# Resume Review Please!



## StewTech (Mar 3, 2011)

So, I'm a young high school technician. I've been around theatre all my life, and now I'm seeking a job as a theatre technician, and I'll be sending out my resume to local theatres.

I've been viewing the forums here for a while now, and I've created an account to ask for your help. 

Would you all be so kind to critique my resume?

https://docs.google.com/document/pub?id=1DVPu0XnSM5-nuKAFLFoy0t5XoxWq7tAhkts7sYzicW4

The school, address, phone, email and references have been removed for security reasons.


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## rochem (Mar 3, 2011)

First - Welcome to CB! Hopefully you'll become addicted and will stick around and join in the conversations! Stop by the New Member board to formally introduce yourself there.

Second - Can you maybe repost this as an attachment, preferably as a PDF? Formatting is a huge part of the resume, possibly more important than the content itself, and (unless I'm missing something) I don't see a way to actually see what that will look like on a page. You'll get much better feedback if you post it as a PDF.

Second (and a half) - You're omitting the name of your high school, but you'll keep your phone, home address, and email on there? Well.... it's your info!  Just double check that to make sure that's actually what you wanted to post. 

Third - On to the resume! Starting from the top, good job getting your name big and right up there with your contact info right there. I would probably add a line in between those saying "Theatrical Electrician" or "Lighting Designer" or whatever you want to be so they know what they're looking for when they pick up the resume. Generally on theatre resumes, you don't often see the Objectives section like you do with normal resumes. I'd put my show experience at the top, then add a section under that for "Relevant Skills" - things such as experienced with counterweight rigging operations, follow spot experience, moving light repair skills, and so on. 

For the Experience section, I usually like to see the information clearly laid out in columns. My resume goes, stretched across the whole page from left to right, my position on the show, name of the show, company/producer/theatre, and the year I did it. As I read your resume, it's more important to me to see that you were a Follow Spot Operator (not Spotlight operator - there's a difference) than to see that you worked on a specific show. But that information is hidden in parentheses, which generally means less important information. Also, I have no idea what "2 years" (should be "two years") means. 

I'm not sure how I feel about the lists of things you did for each show. For most shows on theatrical resumes, just the position is enough - everyone knows what an ASM does. But in a high school setting, it might be appropriate. I don't know, I'll wait for someone else to talk about that. But just know that in a few years as you start to get more credits, those will probably want to go away. Make sure you're using impeccable grammar and spelling here, including proper industry terminology. Things like "lighting console" versus "board" (maybe specify which one?), "follow spot" instead of "spotlight," "Set up" in this context not "setup," and so on. And I'm not sure what you mean by "oiled and worked with soft goods and battens" - if you're gonna be dumping oil on my soft goods, I don't want you anywhere near my theatre! 

Education looks pretty good, I like the addition of extra stuff. Just change "will graduate in 2012" to "Expected Graduation: June 2012" or something. Others may disagree, but that's my opinion. References are removed, but I like to see three on there, with name, job title, company, phone, and email. 

Well there's a few things to ponder. Keep in mind that everything here should be taken with a grain of salt. Almost all of this is purely my opinions - there's no "right" and "wrong" way to do it. People will directly contradict eachother, and that's normal. Just read every piece of advice and decide whether you want to make that change or not. Post up a properly formatted version and I'm sure people will have more.


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## derekleffew (Mar 3, 2011)

rochem said:


> ...to see that you were a Follow Spot Operator (not Spotlight operator - there's a difference) ...


What be the difference, Rochem?


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## rochem (Mar 3, 2011)

derekleffew said:


> What be the difference, Rochem?


 
(Dang, those didn't automatically link to the wiki like I hoped they would! Ah well.) 

As I understand it, a Follow Spot is an operator-driven lighting instrument intended to "follow" an actor or other moving point, while spotlight is simply shortened terminology for an Ellipsoidal Reflector Spotlight. Technically, a Follow Spot is a type of spotlight (because it has an ellipsoidal reflector, with a secondary focal point), and a Spotlight (ERS) can be used as a Follow Spot. So while you are technically running an (Ellipsoidal Reflector) Spotlight, the designation of Follow Spot is required to indicate that you're actually moving the instrument around following targets during the show. I would equate "running a Spotlight" to saying you were "running a Fresnel" or similar, as it specifies the type of instrument rather than the purpose.


