Graduated from BoCo in 2015 with a major in Musical Theater.
Position: Compensation Manager at WE Communications, a multinational Public Relations and Communciations Agency with around 1,500 employees globally. Daniel’s position is a combination of HR, finance, and data analysis. He helps set the person’s total compensation (salary, benefits, bonus structures, etc.) from the HR perspective. “I work with leaders to set the compensation philosophy of the company. I work with external data to set compensation structures. Then I work with talent teams and other business leaders to hire and bring on employees to bring on the structure I establish.”
Overview: David moved to NYC after graduation. For 5 years he did side jobs for money while going to many additions and doing some theater jobs though nothing huge. Then Covid hit and the theaters all closed down. Wanting a steady income and a clear career path, David took some finance courses. In late 2020 a friend and fellow BoCo graduate worked at a tech firm and that connection helped David get an entry level position doing accounts payable.
As the pandemci receded and theaters started opening up, Daniel wanted to resume performing, but also loved his job where he was working remotely and had a lot of flexibility “I saw no conflict pursuing both careers.” He worked at this tech firm for 2 years, got promoted a few times, and by the end was transitioning from finance to HR. He wanted to a more HR-focused job and applied for various positions, getting his current one.
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You can see David’s LinkedIn profile here.
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Choice Quotes: “I went to school for performing, but I’ve always had a science/analytical brain that I want to stretch. Finance, money management, the idea of helping people understand how they get paid, ensuring companies give people a livable wage is really motivating and enjoyable and stretches that part of my brain that performing doesn’t.”
“My BoCo degree makes me overqualified for many positions! The theater world provides you with rejection, then you change and adapt yourself in order to better fit the position. The corporate world is no different. Also, at school we studied human behavior. That translates into the real world and taking on new challenges. It’s invaluable. I wish I’d figured that our sooner.”
“Always be open to the idea of change. Don’t hold yourself to a rigid standard. Life throws different challenges at you. My ability to embrace change has allowed and opened up another world for me.” I’d like to hold myself accountable to that for years to come. Who knows what I’ll be doing in a few years. I want to be the type of person who’s open to that shifting and knowing I’ll be OK.”
“I still have an agency in NYC, and I audition once or twice a month. I’m able to balance auditions for projects I’d genuinely love doing, but I’m no longer in the phase of my life where I wake up at 7 am for an open call. I love theater, it’s what I’m trained in, but I don’t fully align with the lifestyle of just being a performer. IThe performing opportunities I see, I view from the lens of ‘Do I want to do it?’ rather than ‘Is this going to enhance my career / will it give me the needed paycheck.'”
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See the full index of successful Berklee/BoCo alumni