First Person

What I Learned

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By Lauren Bailey

When I started writing this job-search diary, I had hoped I would be able to offer nuggets of wisdom about how to land a faculty position as a performing musician. However, three months after accepting a tenure-track offer in my field, I am as much at a loss for a surefire way to "win" a job as I was last summer.

I had two campus interviews this past hiring season, at different types of institutions. The first was at a private university in a large city; the other, at a large agricultural state university in flyover country. One has a dog as a mascot; the other, a cat. When the offer came from the first one, I took it.

Both interviews were intense, exhausting, and typical: the 7:30 a.m. breakfasts, the unrelenting schedule, and the make-or-break performance recital.

I always approach an interview braced for the unexpected and catastrophic. A campus visit involves too many variables for things to go according to plan, and these interviews were no exception. In the middle of one recital, I had a major concentration lapse and almost collapsed from having gone too long without food.

One of the interviews took place on the day that my previous column appeared in the The Chronicle. One of the committee members mentioned having read it that morning. He helpfully printed it out for me "to see if you can relate to any of it." I thanked him graciously, agreed to look at it on the plane, and tucked it into my briefcase, relieved that my cover hadn't been blown.

During my brief career as a music professor, I have determined that many people outside my field are misinformed about what performing musicians do in academe. That was recently exemplified during the interview at the state university when the dean, with a background in English, began by asking if I had decided to give up performing since I was applying for a teaching job.

I don't know of a single musician, even the most prominent in our field, who doesn't have at least some teaching experience. And performance is a requirement for tenure in most music departments, including the one where I was interviewing.

For musicians, a successful career is multifaceted. More than academics in other fields, musicians have to reach out to nonmusical audiences. We must not only refine our abilities as interpreters, but also help build a future audience for music in a busy world preoccupied by bottom lines and profit margins.

I have come to the conclusion that a teaching position, by providing institutional support, increases my ability to achieve my professional goals. I have not entered academe as a backup plan after trying unsuccessfully to build a career as a performer. Rather, my career as a performer has led me to this tenure-track job and will, I hope, continue to develop as a result.

My first search for a tenure-track job resulted only in a temporary appointment. But it has been nice this year to look for a job in academe from the inside. I felt more at ease on the market the second time around, and as a result, this year's search has taught me a few things.

I have learned what to look for when visiting a campus. In music, facilities say a lot. At the liberal-arts college where I taught this year as a temporary instructor, the concert hall sits adjacent to a railroad track, and an average of 72 trains a day barrel by, horns blaring, terrorizing audiences and performers alike.

I discovered during my year there that the state of our concert hall is a metaphor for the status of the music department in the college as a whole. The administration doesn't place a high priority on the performing arts, and therefore hasn't taken steps to fix the flaws in the college's only music venue. Consistent with that mind-set, the college does not employ a single tenure-track performing musician.

In contrast, my new employer, a private university, recently invested millions in the construction of a recital hall. When I visited, the practice rooms were full of students noisily absorbed in their work: a stark contrast to the practice rooms that sat silent across the hall from my office this past year.

I've also learned this year that it's a good idea to apply for every possible position, even temporary ones or those in communities I don't think I'll like. Many rural communities provide opportunities that cities could never offer, and even temporary jobs provide necessary credentials. I gained valuable experience from my current, non-tenure-track position, which directly led to my new job.

That lesson was reinforced by my second interview, the one at a public university in a state frequently derided as flat, brown, and boring. Based on its position on the map and on my own negative stereotypes, I was doubtful that my husband and I could bear to move there should I get an offer.

To my surprise, the university was located in a prosperous, trendy city. I expected the typical state-school architecture, but the university inhabited a beautiful campus, nestled among rolling hills. My potential colleagues hailed from across the country and had diverse, active careers. Many had worked or studied in Europe. The students impressed me, and the concert hall was train-free. After seeing it for myself, I could imagine happily accepting a job in that department. I shudder to think that I almost didn't bother applying, based on my misinformed prejudices.

The final, and perhaps most essential, lesson I learned this year is the importance of maintaining a positive outlook during a job search. It's easy to grow discouraged when comparing the number of openings to the number of people applying. Granted, there are limited opportunities, but if we all generate additional projects (commissions, new series, small festivals, outreach activities) and persistently seek alternative ways to finance those creations, we will live in a world with more opportunities for all of us.

Furthermore, musicians like me with jobs in academe have the responsibility to use some of the resources at our disposal to create opportunities for others, beyond the ivory tower. We are fortunate to work in a field with porous boundaries: Music exists both within and outside of academe, and is healthiest when it is not confined to either realm.

With the semester over, I have packed my music away and taken down my diplomas. My husband and I have already found a home in our new city. I'm looking forward to putting down roots in my new community, both as a performer and a teacher.

I am also looking forward to a year when I don't have to mail off a stack of job applications.

Finally, and most of all, I'm looking forward to teaching at an institution that supports my professional goals, as symbolized by a quiet, aesthetically pleasing concert hall.