Successful Berklee Alumni #205 – Jordan Johnson

Jordan Johnson
Listen to the interview or download it.

Graduated in 2018 with majors in Music Business and Music Production & Engineering. Principal instrument: violin.

Position: Renewal Sales Representative at Splunk, a very large tech firm which specializes on cloud data protection and data analysis. Customers are businesses who pay by the year for Splunk’s services. Jordan’s job is to remind customers when it’s time to renew and guide them through the renewal process, average one renewal deal every day or two.

Overview: After finishing Berklee in August 2018, Jordan moved back home to Dallas, Texas and spent a year living at home and doing music for fairly little money. By the fall of 2019 he was eager to make more money and got a retail sales job, but the work was tiring and didn’t pay well and he wanted a career that would allow for him to do music part-time. He was up for doing sales, and friends suggested that software sales is a way to make good money. Applying to many jobs via job search websites, Jordan connected with Splunk and was hired.

His first job at Splunk was in an entry-level sales position: sales development–cold-calling potential and any business that’s interested is immediately sent along to someone else. Yet Jordan did extremely well in this role, always beating his quota by at least 30%. In under a year, his extraordinary performances was noticed and Jordan was promoted three levels into his current position.
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You can see Jordan’s LinkedIn profile here.

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Choice Quotes: “I enjoy speaking with people, figuring out how to problem solve through various tasks. The pay, benefits, and flexibility are all good. Also, this job role has opened me up to a whole new realm of opportunities. Our country and world are moving to a more data-centric directions. If you’re not involved in data, within a few years you’ll probably be swept away. AI, machine learning, etc. are going to be replacing a lot of jobs. Finding a role where you’re behind the intelligence and data, or in the tech space in general, is your best bet.”

“I like negotiating. I took a Contract Negotiations class at Berklee. This is definitely paying off for me even though it’s not licensing issues. Also, at Berklee I pushed myself to be in a helluva lot of extracurriculars. It taught me a stronger work ethic and to be accountable for a lot of tasks. It helped me get a good understanding of work-life balance and how to do a task effectively and efficiently with little margin for error.”

“I’m still producing, working with a lot of up and coming artists. That hasn’t stopped. Music remains my passion. This past Saturday I was in a session. I recently took a couple of months off, but other than the occasional break I’d be in the studio at least twice per week.”

“If you want to get into software sales, just type in ‘software sales courses’ and you’ll find a whole bunch of info. There are people at Splunk who didn’t even go to college and are now making 200K – 300K/year! It’s just about learning the software. Just learn stuff and being able to leverage what you learn. You’ll be surprised what doors you can open.”

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See the full index of successful Berklee alumni.

Successful Berklee Alumni #204: Li Yin Cheok

Li Yin Cheok
Listen to the interview or download it.

Graduated in 2018 with a major in Music Therapy. Principal instrument: cello.

Position: Clinical Research Coordinator of the Lifestyle Intervention in Preparation for Pregnancy study at Tufts Medical Center, a large hospital in Boston. Li Yin is in charge of candidate recruitment for the study–soon-to-be mothers who will receive guidance for healthy eating and lifestyle. She also coordinates with other study locations, helps present data, and makes sure other paperwork is in order.

Overview: Soon after finishing at Berklee Li Yin got a music therapy job with a chain for day care facilities, but after some months she was feeling burned out–there was lots of driving and the pay was low–so she decided to go to grad school. In August, 2019, Li Yin Enrolled in Tufts University’s Masters in Child Study and Human Development program, graduating in May, 2021. As her program was finishing up, a recent alumni who worked at Li Yin’s current position reached out to Tufts to let them know she was leaving to get her doctorate and see if anyone wanted the job. Li Yin had grown to enjoy research while in grad school, and took the position.

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You can see Li Yin’s LinkedIn profile here.

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Choice Quotes: “This job involves a lot of problem solving. With 3 sites a lot of problems can arise, and I’m usually the first to respond and help resolve things. I also enjoy the scheduling–it’s like the game Tetris. “

“Doing music helped me be more open-minded and it helps me see the more humanistic side of things; it helps me relate better to participants and other people.”

“Try not to get too hung up on what you’re going to do after college. One thing I’ve learned from mentors is that even if your first few jobs aren’t exactly what you want, consider them learning opportunities and stepping stones to where you ultimately want to go. And even if a job isn’t what you wanted you may find that you enjoy it.”

“If you want to work in research, find any opportunity to get some research experience. Volunteer at a research lab if need be. Even a few months of relevant experience can help.”

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See the full index of successful Berklee alumni.