Thank you for considering taking part in my research. I am a graduate from the Royal College of Music and I'm currently a PhD candidate at the University of Central Lancashire. As a performer myself, I am interested in exploring recent music graduates' experiences of feeling ready for the profession.

Any adult performing musician was has graduated from conservatoire equal to or less than 5 years ago
is welcome to take part. 
This survey is entirely anonymous and confidential and names of institutions you studied at will not be asked. 
This survey has received ethical approval from the UClan Research Ethics Committee for Business, Arts, Humanities, and Social Science (BAHSS 444).

You will be asked five questions which should take approximately 10 minutes to complete. You will be asked to rate whether and how much you feel you possess a certain skill and how relevant you think this skill is to the music profession. You can skip any questions you don't want to answer as your participation is voluntary and you can stop completing the survey at any point. By submitting a completed questionnaire however, you are giving your informed consent to participate in the study.

If you have any further questions about the research, feel free to contact me at

epecen@uclan.ac.uk

Thank you for taking the time to read through my introduction and considering participating in my research!

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* 1. How long ago did you graduate approximately?

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* 2. Please select how equipped you feel with the following skills. In the second column, rate how relevant you think that skill is to the musical profession and in the third, how you learnt it.

If you are unsure of a skill or what it means, you can leave it blank, but please try to complete as many as possible.

  How good do you feel at this? How relevant do you think this is to a successful career in music? How did you learn about this skill/topic?
Business skills (e.g., pitching your ideas, writing business plans, doing tax, financial know-how, strategy to grow your career)
Organisation skills
Knowledge of how to use social media to self-promote
Knowledge of how the music industry works
Time management
Proactivity (actively creating opportunities)
Networking
Spoken communication
Written communication
Public relations (maintaining ties with your audience)
Stage presence
Commitment
Coping with pressure
Focus and distraction control
Goal-setting
Imagery
Planning and organisation skills
Quality practice
Realistic & objective performance evaluations
Self-awareness
Flexibility
Confidence
Arousal control
Sleep
Healthy diet
Regular exercise

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* 3. Thinking back of when you graduated and started working in the profession, how ready did you feel overall, considering all the skills you needed?

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* 4. Did your college, university or conservatoire offer any training in relevant professional skills, such as the ones mentioned above?

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* 5. If you were feeling prepared, what was good and helped you learn?
If not, what skills were missing and how would you have liked to have been taught?

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