Category: Resume Help

Should you include graphics on your Hollywood Resume?

10/19/2018

Visual appeal is an incredibly important component of your resume -- your resume needs to be organized and easy to read, or a hiring manager isn’t likely to spend much time with it. But, unless you are applying for work as a graphic designer, you don't need to use fancy graphics to get your point across. In some cases, certain graphics can even hinder your job search.

When designing your resume, think about how you are going to present the information in the best way possible. If a graphic is going to help with that, feel free to use it, but in our experience, we have found that most graphics either distract or confuse readers. For example, let’s say you turn your initials into some kind of fancy logo (something we see frequently). How does this help make the case that you have the correct qualifications for the position? It’s not really giving much information to a hiring manager, but it could bewasting valuable space or drawing a reader’s eye away from your skills and experience. An employer isn’t going to immediately reject a candidate with a small logo in the corner, but remember, you’re trying to stand out as the best candidate, so you want to do everything possible to get the hiring manager’s eyes to the right place.

One resume graphic that really can hurt you is a skills graph, where candidates have their skills listed and little bubbles indicating their level of experience with each skill. All this does is call attention to the fact that you aren’t great at certain skills. If a company is looking for someone that knows Photoshop, they’re far more likely to hire the person that has Photoshop simply listed as a skill than someone who indicates with bubbles that they’ve still got a lot to learn about the software. Never give that information away on paper -- you'll never get called in for an interview. If an employer needs an expert-level Photoshop user for an open position, they’ll surely bring it up when they meet with you, and then you’ll have the opportunity to explain your level of experience (or willingness to learn, if you don't have quite as much experience as desired). Think about graphics like these from a reader's perspective -- they might look cool and interesting, but no one has time to decipher what they actually mean.

In general, graphs, charts, and infographics can be confusing and time consuming to read. Use bullet points to convey important information clearly and concisely. If the position calls for expertise in graphic design, go for it. But if not, stay away. A clean, simple resume will always do the trick.

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Why you should list hobbies and interests on your Hollywood resume

10/5/2018

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We’re big advocates of listing hobbies and interests on your resume if you have the space to do so. It might seem counter-intuitive -- you’re getting hired to do a job, not make friends. Except, in Hollywood, personality counts for A LOT. For one thing, the hours are long, and people want to like their coworkers if they’re going to spend 10+ hours a day with them. It’s also a very social industry, with drinks, lunches, wrap parties, and networking events all impacting your career success. Plus, you’re creating content -- no matter if you’re a writer, producer, editor, assistant, or marketing executive, you’re a cog in the storytelling wheel, and your life experience affects the stories you’ll tell.

By listing hobbies and interests on your resume, you transform your image -- instead of coming across as a robot with a laundry list of generic skills, you'll show the hiring manager that you're a living, breathing human being with a personality. If you're lucky, your resume might land in the hands of someone with similar interests. Or maybe your quirky hobbies pique the hiring manager's curiosity, and he'll want to meet you to see what you're really about. Whatever the case, listing interests gives the hiring manager an opportunity to ask more personal questions in the interview and turn it into a conversation instead of a Q&A session. The more conversational your interview, the more likely the hiring manager is to connect with you and conclude that you’re someone he wants to spend the majority of his time with. And all it takes is one little line at the bottom of your resume.

As for what interests you should list -- we suggest steering clear of the obvious, like movies and TV. Unless you’re transitioning to the industry from a different sector or applying after college with a non-related degree, listing anything entertainment-related is redundant and boring. The more specific you can get, the better. “Reading” is a little blah, but “reading biographies” showcases a little more of your character. And be sure to choose things you actually do and enjoy, since you may be asked to speak about them. If you list “travel” but haven’t gone anywhere interesting in the last couple of years, the interviewer may think you’re stretching the truth about other things too. And lastly, keep it short. Three to five interests is perfect.

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How adjectives can help and hurt your Hollywood resume

8/31/2018

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Using adjectives on a resume can be tricky. It might sound nice to describe yourself or your skills as "outstanding," but in reality, vague terms like this are unhelpful to hiring managers because they fail to demonstrate any kind of actual achievement. On the other hand, certain descriptors can be very useful when used appropriately. But how do you know whether an adjective is advantageous or overkill? Let's break it down.

