Update Your Website. Make certain that search committee members can hear recent tracks, view videos, and understand your artistic mission and background by visiting your website. Your site design should also convey that you’re a with-it, new-century professional.
* * *
Lastly, aspiring faculty should be realistic about the job market. Full-time teaching positions are scarce and applicants abound, so young musicians do well to view academic positions as among many possible careers paths and income streams that they can pursue.
For additional support with your higher education career, contact me for coaching. -Gerald Klickstein
Related posts
Ace your interview
Are conservatories keeping pace?
The art-career tango
Career strategies that drive creativity
What makes an entrepreneurial musician?
© 2011 Gerald Klickstein
This is a truly *meaty* post, and I thank you for the information in it.
No! I’m not applying for a faculty position myself! 🙂 But it’s timely nonetheless: I’ve been asked to write a recommendation for a faculty member at a conservatory who is applying for a higher position, and I will use these criteria to structure my letter about her accomplishments. In addition, a number of my clients are aspiring university music instructors, and I will direct them here. For now, I am going to re-post this on my FB page because it is a great, thoughful guideline. Thank you, Jerry, for your continued brilliant efforts to share with such excellence.
Thanks for reading, Helen. I’m deeply grateful for your ongoing support and friendship.
Thank you for sharing this post! I found the ideas in this post VERY useful!
You’re most welcome, Angela – thanks for comment.
Although it takes time for rising musicians to become competitive for faculty positions, the process of gaining credibility brings great rewards in and of itself.
Fantastic blog post – it’s nice to see a concise listing of things to keep up with because it can be easy to become overwhelmed and discouraged. Thanks for the great post!
Thank you, Astrid – I appreciate your support.
I wholeheartedly agree that entrepreneurship skills are essential for all musicians: performers, educators, composers, conductors, etc.
I hope that the new generation of college faculty will join us in our efforts to transform music curricula so that entrepreneurship and community engagement become central to what rising musicians learn.
Thanks for the reality check, Gerald. The reality is that it is not enough to be a great performer or a great student in order to have a successful career as a musician. Your observations are completely in line with what it takes to be a music entrepreneur: being knowledgeable about the new musical environment, building the right skills, creating and going after opportunities, networking, marketing and constantly striving to be your best at what you are good at.