That's a provoking quotation, David! Thanks for sharing! As a long-time
musicology graduate student who has supported himself as a working journalist
(in the words of Dr. Hunter S. Thompson - "a hired geek of sorts") as well as
computer consultant, I can only tell you just how BAD the academic trappings
on my resume' hurt me whenever I go job-hunting away from the ivory towers.
In fact, I have created a special resume' that actually downplays my
academic degrees, interests, memberships and publications -- after I found
that those were, in effect, screaming "Don't Hire This Guy!" to potential
employers. I am not sure why this is true, but I know that it IS true.
At the same time, I have heard horror stories about colleagues whose non-
academy experience has hurt them when seeking positions within the discipline;
in other words, that those who work outside the field are seen as "losers" or
somehow "unclean" or otherwise "inept" and therefore "unqualified"...
Sheer insanity! Especially in today's job market and with today's reality
and today's streamlined corporations and corporate-thinking universities, I
would think that educators would actually value someone's non-academic work
experience more. Let's face it: in a paradigm of student-as-customer, school-
as-service-industry, classroom-as-marketplace, instructor-as-service-providor,
those of us who have actually worked, lived, thrived and survived in that kind
of world already have a leg up, and we know how to deliver the goods. We know
how to deliver a quality product, keep it competitive, service the consumer,
create product identity and foster brand loyalty, make every scenario a real
"win-win" and enhance customer buy-in, thereby creating ownership and repeat
business. We don't just know our way around the New Grove - hell, we probably
have helped to sell a few of the paperback releases in our time... !!!
Unfortunately, the real world doesn't want my academic chops, and the
ivory tower thinks I'm a loser because I didn't get on the tenure-track right
out of school. This kind of outlook makes us jealous of our old high-school
buddies on the one hand, who are making six figures doing computer programs
that a Schenkerian could work blindfolded, as well as of our colleagues who
are employed in the academy... leading to all kinds of negative outcomes...
I like what the author said, and have to agree with it; but I don't know
if the "real world" treats academics any better... and it's a sad state of
affairs when a supposedly bright young man like myself is trying to decide
who treats his abilities and experiences with the most disdain: the academy
which trained him, or the marketplace in which he earns part of his living.
In the words of the old Skynryd tune...
Gimme back my bullets - put 'em back where they belong
I ain't foolin' around, 'cause I done had my fun
Don't want to see no more damage done
Gimme back
Gimme back my bullets
Maybe in this life we only get one magazine-full; and only those who put
all their rounds into one target survive for the next round. In that case,
scattershots like myself might be out washing your windshield for change in
the not-too-distant future. Thanks in advance for tipping. Much obliged.
Philip A. Todd
Philip A. Todd, University of Kentucky School of Music
Eastern Kentucky University Department of Mass Communication
Text to: patodd0@ukcc.uky.edu Files to: patodd0@pop.uky.edu
824 Bratcher Lane, Berea KY 40403-1877; Voice:(606) 257-8109
"Men profess to be lovers of music but for the most part they give no
evidence in their opinions and lives that they have ever heard it.
It would not leave them narrow-minded and bigoted."
- Henry David Thoreau (1817-62) - Journal, 5 August 1851