Messages

1

Employment / Hiring

« on: Mar 17, 2006, 12:35 am »

I do hiring at my current job and get to see all sorts of awful cover letters/resumes.  We keep a joke file of the worst examples.  First off, if you are send cover letters/resumes electronically you MUST make sure that your e-mail will open on almost any computer.  Send your files in .doc or .pdf formats.  If I get something that is anything else, half the time I can't open it or won't because it's actually a virus.  Send the e-mail to your friends and make sure they can open the file first.  

Form cover letters are boring and only show how little you care about the position I'm hiring for.  Create a few cover letters that hightlight your areas of expertise (i.e. dance cover letter, assistant cover letter, etc.)  Then add at least one sentence about why you want to work for that specific company for EVERY letter.  If you don't spend a few minutes preparing your application, why should I spend my time considering you?

If you or a friend is graphic savy, create some custom letterhead to use on your resume and cover letter.  They should coordinate and look professional.  If you can't lay out and organize a job application clearly how do I expect you to organize a show.

Get a real e-mail address if you are putting it on your resume or applying with it.  I am not going to hire satan666@aol.com or assplay69@yahoo.com.  Those are extreme but you get my point.  Have an e-mail address that is simple and professional.  I don't even really like scenicd04@hotmail.com.  Try just your name.  

Just my 2 cents.

2

Students and Novice Stage Managers / Resumes

« on: Mar 17, 2006, 12:25 am »

Let me say the hopefully obvious.  Grammer, Spelling and Style count.  Have everyone and your mother read it over to make sure it is correct and clear.    If you are sending out resumes by e-mail, test send to several friends first.  Use a standard file format like .doc or .pdf, anything else can get mangled on the other person's end.  Not everyone uses the same computer, if they can't open your resume you might loose the job right there.

In the end it's really the people that know you that get you the job.  References are everything but they'll call someone they know who worked with you over your planned reference every time.  Make sure you prep your references for unexpected phone calls.

Your name and "stage manager/whatever you are" should be the biggest things on the page.  Complete and clear contact information is essential.  Your resume shouldn't be more than 1 page long unless you're applying for a teaching position.

When you write your cover letters please try and mention something specific to the company you are applying to.  We know what form letters look like.  We can tell.  I don't even read them anymore.

3

Students and Novice Stage Managers / Parents

« on: Mar 17, 2006, 12:13 am »

Stage Management teaches you skills that can transfer to almost any industry.  Tell your Dad it's management at the core and everything needs management.  Film, TV, Theatre, Dance, Company Parties, Weddings, Commercials, on and on....

4

College and Graduate Studies / SUNY Purchase

« on: Mar 17, 2006, 12:05 am »

My personal advice is NOT to pursue a BFA program.  About half of the students change their major halfway through and you have to start college all over again because you'll have missed all of the general education requirements.  You'll learn theatre everyday if you work, you've only got 4 years of college to think about something else.  Learn how to think!  If you can afford it, (I couldn't) NYU's SMs seem to work a lot.

I went to SUNY Purchase and at first thought I had found the holy grail of theatre but unfortunately it didn't work out.  If you are considering Purchase, feel free to e-mail me and I'll answer any questions you have (jazhup@mac.com).

A couple of things...
1. They only graduate about a third of their theatre students.  The school is not interested in teaching you, they are interested in upkeeping their reputationd.  So they kick out or pressure out anyone who they think isn't molded in their image.  You won't really get what I'm talking about until orientation where they tell you to look to your right and look to your left and at least one of the those students won't graduate.

2. The campus is super inconvient.  They advertise it like it's a quick trip into the city, it's not.  You can't walk to anything off campus.  I've never been to a college that didn't even have a liqour store within walking distance.  Get a car or make friends!

3.  Only go there if you have in-state tuition.  My friends who paid out of state will NEVER be able to pay off their student debt until they're Equity.

4.  It is a good place to make connections, if you can graduate you will most likely work.  My room mates graduated as LDs and they work consistantely, I even still SM because of Purchase kids.

5.  The department head can be abusive, in fact I've known kids that thought about sueing for harrasment.  They play favorites, they're unfair, they're mean, they think it's all for your own good.  Who knows?

5

Students and Novice Stage Managers / Web Site

« on: Mar 16, 2006, 11:54 pm »

I don't know if you have any friends that do web design but I think on-line portfolios will be the way to go if you can.  That way you can send the link to anyone and you don't have to pay any printing costs.  Look into it.  If it looks pro, they'll think you're pro too.

6

Stage Management: Plays & Musicals / Drugs, anyone?

« on: Oct 19, 2004, 09:24 pm »

Vitamin B pills can be ground into a powder and snorted pretty safetly.  A small chunk of Shea butter looks like a crack rock but I'm not sure if you can smoke it.

-Jaz

7

SMNetwork Archives / Craigslist

« on: Oct 19, 2004, 09:16 pm »

http://newyork.craigslist.org/
Craigs List is good for last minute non-union work.