Messages

1966

The Hardline / Re: AEA Deputy selection process

« on: Dec 04, 2006, 04:42 pm »

I photo copy of it and hand it out to everyone and ask them to read it on their own. 

I find the limited time I have to cover the rest of the Equity business cuts down on my reading out loud time.

1967

Employment / Re: more about resumes

« on: Nov 30, 2006, 05:17 pm »

Intersting Trivia:

I just received 18 resumes in the mail today for open Equity B+ ASM Position.

6 had dates on them. 

4 of them, with the dates, pointed out some odd employment history 

Code: [Select]

two of them pointing out they had really only been stage managing professionally far less then their resume lead on.

one had a very large gap in employment

one proved she was much younger then her resume let on
What I found interesting, is that dates are use more often then I thought.

If you use dates, make sure they are not giving information you might not want to give out.

More on resumes in next post.

1968

Employment / Re: Hiring and references

« on: Nov 30, 2006, 10:59 am »

Is this OK or would this aggravate/ annoy you as an employer? Am I being too weary with there contact details??

Anything that puts a barrier to me contacting the references, can slow the process down, and make me skipover contacting your references.  If you are sending the resume, send the references.

1969

Employment / Re: Hiring and references

« on: Nov 28, 2006, 02:37 pm »

I do agree with Matthew that I would contact someone listed on a candidate's resume if I knew them. As other posters have said, getting a straightforward evaluation of someone without the sugar-coated reference is extremely valuable. But I do think that cold-calling a director listed on a resume is testy.

Yes, to clairfy, I would only contact someone who was not listed as a reference but was on a person's resume if I knew them personally (a director, a production manager, a stage manager, etc.)

1970

Employment / Hiring and references

« on: Nov 27, 2006, 02:13 pm »

I still have some educational stuff on my resume, but mostly because of the size and scope of those shows are impressive - as well as a LOTof my dance work was done in grad school.

I think it is having a balance.  If you have only done really small shows professionally, then a big show, even at the college level, is good to have on your resume.

1971

College and Graduate Studies / Re: URTA Applications

« on: Nov 27, 2006, 02:11 pm »

Take a look at UC San Diego as well, I think it's better the UC Irvine, on par with Yale, but less expensive.

1972

Employment / Hiring and references

« on: Nov 27, 2006, 12:19 am »

As a hirer, I would never do this. If I needed to call some references, I would ask the candidate to provide a list.

As someone who goes over a lot of resumes, if I know a director on someone's resume, I will contact them.  I do this ALL the time.

Here's the problem with references, these are the three people picked by the person applying for the job.  I bet you right now, those three people are going to say good things about them.  Why bother calling them?  I will usually only contact them if I am trying to see if they fit the job, or if I want to get some more information and I think a third party is better then the person actually applying (this is far more for educational positions, such as interns.)  But after calling a bunch of references last year, I actually stopped calling them - unless I personally know the person or I am on the fence about the applicant in someone.

If a theatre is listed, I would contact their production manager.  If a director is listed, I would feel free to contact them.  If the list a SM they worked under, I would contact them. UNLESS there was some notion on the cover letter or resume that they were doing a confidential search - and didn't want to notify them - at which point I may ask the person if I can contact further people.

The lesson here is if you had a bad show, a bad relationship with a director or theatre, you might want to leave that show off your resume.    I think in this business it happens all the time people will contact people they know off their resumes.  Heck, I also just call up a stage manager I know who might know them to get a vibe on the person.

In the end, it's all about the personal connection.  I could have two very talented stage managers applying for the same position, but one person I may get along with, and one I might not - if I know the person who I am getting a reference from, then they will know me and hopefully give me a honest, but more educated reference.  Someone telling me "She's great, but you two would not get along" is a much better reference then "She is great."

1973

College and Graduate Studies / Re: URTA Applications

« on: Nov 26, 2006, 12:30 am »

I remember applying for Urta.

I did the following:

My Statement of Professional goals was where I wanted to get to.

My leter of interest was customized to each theatre school about how I felt they could help my obtain my professional goals.

It worked, I got accepted to three of the schools from meeting at URTA.

1974

Stage Management: Plays & Musicals / Re: Reports - Getting actors to read them (from Tools of the Trade)

« on: Nov 21, 2006, 04:25 pm »

Hmmm.

I just hit select all, and the pasted it in the body of the e-mail.

