Daniel Lawson '03

 

The importance of Having a College Degree ...

Your job consists of counting?
Well the boring part of it does. Part of my job involves doing inventory of music products at department stores so when I go there all I do is count and tally. I used to have these moments where I would forget where I was because it was so mundane, I would mutter to myself sarcastic comments about the importance of having a college degree when your work involves counting to twenty. I suppose someone has to do it, but after a time you want to pull your hair out.

Well aside from counting, what else does your job consist of?
The rest of it is actually really interesting. I am a representative to retail music stores on behalf of Sony BMG Music Entertainment and its distributed labels in the Bay Area. I manage individual stores' display space and monitor their inventory. I get to arrange local promotions surrounding music releases and tours for our roster of artists and coordinate with artists for various events and appearances. I also get to work from home.

How is working from home?
I hadn't realized that working at home and on your own schedule could actually be a bad thing when you are someone like me who was deathly allergic to classes that started before 11 a.m. and who stayed up late working on papers.

Working from home really means that you are a one-man-show. You have to order the pens, paper, ship and receive the packages, answer the phones and any other little thing that comes up that you would much rather pass off to a lackey or two.

Your home starts to be overrun with your work, and your work starts to take over your life. I have moments where UPS boxes literally prevent me from getting in or out of my house. Working from home is a very different type of working environment; it calls for a great deal of motivation and organization, both of which I initially found myself to be sorely in need of.

There was a time when you considered leaving for another career. What made you decide to stay with Sony BMG?
Most entry-level work is about the same. You have to do the menial work for a little while before they let you run the company. Every time I felt like leaving I would sit myself down and write down all the things I loved and hated about my job on one piece of paper. I realized that the things that I hated were things that I would find in most jobs, and the things that I loved were actually quite unique and things that I really would miss.

I also had to remind myself that the things I disliked were probably not permanent things and that there were many other jobs I would like to do for Sony BMG. So it came down to a simple cost/benefit analysis: tough it out now or tough it out later, somewhere else.  So here I am.

How did you improve your daily grind?
I simply made the job something I was happier with. I was able to incorporate more creative marketing and artist development work into my daily grind of retail store monitoring and account management. I took the initiative to craft my job to my work style and incorporated more of the things that I loved about the job, which made for a completely different sort of job.

What are the most important things to consider when choosing a job?
I don't want to sound trite, but just do what you like. That's all you really need to know, anything else only confuses you. I like music and I don't play all that well, so I got as close to the thing that I love and found a way to get paid doing it. That is about as good as it gets in my book.

How did UCLA prepare you for your 9-5 job?
The truth is I don't know. My job isn't a 9-5-type job; I sometimes work late hours, sometimes weekends, and sometimes have Monday mornings with no work. It really is the same sort of balancing act that a full course load requires – keeping up with the mundane, devoting attention to the immediate projects, remaining flexible enough to adapt. The ability to prioritize is something I value most from my UCLA experience; that and the ability to let what truly does not matter slide.

Do you have any other advice for recent grads?
Don't take things too seriously, it is only work. There are plenty of good jobs out there, just find something that you can enjoy for a few years, then start thinking about what you want to do with your time. If you should find yourself in a job that you don't like – change the job. If you can't change the job, then leave, there are lots of other jobs; all you have to do is find one that you can live with.