Jeremy Moccia
Listen to the interview (approx. 56 minutes) or download it.
Graduated in 2012 with a double-major in Music Business and Songwriting. Principal Instrument: Piano
Position: Salesperson at Criteo. Officially titled “Account Executive,” Jeremy sells web advertising software to businesses. His job involves searching out new sales leads as well as making deals.
Overview. At the end of his Berklee career, to do the required internship Music Business, Jeremy used a personal connection to get a paid internship doing social media at M. Steinert & Sons, which is located in Boston and sells pianos. The internship turned into a job selling pianos to schools in New England, which he did until late 2015. Feeling his career was stagnating, Jeremy quit in order to look for something new. He aggressively applied to a large range of jobs and reached out to his large network of family and friends. Soon, a friend who recently had started at Criteo passed his resume along. A very challenging interview process later, Jeremy got his current job!
You can see Jeremy’s LinkedIn Profile here.
Choice Quotes: “I like that, to a large extent, I’m in control of my success–if I put in the effort then I get the reward. When I’m in the office, I give it 100% all day. If you slack off in sales, you’re not going to sell anything”
“If you put the effort in, the results will follow. That’s the sales mantra, but it applies to life in general. When I was unemployed, by 9am I’d be at my computer looking and applying for jobs and would do that all day, Monday-Friday. I also gave my resume a thorough overhaul which was hugely important and helped get me my current job.”
“I started as a Songwriting major, but double-majored in Music Business because as my father said, it can never hurt to have a business background.”
See the full index of successful Berklee grads interviews.
Jeremy (right) with friends at Berklee. “When I graduated I felt like I 100% had to have a music related job to justify my Berklee degree. That was a mistake. Don’t feel that way–the skills we learn at Berklee are SO transferable! For example, Performing in front of my songwriting critique class was excellent preparation for doing a business pitch. All you have to do is figure out how to translate those Berklee skills. ”
Jeremy had a great time at Berklee, but as the experience drew to a close, “I was in a position where I was terrified because I no idea what I would do and what I was qualified for–who would look at my resume and think I could be a good employee?”
He tells those in a similar position “Give yourself credit–don’t discount your abilities or think you need to know exactly what your path is supposed to be. Look at what options are available and take advantage of them ALL!”
Jeremy Moccia has original soft-rock songs up on Spotify and Itunes (Search on his name.) He still writes and occasionally performs. “Music is no longer my profession, but it’s still hugely important to me.”