By George Petersen

The November MIX hits the streets next week and has our annual listings of recording schools/programs—it’s a great resource for anyone seeking a starting place for a career in audio. Once upon a time, someone who was motivated could get a job sweeping up at a studio and eventually apprentice to becoming a recording engineer. Well, those days are long gone and education is essential to getting anywhere in the audio biz these days.

But simply possessing a degree or certificate is not enough to get you in the door. For example, let’s consider two job candidates, both with similar academics. Both of these people know how to push every button on an SSL and can recite a Pro Tools manual from memory. Now assuming that both candidates can form a coherent sentence, wore clean t-shirts to the interview and don’t smell bad, there are other factors to consider. Beyond a prospect’s ability to show up for work on time, employers are looking for other skills that may not seem glitzy, but will get any applicant serious consideration–anytime, anywhere: Can you fix stuff?

There are a lot of individuals trained in button pushing, but what happens when you push the button and nothing happens? For example, two identical engineers enter identical studios to do some emergency voiceovers on a holiday weekend when they’re the only ones in the facility. They set up vocal mics, fire up the console, patch the feed into the DAW and there’s no sound. The engineer trained in signal flow takes two minutes to determine the problem is from a defective phantom power switch on the console modules, patches around it and the session resumes. An hour later, across town, the button pusher is still swapping mic cables and wondering where the problem is, but it hardly matters anymore, as the client left 45 minutes ago, vowing never to return. Which engineer would YOU hire?

And sometimes the key to getting THE right job in pro audio has nothing to do with sound. Can you configure a LAN system for interfacility networking? Can you troubleshoot audio and/or computer gear? Do you understand multimachine synchronization issues for film/video/broadcasting? Are you fluent in web design or DVD authoring? Skills like these, combined with a solid education in audio, electronics and computers will make you highly desirable to employers.

Experience is also important. Yeah, at one point or another, everyone in the biz has faced that “can’t get a job without experience–can’t get experience without a job” routine, but surely there are local places where you could work with upcoming bands or clubs, churches, community theatre, local access cable, public radio or TV and volunteer your time while making connections and building your skillset in the real world.

When not working on Mix stuff, George Petersen records and performs with the SF Bay Area-based rock band ARIEL. Check ‘em out at www.jenpet.com.

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