lifehacker.com: Your resume is often the first impression recruiters have of you, so making sure you get the good side of your career in the picture is critical. If you’re not having any luck impressing your potential employers, it might be that your resume is missing some critical information that would help you stand out in a sea of also-rans. According to Fast Company, the mistakes most people make on their resume can be easily rectified with a few edits, a dash of braggadocio, and even a new font.
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I do enjoy reading advice about standard resumes and comparing it to advice I’ve received about theatrical resumes. There is some overlap, but there are also some differences. I initially found it odd that the article suggested to use a template for your resume, but then I thought about what an unattractive and boring resume says versus an exciting and colorful one. Resume design can be absolutely daunting especially if you’ve only used Word to write papers or basic level layout software. One piece of advice that overlapped with this article and theatrical resumes is to put your older gigs toward the bottom and not to be afraid to drop one or two credits. After our exercise in Professional Practice the other day, there is a lot of fluff and extra words on resumes and listing extra credits may distract the employer from the message you are attempting to deliver.
Besides the fact that the headline of this article was slightly misleading, in that it was mostly just advice about developing a resume and not necessarily talking about your resume in an interview setting, there were a few points that I agreed with. I definitely agree that people developing a new resume from scratch should look into using a template, as there are templates out there now with an amazing design quality to them that I know for myself I would never be able to develop. Templates may end up using the whole page in a much more inventive manner than you may be able to develop yourself, or at least save you time in doing so. The only point I have to disagree with was that your oldest gig should be listed last, as your oldest gig may be the gig most pertinent to the job you are applying to.
While helpful, this article isn't exactly true to its headline as Brennan mentions. It focuses on the nuts and bolts of creating/editing a resume, not how you talk about it to other people. Keeping it short, removing photos, and using a template for design help if you need it are all valid points, and using a font that is visually appealing and works for the amount of information on your resume is an important minor detail to consider. Templates are a good jumping off point, and getting feedback from peers and mentors before you submit is another good way to make sure your resume is up to snuff. Resumes help you get the interview often times, and as an extension of yourself, you want to make sure it is reflecting you and your ability to create paperwork in the best possible light. I think most people these days already know to send their resumes as PDFs, but I think this is another piece of advice that would be good to offer to those who are just getting started.
I was most interested in how important the article thought specific numbers were and that “lack of metrics [are] a potential red flag.” This corresponded with our discussion in class about including dates worked at various theatres and the absence of that often raises red flags. His example was a little strange: including increase of web traffic. I would think that would be a great thing to put in a cover letter, not a resume. It seemed like that resume would have a section for how you improved the company you worked for.
I am often shocked by how different the rest of the world’s work environment, work culture, and the whole process is from theatre. It is so strange to show a cover letter or resume to a non-theatre person and hear all of the comments about formatting, language, and content that they would include, exclude, or change drastically.
The article didn't seem to address what its title suggests. It mentions how to tailor your resume but doesn't seem to ever address how to "bragging" on your resume in a way that won't seem conceited and turn off your potential employer. The advice it gives on general resume construction is sound, and often just outright common sense, but there is also nothing specific enough to give your resume a "leg up." Also I feel like using an existing resume template is a little dangerous as a standardized template cause easily cause you to disappear into the pile of thousands. The article's statement about numbers is also a little to concrete a rule for such an arbitrary document. Numbers can be great for certain jobs but I feel like even for those professions where some numbers included are necessary too many can weigh down the document and turn it into gibberish. I honestly wish it had gone into more detail about addressing its title because that would have truly been an interesting article since I know many people who are not good at bragging about themselves even when it's deserved.
Since the resume exercise in Professional Prep last week, I have been thinking of my resume a lot more and in greater depth than I ever have before. While this article is not the most in depth with explanations of how to update your resume, it does add some good points to consideration. For example, I’ve never thought of including numbers and statistics on my resume, but maybe my GPA and average house-size for the shows I build could make it easier to determine the scale and quality of my production work before the employer would see a drafting portfolio or conduct a phone interview. What is reassuring about this article for me is the “use a template” recommendation since I actually do. When my resume was being circulated in class the other day, many commented on the bright colors and my logo in the corner. I also like this template because it pushes the important information up front and center.
