Hire Musicians 1: Primer

What does a music major do to get a degree? What is their brain like? What are their capabilities? What can hiring managers and recruiters expect?

Classical and jazz music spikes the development of intelligence.

Music majors are some of the smartest thinkers you will encounter, with insightful intuition, analytical prowess, awareness of the big picture, aesthetical skill, and communication mastery.

This degree is #&$% hard

$&%@ hard? Look, it’s hard.

Music majors possess a unique balance. In the course of study for a music degree, students analyze symphony progression, musical movement, instrument timber, performer requirements, technical limitations, and composer goals, while noting how the work uses these parts to move. They are required to study values surrounding the creation of different cultures and societies – they are anthropologists, journalists, scientists, and artists, with mastery in the sonic foundations of culture and communication. Finally, they learn to replicate the process and present something new and compelling to their peers and strangers.

The best hires

Egos be damned – music majors care about learning! Naturally, they make some of the most competent hires, consistent, driven, intelligent, insightful, and creative. Their IQ is high from the technical difficulty; their EQ is high because of the the strenuous demand and self-discipline; their CQ is high from the emphasis on improv, variation, system analysis, structure, and new synthesis; their AQ is high from the pressure. They are team players. Years of playing in ensembles means they know their part fits in with the whole. They are self-managed, solve problems, bi-lingual, and tech-savvy. They are experienced and comfortable in front of an audience.

Music majors go on to become agents, A&R, legal, business managers, administration, PR, and more. (This is for my collegiate peers who are doing such interesting work!)

Double-check their resume: You will be happy you did.

Musicians are likely to be far more capable at executive function than other employees, and outperform their peers. Consider it a shortcut to finding high-performing candidates.