The biggest thing to remember when including descriptors in your resume is that they must be relevant and concrete. If you write something like "read scripts and provided excellent notes," your resume will be met with an eye roll. Who decided that these notes were excellent? It's a totally generic statement that you have no way of proving to be true. There's nothing wrong with simply writing "provided notes." By losing the word "excellent," your bullet point becomes shorter and easier to read. You can always elaborate further during an interview or show how excellent your skills really are by sending sample coverage when it's requested.

However, leaving out meaningless adjectives doesn’t mean your resume should be bland and generic. So how do you achieve that balance between underselling your achievements and peppering your resume with unprovable and subjective statements?

Identify what was unique or interesting about how you've applied the skills required by the job posting in your previous roles, and spice up your bullet points with adjectives that describe those responsibilities in a distinctive way. In keeping with our script notes example, maybe you gave feedback on a variety of types of material -- you can adapt the bullet to say "read TV and feature scripts and provided detailed notes to executives." Now the hiring manager knows what formats you have experience in and a clearer idea of what these notes looked like and were used for.

This strategy applies across the board. Maybe you've been an assistant that "supported three executives" -- you'd definitely want to specify this number in your bullet point, since it shows you have more experience with multi-tasking and time management than an assistant who only supported one executive. If you're a field producer, maybe you produced a show that was shot in "multiple remote locations" -- a step up from someone who's only worked locally. The common thread with these examples is that the descriptors actually mean something. They follow the age-old adage of "show, don't tell," and in just a word or two, they give the hiring manager useful information that could set your application apart from the others.

As is the case with intangible skills, generic adjectives aren't going to help your resume stand out. But targeted adjectives that explain the scope of your work can give your resume the boost it needs to get you an interview. Just remember to keep those bullet points short, simple, and readable.

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Should you add a professional summary to your resume?

8/3/2018

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You may have come across resumes with a short blurb summarizing a candidate's qualifications. It's similar in size to an "objective," but instead of outlining what a candidate's goal is, it explains who the candidate is. This blurb, often called a "professional summary," is sometimes really helpful on a resume, and sometimes it's a huge mistake. So how do you determine if it's right for you?

Typically, those who have many years of work experience will benefit most from a professional summary. It will allow you to call attention to the number of years you’ve spent working in a particular field and will highlight the key points that could get buried when so many different roles are listed in the body of your resume. Done correctly, the professional summary will give hiring managers of the option of skimming the rest of your resumeinstead of forcing them to dig for information.

A professional summary can also be helpful when a candidate’s range of varied work experiences don’t allow for a clear resume story when listed without context. If you’ve held positions in multiple industries or different types of roles (or if your previous job titles are a little out of the ordinary), you’ll need to classify yourself in a way that makes sense for the position you’re applying for. Even if you don’t have an exact “title” for yourself (i.e. development executive or project manager), try to figure out a general area that aligns with the posting and will allow you to transition into a different type of role if necessary. For example, let’s say you’ve held positions in PR, marketing, and branded content but are hoping to move into a development role. You wouldn’t want to call yourself a marketing specialist, since that wouldn’t directly translate, but you could go a bit broader and classify yourself as a “media and communications professional,” aligning yourself more closely to your desired position.

But if you're still early in your career, we don’t really recommend a professional summary -- especially at the assistant level. It can be limiting at a time when you need to keep your options open. For instance, if you are an assistant with hopes of growing into a higher role one day, and you put “executive assistant” in your professional summary, you’d be indicating that you want to be a career assistant. But you can’t put creative executive either, because that would be untrue. Most hiring managers recognize that people with a bunch of different assistant positions on their resumes are simply trying to break into the industry and can infer from the companies and departments what a candidate is going for. In cases like these, it’s better not to waste valuable space with unnecessary wording. And if you feel that you need to provide a little extra context, you can use your cover letter or cover email to accomplish this.

To say it simply, if your career trajectory isn’t 100% clear or easy to read when you list your experience chronologically, you should include a professional summary. But if a quick glance at companies and titles gives a pretty good overview of what you’re about, you don’t need to worry about it. And if you do choose to use a professional summary on yourresume, remember to keep it short!

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