Hollywood Resumes

How to list part-time jobs on your resume

4/19/2019

We’re often asked how to list part-time jobs on a resume. Job seekers express fear that by not acknowledging the part-time nature of their job, they’ll be lying on their resume, but that if they do acknowledge it, they’ll undermine their experience. So what’s the best solution?

It actually depends on the specifics of the job. If you work full-time but have a part-time side hustle, you may not need to list it at all. Assess whether the side hustle is relevant to your overall story and if it adds needed skills that will make you a better candidate for the job. If not, no need to list it. Your resume isn’t a biography, it’s more of a highlight reel. If the side hustle is relevant, you definitely should list it. If it’s clear from the nature of the job that it’s part-time -- like freelancing or script reading -- then you don’t need to qualify it. A hiring manager will see your primary job during the same period and make the assumption that the other position is part-time.

If you work two or more part-time jobs at the same time and plan to list both, it may be beneficial for you to include "(part-time)" next to your title. We see this a lot with personal assistants who manage two different clients, and it’s certainly worth clarifying to a future employer that you aren’t spreading yourself thin, but rather have been hired in a part-time capacity. However, just as is the case with a side hustle, if it's obvious that both of your jobs are part time -- like simultaneous internships -- a hiring manager will safely assume that each is part-time without you calling it out.

Lastly, if you are currently working only one part-time job, there’s no reason to draw attention to it on your resume. You may choose to acknowledge it in your cover letter as you explain why you’re looking to transition to full-time, add a second part-time position, or find a new part-time job, but there’s no rule that says you need to list part-time on yourresume. If you have the skills and are capable of doing the job you’re applying for, that’s all that matters.

Angela Silak & Cindy Kaplan

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Industry Spotlight: Unscripted Producer

4/12/2019

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It's time for another "Industry Spotlight," our monthly series where we interview professionals from across the entertainment industry about their current jobs and career trajectories. Our hope is that you will learn more about the positions you're already interested in, discover new roles you may not have considered, and utilize the wisdom of those who've paved the way before you to forge your own path for success.

This month, we sat down with Greg Morrison, Supervising Producer of Content and Development at Nitro Circus.

HOLLYWOOD RESUMES: In one sentence, how would you define your job?

GREG: Part creative, part problem solver, part firefighter, part babysitter.

HR: What is your day-to-day like?

GREG: My day consists of many different things that keep it moving at a breakneck speed. Throughout any given day, I’ll have in-person meetings to discuss ongoing productions. This will consist of gathering and dispensing updates from our production, post production, and legal teams and deciding upon next steps. There are also meetings to discuss ongoing and future development projects/ideas with our team in the office and pitches for these development ideas with network executives at their offices. When I finally have a moment to sit down in front of my laptop, it’s time to write. Before anything gets pitched to a network or gets produced by one of our teams, I write it and re-write it. That includes writing and producing the sizzle reels that we use to pitch our shows. I work closely with our post production team to make sure that these sizzle reels are sales-ready. Also, I eat lunch. I never skip lunch. No one likes me when I’m hangry.

HR: What do you like most about your job?

GREG: What I like most about my job is finding creative and fun ways to tell stories. At the end of the day, all good content comes down to telling a good story.

HR: How did you get your current job?

GREG: I spent eight years freelancing as a producer all over Los Angeles, and through a former boss, I was recommended to Nitro Circus to be the Supervising Producer of their first History Channel special. It was a match made in heaven, and we all loved working together. We loved it so much that they offered me full-time employment heading up their development department and overseeing current productions.

HR: What was your first job in Hollywood?

GREG: My first entertainment industry job was a 4-week gig as a research assistant at LMNO Productions. I spent my days creating binders full of research for their development and production executives.

HR: What are the skills someone would need to succeed in your position?

GREG: Quick thinking, a lot of energy, a positive attitude, patience (of which I don’t have enough), and confidence.

HR: If you don't like _____________, you won't like my job.

GREG: Problem solving.

HR: What’s a mistake you made early on in your career?

GREG: Rushing. I was rushing to bring a hard drive to my boss, but in trying to move too fast, I unplugged the wrong drive and corrupted the entire project. It took 48 hours to get everything back up and running and put us two days behind schedule. No matter how quickly something needs to be done, there’s always an extra few seconds to stop, breathe, and make sure you don’t unplug the wrong thing, press the wrong button, send the wrong email, or say the wrong thing to the wrong person.

