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How to choose: Internship vs. Age out


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What do your parents think? Their opinion matters 1000x more than anything you read here

Like mine in 1977. If I disagreed, I'd be looking for a place to live. LOL.

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Hey I work at one of the big four! I'll hire you if you march your age out!

Okay, I don't actually have that much power and I'm not even in the accounting department (work in technology) but to be serious, an internship isn't going to be your only ticket into a career at one of the big four. Most people who work there didn't come through an internship. Yes, the internship can help you get your foot in the door if you do a good job, but don't think of it as your one shot. In fact, if your resume was good enough to get offered an internship, then it will probably be enough to get an interview once next year rolls around.

When people are deciding to march or not my spiel is always since I graduated college I've been teaching as a hobby ever since. Having marched drum corps is what allows me to do that and excel at it. It's definitely a lifelong skill. So if you haven't marched before and teaching is something you are interested in, I would definitely suggest it.

If, however, you see yourself really throwing yourself fully into your career soon, then maybe that internship would be worth it. You can also consider marching a DCA corps. They will give you a great experience while allowing you to pursue your internship at the same time.

Hope this helps!

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Its just band.

A friend of mine got an internship at a Big Four (Big six then) and is still working there, hell be eligible for retirement in just over a year at age 50 with a nice pension. Then, he can do whatever he wants like march DCA [/quote

But he probably won't.

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After you age out you have a life/work expectancy of approximately 45 years. You can't March competitively like you can now. You are also creating one thing that is important in careers these days; a network. You may miss out on an intern opportunity but you will create so many more opportunities coming from doing something you love and will love for a lifetime. I owe much of my success in my career to what I Got from drum corps.

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Unless you are in the music field, I don't think drum corps is going to create many opportunities for anyone, with the rare exceptions that prove the rule.

Do you know what percentage of the interns get hired on? My impression is the percentage is very high. So as long as you do a good job, you would have a job lined up. BaditKir also gives good advice; if you are confident you can get interviews during your senior year for the same jobs, then maybe the best decision is to march! If you got this internship, you will probably be a desirable applicant for many entry level jobs in the field...

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I completely agree.. but there are times when "marching in drum corps" doesn't add any weight to a resume'. Maybe more times than we would care to think.

My last years at Gannett/USA Today, late 1990s, I was in a management position. The company was implementing a new interviewing/hiring system which put nearly 100 percent emphasis on skills /experience needed for a specific position, and for the candidate to provide specific examples of that related experience.

So... if I were to interview a candidate, seeing "I marched in a DCI finalist corps"... or heck, "I spent my summers as a lifeguard on the French Riviera" or whatever... held virtually no weight whatsoever, unless that "life experience" included something related to the job for which the candidate was interviewing. For example, "I marched in a DCI corps, and I also was a writer/editor for the corps' website and here are examples of what I did"... for someone interviewing for an editorial position.

Geez... I almost sound like a Sally Soul-Smasher here...."Don't pursue your dreams, kid. Work 100 hours a week in a dimly-lit office instead, and never go out anywhere." :tongue: I don't mean it to come across that way.

Again, my opinion... do DCI/drum corps if you can, but if you can't... so be it. Not the end of the world, by any means. Don't let drum corps ever get in the way of real life.

To the OP, along the lines of what a previous poster said... as long as you make a decision, and whatever decision you make, I wish you well, and perhaps I'll be cheering for your corps someday.

This is all my opinion, but its something I wish I had known five years ago.

The more I work, the more jobs and gigs I take, the more I learn that life isn't about work. Its about you finding ways to enjoy it.

I watched my mom work in a job for decades, that at this point, is only a light at the end of the tunnel. I watched my dad pass up opportunities to make music he would have loved and would have improved his quality of life (which would have improved the quality of life of those around him) because he felt he was being smart and taking other opportunities in "real life". I watched my brother pass up marching for "real life" reasons, and regret it. Because he settled into what he thought life was supposed to be about.

Real life isn't about a job.

Its about enjoying what you can, before your time is up. Because you don't know when your time is up.

Someone else has already stated if your application and resume are already good enough to get you this far, next year it'll get you at least an interview, and then its up to you to seal the deal.

Again, this is just an opinion. Everyone has one. You need to figure out what means most to you. No one can answer this for you.

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Like mine in 1977. If I disagreed, I'd be looking for a place to live. LOL.

Same for me in 93. (And I still wonder if I should've just marched that year, consequences be ######.)

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If you have to wonder, then marching isn't for you.

Not true. That he's question is the sign that marching IS for him.

He's done one; he's never done the other. He's looking for guidance because his heart and his head don't line up only because of this new opportunity. That doesn't in any way signal that marching isn't for him or isn't the right thing to do.

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This is all my opinion, but its something I wish I had known five years ago.

The more I work, the more jobs and gigs I take, the more I learn that life isn't about work. Its about you finding ways to enjoy it.

I watched my mom work in a job for decades, that at this point, is only a light at the end of the tunnel. I watched my dad pass up opportunities to make music he would have loved and would have improved his quality of life (which would have improved the quality of life of those around him) because he felt he was being smart and taking other opportunities in "real life". I watched my brother pass up marching for "real life" reasons, and regret it. Because he settled into what he thought life was supposed to be about.

Real life isn't about a job.

Its about enjoying what you can, before your time is up. Because you don't know when your time is up.

Someone else has already stated if your application and resume are already good enough to get you this far, next year it'll get you at least an interview, and then its up to you to seal the deal.

Again, this is just an opinion. Everyone has one. You need to figure out what means most to you. No one can answer this for you.

An opposite experience for me, in many ways.

Among other "putting corps first when I shouldn't have" things, to this day I regret marching my last season with the Sunrisers... 1982... even though we won a DCA title. My dad was ill with the effects of an earlier brain injury that summer... the summer after I lost my mom.... and looking back, I needed to be home with him on weekends.

We had some other family members and friends who pitched in... but I needed to be there more. My brother was Sun's director, so it was not an option for him to leave the corps.

Don't get me wrong... it was fun to win that title in '82, and my family (mostly, kinda sorta) understood me being away on weekends... but honestly, I screwed up by not bowing out.

I know... hindsight is always 20/20. He passed away in the spring of 1983, after I had retired from marching.

Now... in 1981... the summer when my mom was diagnosed with terminal cancer... both my brother and I offered to leave the corps, but she ordered us to stay. LOL. You did not say "no" to my mom. :tongue:

Chris, you're right.... everyone has a good reason for their thinking. I hope the OP is happy with whatever decision is made. And I hope he or she has a great corps experience if that path is chosen.

Edited by Fran Haring
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