assistant director

professor

assistant professor

director

student advisor

Berklee College of Music

As a supervisor for the BPC box office via The Red Room @ Cafe 939, I was required to work office hours as well as venue hours. During office hours I was required to build shows via Vendini Ticketing Software, respond to customer e-mails and phone calls, sell tickets, financial reconciling, and many other tasks. While working the venue, I was required to operate Ticket Agent to sell tickets and concessions at face value, handle will call, and complete end of show reports. I was partly responsible for creating a weekly schedule, guiding employees and assisting them with any questions they may have, and completing any tasks my manager asked me to do. A very pleasant environment; it was a job I very much enjoyed without ever dealing with co-worker conflict. I went into this job with no knowledge of operating ticketing systems or how to properly supervise employees. Being a fast learner, I picked things up quickly. I only sometimes struggled with financial reconciliation, when reports didn't properly add up; that had to be the most frustrating part of my job. With that being said, I enjoyed that I was able to create my own schedule with flexible hours, and that fact that I was immersed in a musical atmosphere. A job is always so much more enjoyable when it involves something you're passionate about.

When I started at Berklee, it was a truly magical place. There was a camaraderie among staff. We all felt like we were a part of something special. Berklee's "secret sauce" was closely protected and celebrated. Students got their money's worth. A few short years later, it was so toxic it made the news. New Senior Leaders with zero knowledge of or respect for music, the music industry, or performing arts systematically scrubbed away all that was special and created a culture of fear for the staff. They used nepotism to bypass HR policies and bring in their likeminded cronies. Seasoned veterans with deep connections in the music industry were pushed out in favor of young upstarts with no experience but lower salary requirements. Staff who weren't fired were bullied mercilessly until they gave up and quit. Ultimately, it's the students who have paid the highest price. Not just in tuition, but in the dramatic decrease in services. All those industry insiders who used to be able to help students start careers were replaced with drones who's only goal is to collect tuition and keep the machine moving. What a rip off. Now it's just a shell. A sad, racist, sexist, homophobic, out of touch shell. 

If you love music (especially jazz), have an outside source of income, AND have the luck to be in a department with good co-workers then this can be a great place to work.  

However, if any one of those three are missing then this place can make you feel like every day is an uphill battle.  There is no 'work culture' for staff; there are entire offices and departments that exist without almost anyone knowing about them.   The contempt HR has for staff, the impossibility of advancement or promotion, and the low pay here have been the subject of jokes for years. 

The fact that the school does not list potential salaries on its job listings should be a warning sign, especially in a city as expensive as Boston.

It's a shame, because this place does have all the potential to be a good job.  The students and faculty, 95 percent of them, are joys to work with and be around.   But as a workplace Berklee's approach to its staff runs a gamut from at best benign neglect, to at worst wilful neglect.

What is the best part of working at the company?
The academic schedule. Built in holiday breaks on top of PTO

What is the most stressful part about working at the company?
Poor leadership. Zero rhyme or reason to how equity and promotions are handled. Constant turnover is key departments is a drag on the rest of the business. HR pushes affirmative action based hiring practices which never hires the most qualified candidates. 

What is the work environment and culture like at the company?
Laid back…sometimes to a fault. A lot of ego’s in upper management that aren’t earned. Too much hiring from within and not enough from the outside or private sector where real experts exist. 

What is a typical day like for you at the company?
It all depends on what department you work in and what your focus is. It could be the easiest and best job or the most frustrating job you’ve ever had. There is zero accountability and no one ever gets fired. Reviews are pointless-it’s just going through the motions to have something in a file.

The work-style at Berklee College of Music is really good because it is fun and laid back but always being serious. My co-workers and managers were friendly and always willing to help. Being there helped me a lot in many areas, such as working in team, getting a lot of knowledge about concerts, stage management, live sound, mixing for a cd and how to approach the different genres and styles of music.
The hardest part was to make everything fast when big set ups were presented, because someone, always, has to take the lead to organize everyone to do the work efficiently.
The most enjoyable part of the job is when operating the console and getting a really good and satisfactory sound, realizing that the audience is enjoying the show after working hard on make in it happen and still working on the live sound or lighting. 
Also is really enjoyable at the moment of learning.  

Each day I'd teach electives:  Voice Class for Instrumentalists or American Diction and at least 1 Sight Reading (aka solfeggi or sight singing) class.  There were rooms where faculty had computer,  telephone and copier access as well as offices where we could work and meet with students.

Downstairs was a cafeteria and we were located in a neighborhood with bookstores as well as a Computer Center where faculty could work with IT folks on any project desired.

The commute was between 30 and 45 minutes to my home in the suburbs - and there was MBTA access also.

Musically,  Berklee is on the forefront of non-classical music.  It also has a student body of greater than 40% non-American students.  These days,  the percentage may be even greater.  I learned more in my 36 years at Berklee than I did at all the other education venues combined!

Berklee College of Music was a 6 month unpaid apprenticeship awarded to me through Year Up inc. Every morning I checked the ticket system that was provided through Apple, to learn about new repairs to user Imac's. I collected the equipment from various buildings around the college, ran several tests to troubleshot and diagnose each problem. Each machine was a new mystery to solve, some were software issues, some are hardware issues. I had a great time taking apart so many computers, to replace broken parts. Mostly every customer had experienced some form of aggravation while their machine malfunctioned, then experienced relief when I returned it to them in working condition.

Summer Programs is an absolutely TERRIBLE department to work for. Management is a nightmare to work with, hours are insane (WAY worse than typical residence life on-call hours), and the lack of direction is ridiculous. 

Should you decide to apply, interview, and accept the position, be sure to read your contract and check your compensation when they start paying you. The summer I worked in Summer Programs, they were underpaying us for WEEKS, and it took weeks of throwing fits to get through to the right person who finally found that our compensation did not match what was agreed to in our contract. And then once this is all figured out, leadership will hate you and do whatever they can to fire you or make you miserable the remainder of the summer!

What is the best part of working at the company?
The world-class professors and peers

What is the most stressful part about working at the company?
Lack of leadership trickles down to ineffective management and inadequate administration. 

What is the work environment and culture like at the company?
Too many people prompts a lack of community and no sense of camaraderie. It’s each person for themselves - survival of the fittest. Men get paid higher salaries than women. 

What is a typical day like for you at the company?
Ten to twelve hour working days, plus unpaid homework and course preparation hours, and unpaid and unacknowledged additional time for creating and providing accommodations to students with disabilities.

The most rewarding part of the role is the people, both colleagues and the exceptionally talented students. The organization offers a diverse environment, though there is a single, combined PTO policy rather than separate buckets. While leadership expresses strong values, there are challenges in consistently translating those values into day-to-day culture. The "Stay in your lane" approach is very bureaucratic and siloed. Human Resources is notably supportive and compassionate. However, opportunities for advancement are painfully limited, with a minimal career ladder and few paths for growth.

Top Job Titles	Average Salary
Assistant director 5 salaries reported	$70,200 per year
Professor 3 salaries reported	$91,667 per year
Assistant professor 3 salaries reported	$82.67 per hour
Director 3 salaries reported	$100,000 per year
Student advisor 4 salaries reported	$62,750 per year

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