“You have the experience. It’s just the packaging of how you get your name out there”

Creative Career Conundrums is a weekly advice column from If You Could Jobs. Each week their selected panel of professionals from the creative industry answers your burning career questions to help you navigate the creative journey.

This week’s question:

My career in the music industry spans over three decades, marked by significant contributions across various roles. Starting as a roadie and delivery driver, I progressed to senior positions, such as being a head of and then an international manager of two renowned record labels. My experience includes choosing producers, facilitating high-profile soundtrack contributions, and securing international licensing deals. I’ve worked with a range of artists, from emerging talents to established names. Additionally, my role as an artist manager has involved negotiating record and publishing deals, leading to exciting opportunities for featured vocals and global releases. My comprehensive understanding of the music industry, combined with my ability to manage complex projects and build strong relationships, has been instrumental in my career success.

I am 63 years old and I find it increasingly difficult to be taken seriously when applying for jobs. I know I have a pretty unique career history and I believe I have many transferable skills plus incredible experience. I would like to ask what advice you would offer other than keep searching the job boards?

Shanice Mears, co-founder and head of talent at The Elephant Room:

Firstly it sounds like you’ve managed to have a great career so far, and being in an industry where things are constantly changing, I can imagine you’ve seen many challenges and overcome them. So a real well done to you!

I’m hoping I might be able to give you some practical advice, but I’m sure you may have heard this before too. Either way, being in an industry this long is amazing.

It sounds as though you have the experience, it’s just the packaging of how you get your name out there. If you are looking for full time work I would recommend putting together a website with client testimonials and significant projects, being as specific as possible about the role you played and the overall outcome.

It’s important to make sure you’re constantly re-engaging with people and maintaining the relationships that you previously made over the years working on so many different projects. Talk to your peers, young and old, about the roles they’re in, this will likely give you some direction.

You don’t always have to mention your age if you think that might be a contributing factor. Things like a website or a well detailed up to date CV are really important though and they will need to be tweaked depending on the jobs that you are going for. Not so much your LinkedIn, but being active on it and sharing your work is vital too.

Outside of talking to recruiters and cold approaches via applications and applying for jobs, I’d recommend looking at things like network groups in your sector – maybe you could be a part of a music week. Go to events, meet as many people as you can. Check on things like The Dots for events, or It’s Nice That’s monthly series of events, Nicer Tuesdays.

In answering your creative career conundrums we realise that some issues need expert support, so we’ve collated a list of additional resources that can support you across things that might arise at work.

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