Seemed to work find in apple's mail program, read it both in Mail, entourage and my web email server.

1975

Employment / Hiring and references

« on: Nov 19, 2006, 12:04 am »

After reading and discussing with other co-workers, I think the dates is just a style choice, and probably good under different circumstances - especially if you are dividing your work by theatre or by position.  I list my shows chronologically, so there is some information about dates worked in.  (Plus, there are some things I have done quite awhile ago, that I want to remain on my resume to show some diversity.)

By the time I get a phone call, they've checked my references, called who they know about me, and are already have a pretty good idea that they want me.

Actually in my case, I would NEVER contact a reference before I spoke to the person applying - what's the point of the two to three phone calls to track down a reference if the person isn't really interested in the job or, after I talk them, aren't really fit for the job.

The company hiring you isn't going to research the places you worked to figure it out...they want to know who you are on the piece of paper in front of them and if other people like you.

In my history, if there is someone I am truly interested in hiring and they list a theatre I don't know, I will do a google search on that company.  That way I can get an idea of the size and scope of that theatre, and learn as much as I can before I go into the interview.  I think the person conducting the interview needs to be just as prepared as the person being interviewed.

I've got the director also listed on my website resume but not currently on my Word document.  I probably should rework it so that I can get the director onto the page as well

I think it's vital to include the director, 9 times out of ten, it's the director I will contact for as reference - especially if the directors are NOT listed in their references.  Remember, there is no rule that the person hiring can ONLY contact the references listed - unless I am told they are keeping their job search confidential, I feel comfortable contacting anyone I feel will give me honest insight into the person I am interviewing.

1976

The Hardline / Re: Can they be Deputy?

« on: Nov 17, 2006, 12:16 am »

Well,it should be an actor.

If there is only one equity actor, then the choice is easy.

I have served as deputy once as an ASM and once as a SM - both timeswith the blessing of Equity.

1977

Employment / Re: more about resumes

« on: Nov 14, 2006, 12:27 pm »

I'm also curious about your concern about age discrimination.  I don't think I've ever seen it be an issue in stage management hiring.  The only way I could see is being too YOUNG, but even then, your limited professional credits are probably going to tip that off anyway.

Yes, being too young is a form of age description.
The dates can also show you started stage management late in you life. 
The dates can show you are only doing SM part time (which you may have not read well on your resume).

Then on the flip side, there will be a point when theaters may want are looking for someone younger. 

Now, since you are grouping shows by position, then I can slightly see the advantage by adding years, but again - after looking at 100 resumes a year, I find very few professional resumes with dates on it.

1978

Employment / Re: more about resumes

« on: Nov 14, 2006, 02:03 am »

I disagree about the date.

I don't think you should include the date for the follow reasons.

1) Is it extra information that will crowd the resume.  There is no way I could do another column with the date.
2) Early in your career, it can hurt you . . . they can easily see you only have two to three years experience on your resume by looking at the dates.
3) It can be used to figure out your age (oh, he was in college in 1988, that makes him . . .) and can lead to age issues, which is a tricky legal issue.

If people are interested in when you worked at the company, they will ask.
If you list your stuff in chornological order, they will see you were asked back to a company.

I just think the year is NOT industry standard.  What is important is that you did the show, where you did and who the director was.

1979

Employment / Re: more about resumes

« on: Nov 13, 2006, 07:05 pm »

On my resume

it's

Show Title      Director     Position    Theatre


Attached is the PDF version of my current resume (which lists all shows currently contracted thru the end of the season . . . it's not perfect . . . as I have some blanks for some info coming up . . . but I have not sent out a resume in two years . . . I don't expect to send one in awhile.)

Hope this helps.

1980

Stage Management: Plays & Musicals / Re: Calling Spot Light Cues

« on: Nov 13, 2006, 12:25 am »

I think, from my experience, and from reading all of these response - there seems to be no standard way of cuing.  (I remember doing an opera where Spots were added between final dress and opening night, so I had to call spots explaining everything to the ops who never saw the show before.) 

In the end, you need to call a cue in the way that works for the show - if you are changing operators a lot, then perhaps you should include more information in the calling of the cues.  The spot ops may not be able to read a a cue sheet.  If they can read a cue sheet, then they should have as much information as that, but cues may come fast enough you may need to prep them over headset.  In the end, it's all part of the tech process to figure out how you need to call cues.