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## derekleffew (Mar 3, 2011)

Even _I'm_ not that pedantic. To me, Followspot Operator and Spotlight Operator mean the same thing and are interchangeable.


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## mstaylor (Mar 3, 2011)

derekleffew said:


> Even _I'm_ not that pedantic. To me, Followspot Operator and Spotlight Operator mean the same thing and are interchangeable.


I agree, having run lights from Q 1000s to Gladiators, spots, followspots or spotlights are all thesame. I have run a leko on a stick once in HS but that was 35 years ago. 
I agree that listing shows and positions but leave the job descriptions out, then at the end list skills. If you work the same show twice, list the years(2009,2010) instead of the number of times.


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## rochem (Mar 3, 2011)

derekleffew said:


> Even _I'm_ not that pedantic. To me, Followspot Operator and Spotlight Operator mean the same thing and are interchangeable.


 
I agree, and I also use them interchangeably. However, for me at least, I would put Follow Spot Operator when writing more formally, such as for a resume, which is why I brought it up. No "right" or "wrong" way, just two alternatives.


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## Grog12 (Mar 4, 2011)

derekleffew said:


> Even _I'm_ not that pedantic.


 
This made my week.


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## LXPlot (Mar 4, 2011)

rochem said:


> I agree, and I also use them interchangeably. However, for me at least, I would put Follow Spot Operator when writing more formally, such as for a resume, which is why I brought it up. No "right" or "wrong" way, just two alternatives.



But chances are you aren't going to be presenting that resume to someone that is as knowledgeable about lighting as to notice that. It's the same idea as light bulb vs. lamp. Technically, lamp is correct, but how many people are going to know the difference?

As for the resume, the formatting (assuming that as a google doc the formatting is preserved) looks nice, it's one page, etc.
The only thing I would change is calling yourself a technician. That could be anything from the person who hangs and focuses every luminaire, to the ticketing technician, who is able to run the little machine that punches holes in tickets.


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## StewTech (Mar 4, 2011)

Wow! Thank you for all the advice!! I've updated the resume according to your suggestions, and here it is as a PDF attachment.
View attachment CopyofResumeV2.pdf


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## Kingcaffeine (Mar 4, 2011)

mstaylor said:


> I agree, having run lights from Q 1000s to Gladiators, spots, followspots or spotlights are all thesame. I have run a leko on a stick once in HS but that was 35 years ago.
> I agree that listing shows and positions but leave the job descriptions out, then at the end list skills. If you work the same show twice, list the years(2009,2010) instead of the number of times.


 
I used a Streamlight stinger as a followspot once in an emergency....

Seriously- I'd hire ya. Once you get more experience you can shift it more towards a "performance" -based resume, which suits the tech types well......


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## StewTech (Mar 5, 2011)

Kingcaffeine said:


> Once you get more experience you can shift it more towards a "performance" -based resume, which suits the tech types well......



A performance based resume?


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## smigit2002 (Mar 6, 2011)

Looks good overall, improvements are great.
I would try to add an invisible table to create consistent spacing between your position, show, location and year. It might not work out perfectly, since you have some long titles in there, but it would be worth a shot.
Additionally, I would create a table to lay out your related skills with two or three columns.
But I agree, I would hire you


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## techieman33 (Mar 6, 2011)

Why XXXXX out your high school at the bottom when every show you've done tells us what it is?

What is your reasoning for the order things are in? It doesn't seem to be in any kind of order other than maybe what order it came out of your head in. I would figure out some kind of order for that, be in chronological, by venue and chronological, by position, something. Also what kind of technician where you for Leaving Iowa? Technician tells us nothing, were you a deck carp, deck electrician, were you running the fly system, props, costumes, makeup? Technician could be any of those things and more more.

