Author Topic: Looking for advice on my resume  (Read 2967 times)

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UDHickey

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Looking for advice on my resume
« on: Feb 07, 2007, 11:58 pm »
I am a college senior and I am working on putting together my resume and sending it out.  I am trying to figure out what I should and should not put in the resume.  I have done extensive work with sound and set construction in addition to stage management and some lighting.  Are these all things that I should include and how detailed or in depth should I be when putting it in the resume?  I would appreciate any advice on this subject.  Thanks. - Tim

ljh007

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Re: Looking for advice on my resume
« Reply #1 on: Feb 08, 2007, 09:29 am »
Welcome to the SMNetwork, Tim!

As you put together your resume, you should tailor it to the kind of jobs you're seeking. If you want a stage management gig, really emphasize your SM experience and organizational skills. It's great that you're well-rounded, but it might not be important to spend a lot of time listing your tech credits. On the other hand, if you're applying to work as a TD or with an A/V company, you should really highlight the lighting/sound/carpentry skills you have and talk less about your stage management. If you have tons of SM experience, you can even create various SM resumes: one for plays, one for opera/musicals, one for event SMing, etc. Really you should have several resumes ready to fire off at any given time, so that when a great job comes along, you have your materials ready to go. You can always talk about the true depth of your skills is cover letters and interviews.

Maybe you could create several:
- one for SM gigs, where you list all shows you've SM'd or ASM'd along with some bullet points about other theatre skills but also interpersonal/diplomacy skills and computer competence;
- one for sound gigs, with all your sound design credits (theatrical, concert/band stuff, etc), but also note your other theatre skills alongside in what sound systems/equipment you are fluent;
- one for TD or general tech theatre, where you call more attention to your sound, lighting, and carpentry experience and just mention that you also SM.

Oh, and it's good to have a "real job" resume too, that might just mention in passing your theatrical experience after listing the standard employment history and education, etc etc. You know, for when you need to pay some rent.

Your resume should never be over one page long. There are lots of posts on this forum about the finer points of resume format and what to include/omit in general. And be sure to check out the resume browser on this site, where you can see the real resumes of various SMs - some long-time professional and other students like yourself. Good luck!

 

riotous