Author Topic: WHAT NOT TO PUT ON YOUR RESUME . . .  (Read 19287 times)

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MatthewShiner

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Re: WHAT NOT TO PUT ON YOUR RESUME . . .
« Reply #15 on: Dec 16, 2014, 12:09 pm »
Quote
I read a bit of advice somewhere that I really liked; put one interesting, non-related skill on your resume. It rounds you out as a person, makes your resume stand out a bit, and it gives an interviewer a jumping off point for the dreaded, "So tell me about you, I see you can juggle..."

This can back fire, you have to be very careful with it.  I think juggling is not that out there our weird. 

You can stand out in the wrong way.

Why not stand out based on your skills and show list instead?
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Anything posted here as in my own personal opinion, and does not necessarily reflect the opinion of my employer - whomever they be at a given moment in time.

KMC

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Re: WHAT NOT TO PUT ON YOUR RESUME . . .
« Reply #16 on: Dec 16, 2014, 01:54 pm »
Quote
I read a bit of advice somewhere that I really liked; put one interesting, non-related skill on your resume. It rounds you out as a person, makes your resume stand out a bit, and it gives an interviewer a jumping off point for the dreaded, "So tell me about you, I see you can juggle..."

This can back fire, you have to be very careful with it.  I think juggling is not that out there our weird. 

You can stand out in the wrong way.

Why not stand out based on your skills and show list instead?

I think I've told this story previously on this forum, I once interviewed someone that had a special skill listed as "long-tail cat wrangler".  Considering it was not even remotely related to the position for which he was applying, I think it definitely distracted from the other content of his resume.  Most of the talk amongst the folks making the hiring decision was "Is this the long-tail cat guy?" instead of "Is this the guy with x, y ,z related skills".

I'm torn.  It was pretty cool to ask him about, but it probably hurt his chances long term.  Then again, we may never have picked up his resume had it not been for that tidbit.
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MatthewShiner

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Re: WHAT NOT TO PUT ON YOUR RESUME . . .
« Reply #17 on: Dec 16, 2014, 08:23 pm »
If I am putting together a team, I want professional, serious minded stage managers (who get along well) - if you want to pull a cutesy trick in your resume to stand out, then you probably will - but note some SM's/or PM's may not see it a positive way to Stand Out.

But, if you are early career and desperate to stand out - and your resume doesn't have the hook you need, then add something like this - what would you have to loose?

Remember the cover letter is to get them to read the resume, the resume is to land the interview . . .
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Anything posted here as in my own personal opinion, and does not necessarily reflect the opinion of my employer - whomever they be at a given moment in time.

Tempest

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Re: WHAT NOT TO PUT ON YOUR RESUME . . .
« Reply #18 on: Dec 17, 2014, 12:28 pm »
Quote
I read a bit of advice somewhere that I really liked; put one interesting, non-related skill on your resume. It rounds you out as a person, makes your resume stand out a bit, and it gives an interviewer a jumping off point for the dreaded, "So tell me about you, I see you can juggle..."

This can back fire, you have to be very careful with it.  I think juggling is not that out there our weird. 
You can stand out in the wrong way.
Why not stand out based on your skills and show list instead?

Seeing as my skills list is: Sight-read music, hand and machine sewing, basic electrics repairs, carpentry, scenic painting, word processing, spreadsheets, Photoshop, two-scene preset lighting boards, ETC boards Obsession & Express, juggling, Q-Lab programming and operation.  Intermediate to advanced PC skills, beginners to intermediate Mac skills, I don't think juggling wedged in the middle is going to hurt me any. You're right, it ISN'T that out there and weird. Just enough different, and possibly even useful, depending on the show.
"Long Tailed Cat Wrangling," just sounds like an insulting way of listing people management skills.
Jessica: "Of course I have a metric size 4 dinglehopper in my kit!  Who do you think I am?"

MatthewShiner

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Re: WHAT NOT TO PUT ON YOUR RESUME . . .
« Reply #19 on: Dec 17, 2014, 01:05 pm »
Yeah, I think the juggling, oddly is theatrical and fights.

Equestrian riding.  Synchronized swimming. Summer Camp Counselor 

All of these things I have read on resumes - which I find interesting, and with enough thought . . . I can figure out how they apply to stage management . . .

It's when the get cutesy, or have no relation to theater . . . I can the question of taste in the reason to put it on the resume. 

On the flip side, I no longer list special skills in my resume.

Eventually you will want the space on the paper for something else.
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Anything posted here as in my own personal opinion, and does not necessarily reflect the opinion of my employer - whomever they be at a given moment in time.

kdshort1

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Re: WHAT NOT TO PUT ON YOUR RESUME . . .
« Reply #20 on: Dec 21, 2014, 12:18 am »
This is all really great advice for someone who's just starting (or going to be starting) in the professional world!  One thing I have heard both positive and negative feedback for is the idea of branding myself, or setting up a unique logo/using a unique font for my name at the top of my Resume/Cover letter.  My professor stated that he liked my font choice because it shows my personality off a bit.  For my senior seminar class, we had mock phone interviews (which I totally bombed) and a guest interviewer said she thought the font was childish and made me seem really young (ouch).

Any advice on fontage for resumes? 

(Also, to keep this relevant, someone in that same senior seminar class put an 'interests' section in which he stated the about me section of what sounded like a dating profile... awkward.)

Maggie K

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Re: WHAT NOT TO PUT ON YOUR RESUME . . .
« Reply #21 on: Dec 21, 2014, 02:13 am »
I once went to a resume and cover letter workshop at the USITT conference where they showed a number of examples.  Some people on the panel would absolutely love something about one example while someone else would absolutely hate it.  The main thing I learned was that there is no one true way.  Nothing you do will satisfy everybody.

One thing to mention that is related (and perhaps a different thread) is double-check your internet profile, especially if you include a webpage on your resume.  One of my costume shop friends once had an applicant who was very active in the Furry scene online.  To be clear I am not judging that activity but they definitely referred to her as "the Furry one" and that's not how you want potential employers to identify you.

I like the ephemeral thing about theatre, every performance is like a ghost - it's there and then it's gone. -Maggie Smith

iamchristuffin

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Re: WHAT NOT TO PUT ON YOUR RESUME . . .
« Reply #22 on: Dec 21, 2014, 07:40 pm »
My professor stated that he liked my font choice because it shows my personality off a bit.  For my senior seminar class, we had mock phone interviews (which I totally bombed) and a guest interviewer said she thought the font was childish and made me seem really young (ouch).

Any advice on fontage for resumes? 

Personally, I think anything sensible is fine. Helvetica, Garamond, Arial, Times, Calibri, or any similar font is good. Papyrus, Comic Sans, Wingdings are not!

C

David_McGraw

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Re: WHAT NOT TO PUT ON YOUR RESUME . . .
« Reply #23 on: Dec 22, 2014, 01:00 am »
In terms of fonts/monograms/wordmarks, it all comes down to how much risk you want to take.  You can take no risk and use a single standard font and no one should find your resume format unacceptable, but it will be unremarkable.  You can take some risk - a little color on your name, a different font for just your name - and someone will find it annoying but it also might catch someone else's eye among the dozens of applications.  I know some stage managers who take a lot of risk in how they present themselves, but they also don't fit the mold of a "regular" stage manager.  At least one remarked that she isn't interested in working at theatres "who are seeking a Times New Roman stage manager."  She knows she has a limited market, but she consciously promotes herself that way and lives with the consequences.

So weigh the risk of how much attention you want your format to draw against how much negative attention you may receive.

As it goes with everything else we do in theatre: know your audience.
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