Author Topic: to get hired...  (Read 6306 times)

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sm4eagles

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to get hired...
« on: Aug 29, 2006, 06:09 pm »
I am a little worried about pursuing a stage management job because when I graduate in May I will actually have a degree in Marketing. Are there others out there who are SM's with a degree in something else? Should I go to a grad program and get a masters in sm or should I attempt to find a job with the experience I've got. I have a minor in dance and have been sm in 2 dance productions here and 1 dance festival held at my school. What is recommended? What degrees to others have? Any advice??? Thanks!!!!

stagemonkey

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Re: to get hired...
« Reply #1 on: Aug 30, 2006, 12:18 am »
I have a degree in Theatre Tech/Design and am pursuing work in stage management.  The tick is there is always the discussion of if you need a degree at all to stage manage. And around the forum somewhere I am sure you can find the discussions people have had on whether you need the degree or not.  Basically for me the degree helped to fill my resume with experience while providing that safe haven of acedamia for me to try my hand at the work where I could screw up but had others around to help me through it. 

The trick is if you have the skills and some experience on the resume you can find work.  Starting out it will be smaller jobs for not much pay but it will fill in the resume and give you more practice at the craft  which will help future jobs.  That masters will help you get more experience and network, but you can do this just as well on your own.  My advice is if you like school and can afford it go get the masters as it certainly wouldnt hurt anything.  You do have some experience so you might be able to help a small company out and build from there.


DeeCap

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Re: to get hired...
« Reply #2 on: Aug 30, 2006, 03:32 pm »
I graduated with a degree in education. I did theater in college as a hobby; never thinking I could have it as a career.
After a few weeks as a substitute teacher, I decided to give stage management a try. I got a resume together with my college experience and called a theater that I found in the phone book to see if I could work for free. That was over eleven years ago and I haven't looked back.
The debate between grad school or no grad school is ongoing. I'm part of the no grad school camp, however, I do see some good points in going to grad school.
A lot of qualities that a good stage manager needs cannot be taught. If you have those qualities, a degree won't matter. You will have to start out with small companies for little pay. But if you keep at it, it won't take long to build a solid resume.

BeckyGG

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Re: to get hired...
« Reply #3 on: Aug 31, 2006, 09:54 am »
Personally, I have a degree in theater tech/design.  So, it is fairly related to stage management.  However, many of the people I know who are professional stage managers do not have degrees in theater.  Many of them were English majors or something else in college and worked shows in the theater.  One of my colleagues has a degree in mechanical engineering and another in psychology.  So, stage managers come from all areas.  Like most of the people here have said, find some theaters that will hire you as an intern or production assistant and start to build your resume that way. 

I am primarily of the no grad school position, but if there are skills that you feel would be worthwhile having some schooling on then it is something to look into pursuing after a year or so out in the world.  Since you did not have the college stage management experience grad school would also be a good safe zone for honing some of the stage management instinct as well.

Whatever you choose to do best of luck!
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ljh007

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Re: to get hired...
« Reply #4 on: Sep 03, 2006, 07:34 pm »
One of the best SMs I know in opera has an undergraduate in marketing. He's worked professionally for 20 years.
My undergrad is in psychology. [insert joke here].

I am one of the biggest champions you'll ever meet regarding the value of a degree - any degree. But at the risk of sounding overly pragmatic, it's just a degree. What really matters is how you apply it. You could have a BS in psychobiology and still be a smashing SM in dance. Crossing out of your field is not a limitation - it's a expansive skill set that makes you a great and interesting person to hire. I have met many SMs who had graduated from some of the top theatre programs, fancies themselves top notch, and honestly was not very good at what they did. But they were educated and trained and and and.... but it didn't really make them the better SM in the end.

Now then again, if you decide to return to law school, for example, maybe you really should consider becoming a lawyer.

Scott

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Re: to get hired...
« Reply #5 on: Sep 05, 2006, 12:20 pm »
My undergrad is in psychology. [insert joke here].

How do you feel about that?

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I am one of the biggest champions you'll ever meet regarding the value of a degree - any degree. But at the risk of sounding overly pragmatic, it's just a degree. What really matters is how you apply it.

Hear, hear!

Many, many of the working stage managers/production managers that I have met don't have degrees in stage management (a degree which I understand is a relatively new phenomenon outside of the conservatory programs).  Many, many have their degrees outside of theatre altogether.

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Now then again, if you decide to return to law school, for example, maybe you really should consider becoming a lawyer.

Or a Producer or a General Manager.

(Or a famous comedian like Greg Giraldo, who actually lent a legal hand to at least one Off Off Broadway theatre while he was still practising law.)

Balletdork

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Re: to get hired...
« Reply #6 on: Sep 05, 2006, 04:14 pm »
My degree is in SM- sigh.

However, when I'm looking for ASM's I look for experience- which does not have to be in an educational setting. Frankly, experience OUTSIDE of university is more attractive to me when hiring!

 

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