My career journey and future aspirations

I’m Emma Cragg; I studied Music at The University of Manchester from 2019 – 2022 and have followed a career in marketing and communications. After graduating, I started working as a Graduate Intern for the university, working in Admissions, focusing on offer-holder communications and events. This was a fantastic first role after graduation, offering opportunities to work with different teams in both the School of Arts, Languages and Culture (which I’d just graduated from) and the School of Social Sciences, and to gain experience of working in higher education.

After a year, I realised I missed being involved in the music sector, so I moved to work as Marketing & Communications Officer for a charity called Music Mark. Music Mark works to support the music education sector through advocacy, training and support, and functions as a membership organisation. Here I gained a range of opportunities from attending conferences to networking with individuals from across the music education sector, as well as developing my skills in marketing and comms. The role was remote, so I spent my first year there living in Manchester before using this flexibility to move to London, where I continued working for Music Mark for another year.

Eventually, I moved to my current role as Communications Officer at the Royal College of Music in South Kensington, which felt like a perfect match between the skills I’d gained from working in higher education at The University of Manchester and in the music education sector with Music Mark. Here, my job involves writing news articles about innovations and successes at the College, working on press releases and invitations, creating social media content, campaign planning and more. It’s an incredibly varied role, and I particularly enjoy getting to work with different teams to highlight the fantastic work taking place across the institution.

In the future, I hope to continue working in marketing and communications in the music sector. There are so many fantastic music organisations both in London and across the UK, and working in marketing is a great way to be involved in showcasing the work that they do, bringing it to a wider audience.

How my course prepared me for this role

My time studying at Manchester and the Graduate Intern scheme run by the Careers Service have both been integral to my career development. In a practical sense, the Music course helped me to develop my writing skills – a crucial skill in my work – as I opted for lots of essay-based modules, including a dissertation in my third year. As most musicians know, it also involved a lot of time management, the ability to multi-task, and the ability to hold myself accountable (only you can make yourself spend hours in the practice room!). These skills are all essential to working successfully. I also really valued my time and involvement with the Music Society and Chorus, which put on great concerts and socials. In third year, I took on the role of Outreach Manager for the music society, leading a team of officers to organise a range of outreach projects, from taking orchestras into local schools to singing in care homes. Not only was this incredibly rewarding, but it was also a great way to gain hands-on experience managing a team, liaising with external contacts and project management. I also worked as an opera producer, peer mentor, Chorus secretary, and a student ambassador throughout my degree – all of which provided valuable experience and contributed to having a well-rounded CV when I first started applying for graduate jobs. I highly recommend getting involved in these kinds of opportunities while you’re a student, as they can make a huge difference when you enter a competitive job market.

The internship was also a fantastic way to enter the working world. While I was applying for jobs, I didn’t necessarily know what I wanted to do. Despite being a music graduate, I knew I didn’t want to be a performer, or a composer, or a teacher, or any of the particularly “obvious” jobs you might associate with being a musician, but my love for music was still incredibly important to me. Although my internship at The University of Manchester wasn’t strictly related to music, it gave me the opportunity to try out different areas of work, including creating email communications and social media content as well as event planning, and I realised that these were skills I could apply within the music world too. It can be hard to understand the range of jobs that are available to a music graduate until you enter the workforce; I’ve gone down the marketing route, but my friends and fellow University of Manchester alums have roles in fundraising, orchestra management, conducting, outreach – as well as several being in further studies as musicians, or working freelance as performers and teachers. There are also plenty who have used the transferable skills and creativity of a music degree to move outside of the sector, such as working in finance. These skills are becoming increasingly valued by employers.

Tips and advice for offer holders

My advice to offer holders would be to choose a subject you’re genuinely passionate about, not because of its career outcomes. Any degree from The University of Manchester will be valued by employers, but if you enjoy what you’re studying it makes it much easier to do well. Secondly, try out as much as possible while you’re a student. Joining a society committee is a great way to meet new people and gain practical experience, which helps with the transition into work after graduation. And finally, enjoy yourself! Manchester is a fantastic place to study and live, and you’re guaranteed to have a great time and make friends for life.

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