Question 1

What is the single biggest suggestion you would give to someone wanting to get into this career?

Linda Tucker & Barbara Tate · Accepted Answer

Tate: “It’s important to be able to write and express yourself well and clearly.”
Tucker: “If they’re really wanting to make this their career path and this is their passion, there’s volunteering. We love volunteers here and they can always come in and volunteer or intern. I would love an Intern for Finance! Even if they didn’t want to do the finance department, they should come in and just get a feel.”
“We have a huge volunteer base. Most of the time they’re volunteering for the program departments. Right now they’re building violins for an education event two weeks from now, which is really cool. They got to build lightsabers for one of our discovery concerts.”
“I think one of the most important things for young people is until you actually work the job or at least have been exposed to it, you really don’t know if that’s the path you want to take. It’s important to get that exposure.” 
“If someone is serious, coming in and being an Intern for Finance would be a really good way to do that because then they can see what I’m doing all day and say, ‘oh my gosh, I really don’t want to do that’! That’s just as important: to know what you don’t want to do as what you do want to do.”

Question 2

What’s the #1 mistake people make when trying to get into this career?

Linda Tucker & Barbara Tate · Accepted Answer

Tucker: “When I think of building a career my first thought is the interview process. One of the important things they need is to be able to present themselves — because they only get one shot. They’ve got to really show who they are and all their skills in that one moment.” 
“I guess one of the biggest things I’ve seen, when working with people in this career, is they will tell me they know something or they’ll pretend they know something and they really don’t. For me, that’s a big drawback.”
“I don’t have a staff here but I’ve had staffs in the past. If you don’t know something, just say ‘I don’t know’ and you’ll learn. You’ll figure it out. Or ask for help. The biggest thing someone can mess up is to not ask for help and not admit they don’t know something — because that’s a problem.”

Question 3

What is the question people should ask about this career but rarely do?

Linda Tucker & Barbara Tate · Accepted Answer

Tate: “How often are you interrupted during a day and have to regroup, especially when you are trying to deal with numbers? The answer is a lot!”

Question 4

What is one thing I should have asked which I didn’t?

Linda Tucker & Barbara Tate · Accepted Answer

Tate: “How long can one expect before one knows how an orchestra runs?”
“At least a year.  Orchestras are cyclical and if you haven’t experienced the Christmas Festival or the Memorial Concert, you are likely to make invalid assumptions.”

Question 5

If you could describe in one word what makes you successful, what would it be?

Linda Tucker & Barbara Tate · Accepted Answer

Tate: “Love. I love this orchestra, its musicians, staff, and volunteers.”
Tucker: “Communication. To me, that’s huge. It doesn’t matter who you’re communicating with, whether it’s a finance executive, department manager, coworkers, staff, donors, or volunteers — communication is so important.”

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