Graduated in 2013 with a major in Professional Music. Principal instrument: guitar.
Position: Project Manager at Wvelabs, a mobile app development firm that mostly builds apps for other companies under contract. John is the liaison between the American side, which focuses on sales and management, and the development team located in India, which he officially manages. Also, unlike many project managers, Jon is in direct communication with the clients, making sure they are happy and that the product that Wavelabs is building meets all of their requirements.
Overview: Jon graduated hoping his band would be successful enough to support himself. One of the members had another year left at Berklee, so he stuck around Boston. He busked and found a job working retail at a clothing store. While the pay wasn’t great, he enjoyed the flexibility and being around other young people trying to find their way. In September, 2014, he had his bandmate moved to L.A. to join a third member of the band. For the next two years he worked in other clothing retail jobs for income, then the store he was at was bought out and he tried selling real estate. However, that proved unsuccessful — the pay is commission-only, and without a great network or knowledge of the neighborhood Jon sold very few properties. Jon looked for a new opportunity.
A friend, former manager of his band, and roommate from a Berklee summer program in high school, mentioned that he had been made vice president of a company that built websites and was looking to build a team. Jon overcame his skepticism and persuaded him to give Jon an interview. That went well, and he was hired into a sales role. After a year he transitioned to an account management position (similar money, but more free time and flexibility to play out with his band). Jon did well, but after 9 months or so it was clear that there was no way to move up at this small company, so he started looking for new opptunities elsewhere. A search on Indeed put him in contact with his current company, and he was hired into his current job in March, 2019. Jon also plans to go to law school part-time in the near future while continuing his current job.
.
.
You can see Jon’s LinkedIn profile here.
.
.
Choice Quotes: Every day is different, but it’s predominantly dealing with spreadsheets, internal meetings, and communicating with clients. I meet with clients, since if it goes forward I’m the one they’re working with.”
“I really like interacting with clients, and when they pose challenges. I get to explain how it works, or if it’s a real problem I take it to my team. It’s nice to be in control, believes strongly in the team– we have a good company culture. They believe in me too. Doing a position I’m fond of is more than I could ask for. The pay is great too.”
“I realized very quickly that my primary income was never going to come from music, and I’m OK with that. I wanted to know what my options were to have a life and still have financial stability. In the tech sector, I have a good time, have colleagues who support my band Covality’s shows, and earn enough not to worry about bills.”
“At Berklee you get an fantastic music education. Though much of that is on the internet. For me the biggest value was the network I made and still have. Plus I got my job through networking. My network has been really good for me professionally, and all that focus on it in college made me better at building my network.”
.
.
.
See the full index of successful Berklee alumni.