Relocating

[Robert Goodale]

Matthew Todd wrote:

> Greetings!
>
> I am in the middle of the Potter piano course.  When I am finished, my
> desire is to relocate somewhere else.  Do you think it is wise to plan
> that right after the Potter course, or do you think I will have a much,
> much better chance of success if I wait till I have some experience?
>
> How would I go about relocating to a different state and town?

I might suggest the first step in building your career is to go work for
someone else without regard of location for at minimum a year, preferably a
couple years or more.  In doing so you will learn many things that no
educational program can teach.  You will find that no matter how confident
you feel you will make mistakes that you can learn from and will enhance
your knowledge of the business ten fold.  During this time take advantage
of your situation to study up and take the PTG exams to get that out of the
way.  THEN you can decide where you want to go from there.

In my own personal case after completing the Western Iowa Tech program I
got a job working at a dealer doing mostly tuning.  As it turned out the
proprietor was an absolute jerk but I a lot.  I stayed for about six
months.  As the result of this experience a couple months later I passed
the tuning exam.  Then I went on to work for another dealer for a few
years.  In a short time I was rebuilding pianos full time, many for very
prestigious clients.  My skills improved phenomenally after which I felt
very confident to look for more responsibility oriented situations.  Then I
became a university tech for a year at a rather modest school, and now
followed with a rather prestigious position here in Las Vegas.
Concurrently I have a side business tuning pianos on the side.  Although
these experiences took quite a bit of time I believe I got far further
ahead in my career had I not gone that direction.  Another thing I would
highly recommend.  Take pictures of everything you do, particularly rebuild
work.  Also get as many pictures as you can with better known pianists when
doing concert work.  Pick out the best of the above and start putting a
portfolio together to illustrate your experience.  A picture is worth a
thousand words and it just might land you an awesome job someday.  One more
thing:  Attend as many manufacturer training programs as you can.
Steinway, Yamaha, PianoDisc, etc.  Attend annual conventions as often as
you can.  Start small and be patient.  You will see a great career
developing right before your eyes.

Good luck!

Rob Goodale, RPT
University Nevada, Las Vegas