In my business class last week we talked about resumes, and did some peer editing. Looking at resumes of people who have completely different experience and job goals was very eye opening. Many other students had a lot of numerical values to measure work that they did, which this article agrees with. I think it maybe hard to include in a theatrical resume where it is more about showing your experience, but I do agree that it does help create concrete evidence of what you have accomplished. In class we also talked a lot about what skills to add and that it can be a good thing to include interests. At first I did not really think the idea was all that good, as no one really cares. However, if I was a recruiter and saw that they did have a variety of interests that would be appealing. So while you should really include all the skills that might help you out for the position, adding other skills you have, I don't think would ever hurt.
We just discussed how recruiters look at resumes and it was quite interesting. On average they will look at your resume for seven seconds if they have a giant pile of them. That being said you need to make sure all the information that is the most important to see catches their eye. Knowing that recruiters do not look at resumes very long it has caused me to think about how to make the important parts of my resume stick out so they will not miss them. It can also be helpful to cater your resume to the job you are applying for by rearranging some things. Related jobs and skills to the job you are applying to can really help your chances of getting an interview because it shows that you have some sort of experience in that area. The title is right about not being afraid to brag on your resume because that is one of the places you definitely should.
How appropriate since we started talking about resumes in professional practice. I feel like I already knew a lot of this information, but it is good to have a refresher. I do need to take my knowledge of Microsoft Office off of my resume. Although, I do wonder about having particular programs, like Microsoft Access, on my resume. It isn’t something that everyone knows. As a technical director, should I have AutoCAD on my resume? How much will a potential employer care about what drafting programs I have experience in? The most interesting piece of this article is the bit about numbers. This might be easier for others to include on their resume. As a manager, this information might include information about budgets or how many people you supervised. It isn’t something that I have thought about before, but I’d be interested in seeing how to incorporate this into my resume.
This is perfect and relevant to so many people in this industry. Either those that are just starting out or those that have been in this field for many years. I had wished that they went into more comprehensive listings of items to watch out for but I suppose this is a fairly universal list that would apply to most jobs in and out of theatre and theatre related fields. These are almost exactly the same things I always told students when I was handed their first drafts a week before USITT! I also see many people of wide experience levels doing these same things. Working for a large theatre summer stock I see an extraordinary amount of bad resumes and many of these are the reason why. I have also learned that every person and company is looking for specific things and that no there is no one resume format to rule them all. We all like different things and hate others. Best thing is to do is to look at the resumes of those at the company if you can and format accordingly. i.e. do your research!
I currently have two or three different resumes. They all generally have the same information, but they are all formatted differently. It is hard to know which one to use when, especially because I have received so many different opinions on what resume looks the best. Do employers want fewer entries with more detailed descriptions? Do they want bulleted list? Do they hate bulleted lists? This is an area that seems very subjective and flexible to me. I do not have much experience in the interview/resume field, but from what I have seen, there are as many opinions on the subject as there are job openings, and really the content is more important than the format, that is, as long as it does not look like a toddler made it.
Right now I'm in the position of starting to rewrite my resume after the chunk of work I did over the summer. Although the tips within the article didn't pertain to the title as directly as they might have, I think they are good suggestions for making your resume work better for you. The suggestion about using numbers and statistics is particularly effective in my opinion and one that doesn't get used too often in our field. Numbers help keep the sensing of "bragging" to a minimum while stating your accomplishments and strengths. One of the best pieces of advice I have ever read in terms of learning to sell yourself is to not think of it as selling yourself but rather that you are a representative of a company whose product is your work. The author of that piece called it Me, Inc. Having to sell yourself to a complete stranger can feel awkward, unnatural, and forced. But convincing them to try the work of an artist or professional you believe in can be much easier. That is what you are doing as the marketing director of Me, Inc.
Looking for jobs is always a tiring process because of the nature of trying to sell your skills and qualifications to an employer. While I think that this article is mistitled, I think the content of the article is still helpful. Since a resume is generally the first thing that a company uses to learn about you, there is a lot of pressure riding on this piece of paperwork. The idea of using more numbers in a resume is not something that I have ever thought about. Personally, I am not at the point in my career where I have to be explaining my jobs in detail because the majority of my resume so far is comprised of entry-level positions. Additionally, I have had many confrontations about how a resume should be organized chronologically. I agree with this article when it says that the first thing you have done should be last on the list. I wish this article spoke more to the effect of how to differentiate your resume and make it more personal, the tips that it does give are still valid.
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