CV help

[Jessie_K]

So I am being asked to create a CV. Not
a 1 page resume, but a full-career spanning CV. I need some advice on formatting, please.

Do I include dates? Director names? Do I list each show if I did a whole season? Do I list in simple chronological order or group by type of production (dance, theater, opera)? Do I list cities?

If anyone has any hints or even a sample CV, I would greatly appreciate it.

Thanks

[Jessie_K]

Also do I include special skills and references?

I figure I should include my education, should it just be university or high school too? Do I include my GPA?

Thanks again!

[Scott (formerly Digga)]

Sorry - what's a CV?

[Cherie B. Tay]

Curriculum Vitae.

Curriculum vitae is Latin meaning "course of life" and résumé is French meaning "summary"


Stolen from Wiki

A standard British CV might have the following points

    * Personal details at the top, such as name in bold type, address, contact numbers and, if the subject has one, an e-mail address. Photos are not required at all, unless requested. Modern CVs are more flexible.
    * A personal profile, written in either the first or the third person, a short paragraph about the job seeker. This should be purely factual, and free of any opinion about the writer's qualities such as "enthusiastic", "highly motivated", etc.
    * A bulleted list of the job seeker's key skills or rather, professional assets - skills alone are somewhat unsophisticated
    * A reverse chronological list of the job seeker's work experience, including his or her current role. The CV should account for the writer's entire career history. The career history section should describe achievements rather than duties. The early career can these days be lumped together in a short summary but recent jobs should illustrate concept, planning, achievement, roles.
    * A reverse chronological list of the job seeker's education or training, including a list of his or her qualifications such as his or her academic qualifications (GCSEs, A-Levels, Highers, degrees etc.) and his or her professional qualifications (NVQs and memberships of professional organisations etc.). If the job seeker has just left the place of education, the work experience and education are reversed.
    * Date of birth, gender if you have an ambiguous first name, whether you have a driving licence used to be standard - but nothing is required and you should not waste space on trivia. An employer requesting date of birth and gender needlessly could find itself on the losing side of recent anti-discrimination legislation.
    * The job seeker's hobbies and interests (optional)


I've seen a 3 page CV before. The SM included details of her backpacking hobbies...


NAME


POSITION         PROJECT            COMPANY/DIRECTOR


SUMMARY OF EMPLOYMENT PRIOR TO _____


FURTHER EDUCATION / QUALIFICATIONS

[theatreannie]

I started a CV so I could remember all the work I have done.  It's mostly up to date: http://anniebosworthfoley.googlepages.com/cv

I need to add: skills and awards

don't know if i'll ever actually use the whole thing but it's good to have

[ljh007]

Jessie, is your CV for a particular country?

You may need to consider content and format that is not standard in the USA. Most European CVs begin with your photo (passport-style), vital details (age/hair/eyes/height) and other personal facts (like marital status). Things like this are unusual - and illegal - to include on American applications. Check the format for the country for which you are applying. Nothing will get your resume or CV tossed aside more quickly than an improper format!

[Jessie_K]

It is for Belgium.  I have poked around the internet for a bit and found lots of different styles, but none for theater, which is unfortunate.

I think I need to include more descriptions than I am used to including.

[ljh007]

A CV will never, I think, be specific for theatre. By definition, a CV is comprehensive. So you'll list all your academic experience, your employment, and your shows (perhaps in that order - check with your country's format). Since Belgium is part of the EU, you can find a format for EU CV's here: http://www.cvtips.com/EU_CV_Format.html

It's a little vague, since it is just a blank template for every CV you could ever need, but it is helpful to start somewhere!

One basic tip I have when applying in Europe and when writing your CV: emphasize your academic experience. In America, we usually drop our education details last. But in Europe, they start with academic detials and list much more than we're used to seeing in the States - sometimes even including classes and teachers, major paper titles, etc. So just know that it's natural for your CV to skew in that direction.

Good luck to you, Jessie!

[Jessie_K]

Well, I finished it.  I ended up being a lot less descriptive than others that I had seen online.  They accepted it and said that it met their needs. 

I had my name and title the top (no photo); then contact details and personal details (birthday, marrital status, etc), no hair color or eye color.

Then I listed all the shows/ jobs I have done in reverse chronological order.

Then I listed internships and education.

I am really glad I did not have to write descriptions for each job.  That would have taken forever.

[sarahbear42]

I had my name and title the top (no photo); then contact details and personal details (birthday, marrital status, etc), no hair color or eye color.

Are you supposed to put personal details like that in a CV? I've never applied for anything that required it but something about putting my exact age, marital status, etc. would make me uncomfortable.

[Jessie_K]

I had my name and title the top (no photo); then contact details and personal details (birthday, marrital status, etc), no hair color or eye color.

Are you supposed to put personal details like that in a CV? I've never applied for anything that required it but something about putting my exact age, marital status, etc. would make me uncomfortable.

For a resume in the US, no those things are not common or necessary.

For CV's in the rest of the, yes it is common.  My particular CV is to be used as supporting evidence for a Belgian work permit.  Things like age and marital status and number of dependents are useful information in this case.