HR: If you could give one piece of advice to someone trying to break in/move up in the industry, what would it be?

GREG: Make friends everywhere you work. It will be your connections with the people you work with that ensure you always find your next job and that you get that promotion over someone else with the same qualifications.

HR: Thanks, Greg!

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Have you Googled yourself lately?

4/5/2019

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Think hiring managers are just looking at the materials you submit in your job applications? Think again. Once a hiring manager decides your resume and cover letter are up to snuff, they’ll continue to check you out to make sure you’re a good fit for the role. Whether this happens before they set the interview or after they’ve narrowed their choices down to a handful of candidates, they are going to Google you. Same goes for writers/producers/directors taking general meetings for potential employment down the line. It should go without saying that you should be mindful of your social media presence. We’ve talked about the role of social media in the job search, but you should also check to see what else the search engines have on you on a regular basis.

Ideally, information that shows up online won't contradict anything you've sent to the employer. Does your current or previous employer’s website still list you as an employee? If so, make sure the job title online matches the one you use on your resume. Do any YouTube videos you uploaded in college come up? You may not want employers looking at your student films and judging your taste level and skill from your early work. It may not be possible to alter your digital footprint too much, but if you know what potential employers see, you can think about ways to get ahead of it. And, if some really good things come up -- like the charity event you organized or your festival-worthy Vimeo short -- you can find ways to amplify those successes as well.

The key is not to overthink anything you might find online, but to be aware of what’s there. Look at yourself through the eyes of the hiring manager and understand that your online presence is a part of the fuller picture of your candidacy.

Angela Silak & Cindy Kaplan

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How to create a results-oriented Hollywood resume

3/29/2019

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We’ve said it before, and we’ll say it again -- the key to writing a good resume is to describe your skills in the same way the job posting describes the necessary qualifications for the role. But sometimes, it’s important to go above and beyond mere skill-matching and provide tangible results in your resume that show you really are the best at what you do. Especially as you grow in your career, or if you’re applying for jobs that are a little more tech, sales, and/or strategy-based, you'll probably need to show definitive results.

The best approach is to integrate results into your bullet points in a way that contributes to the flow of your resume story. We often see resumes that outline a candidate’s skills and then follow up with a few "results" bullets. To us, this is messy and hard to follow. Take a little bit of time to think about how you can describe what you do and how well you do it in one brief sentence. For example, "managed a development and production pipeline of 50+ projects and delivered six pilots per year" has a nice flow to it and allows you to get the point across in the fewest number of bullets possible.

The other trick with a results-oriented resume is not to overdo it. Not every bullet point needs a number. In fact, the more numbers you throw out, the more a hiring manager’s BS radar will go off -- plus it’ll make your resume more difficult to read. Pick your most impressive numbers and stick with those. If you raised a ton of money or saved a ton of money for the company, you'd definitely want to share those numbers. Think about what quantifiable information will be most meaningful to hiring managers, and be sure that they will have enough frame of reference to understand it. It's especially easy to overdo it in entry-level Hollywood resumes. “Answered calls and scheduled meetings that saved executives 5+ hours a day” sounds a little ridiculous. “Rolled calls and scheduled meetings” is a more reasonable way to outline your experience -- if you feel you need to quantify to show volume, that's okay in moderation, but you'll want to be careful about how you present results in more task-oriented jobs like these.

Numbers can be helpful when they sound impressive, but there are also ways to show results without spitting out numbers every time. For instance, “Negotiated with vendors to procure production equipment and established track record of coming in under budget” is a great result without a number that also demonstrates your skills. “Managed development slate; greenlit highest-rated new series in network history” is another result that's more effective without a number and showcases what you spent your time doing.

Most importantly, make sure you’re able to speak intelligently about any result you mention. If you say “doubled the company’s social media following,” but the hiring manager learns during the interview that it only went from 10 followers to 20, that’s not really an impressive result, and it makes you sound a little fishy, like you padded your experience. And regardless of how truthfully you presented numbers in your resume, numbers often change, and they're tough to remember precisely -- don't let this trip you up in an interview.

When you sit down to write a results-oriented resume, think about the biggest highlights you’d share if you were describing your experience in an interview or asking for a promotion. Do your best to keep some of the same action verbs from the posting and add your own results spin on them. Expect that it will take you longer to craft a new resume for each job, but that’s okay -- in the end, it will be worth it.

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