I would change counter weight rigging and flies to something like operation of single purchase (or double purchase) fly system. If you can program a lighting console list the specific console/s you've spent time with. I would change placing lights to hanging lights. What about clear com systems? Are you just familiar with their use or are you certified to repair them? I would lose honors english classes, keep video production, and add any tech theater related classes that you have taken. 

Also what is the resume for? Depending on what your applying for you'll want to move certain things to the top. If it's a designing position move that towards the top, spot operator, move that up etc. Most of the time people don't spend long looking at a resume so you need to position the key elements where people are going to be more likely to see them.


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## mstaylor (Mar 6, 2011)

It looks tremendously better. I agree to change placing to hang, and this is really picky, but reverse the order to hang and focus.


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## themuzicman (Mar 7, 2011)

The updated one looks a lot nicer

My few notes:
1. I'd say lose the address once you start doing bigger gigs. One of the things I got asked a lot when I had my address was "I see you live in a pretty rural part of the state and are 10 hours from me, are you really willing to drive for the job?" - I lost the address and suddenly my location was of no concern. I only add it when I am applying for local jobs so they know I am available whenever they need!

2. I'd lose the "Honors English Classes" bit - I am hiring a technician!

3. When you start adding more things, you can probably get your education down to one line just so you have space for other things. You don't need the address of the school just "XXX High School (Town, State) - Expected Graduation: 2012" - people might nail me on this, but if you are graduating with any special degree, I'd put that there. My high school had "honors" track degrees and regular track degrees. If I was hiring and saw that you are on a track to graduate with honors I know right off the bat that you probably have a better head on your shoulders than most!

4. I'd bump Video Production to "Special Skills". Once you put it in Special Skills, what about it do you know? Can you work Final Cut or AfterEffects? Those are two programs that you may get hired for a different job just for knowing!

5. In your Special Skills section, I would divide it up so it's not just one block of text. Something like:
Lighting: Electrician, Follow Spot Operation
Rigging: Counterweight Rigging, Dead Hung Systems
Video: Camera operations, Videography, Video Post-Production
Misc.: Staging and Stage Setup, Basic Stage Management, ClearCom Systems

This condenses your "Focusing and placing lights" into the general term "electrician" as focusing and placing lights is implied within that term. Stage Management implies you know how to call and execute cues as well as writing cues, and we know that ClearCom is a communication system so condense that down. 

Not trying to be knit-picky but the value of having ClearCom on there is of some confusion to me. What is it that you know with them - can you just use them? If so, I wouldn't necessarily call that a skill. Can you repair them? Then yes, that is most definitely a skill! Basically, what I am trying to get at is figure out smaller terms that pack more meaning than writing out a sentence. Figure out the value in the things on your resume and weed out space fillers from the important things (Not saying yours has them, just a general rule in all resume writing!). 

Once you slap a few references on there you'll be off to a good start!


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## StewTech (Mar 9, 2011)

Thank you all so much for your advice! I will be sure to upload the finished version here.

And if any of you happen to be in the Cleveland Ohio area, and you are in need of a young theatre tech, let me know.


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## Shawncfer (Mar 9, 2011)

So, not to hijack the thread, but I have a quick question.

How would you organize it if you've done jobs for shows and houses separately? I've seen people put:

Electrician All Shook Up (designer)Billy Bob 2010

in columns of course, but if you have some shows like that, but you've also worked at a venue as the house electrician, how would you put that on your column when theres no specific designer or show? Would you just make two separate sections? One titled 'Shows' and the other 'Venues'??

And also, if you're applying to be an electrician, would you include your carpentry experience?


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## smigit2002 (Mar 11, 2011)

Shawncfer said:


> So, not to hijack the thread, but I have a quick question.
> 
> How would you organize it if you've done jobs for shows and houses separately? I've seen people put:
> 
> ...


 
I would create a separate section of repeat employment. There, you would list the location, time span you have worked there, position held, and depending on what the resume is for, a description of duties held.
As for carp, I'd say it would really just depend on how much electrics experience you have. If you can fill the entire page with gigs on electrics, relegate carpentry to a relevant skill. If you need some "filler," throw in your carpentry. It won't hurt, and hey, maybe they're full up for electricians, but have room for a carpenter.


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