Tagged: Resume

Sep 27

Job Hunting Questions

Sarah sent me a question about job hunting:

Hey Rachel,
I just want to say I thoroughly enjoy reading your blog and have found your tips on cracking into the business very wise. I have a couple of questions if you don’t mind. I’m a recent college graduate and received my B.A. in TV Production this May. I have been an intern for different companies for over a year and have a decent amount of office experience and on-set experience thanks to my school projects. However, I have been sending out plenty of applications online through entertainmentcareers.net and have only had a few interviews but no luck yet on snagging a job. I have a couple of contacts from my previous interning, but definitely not alot. I’m feeling somewhat concerned that perhaps my cover letter or resume might be an issue. Any help or advice would help so much. Thank you for your help!

  Fellow job hunter,
                                                                                                                             Sarah 

Well first congrats on graduating in May!  Welcome to the real world :)

Finding your first production or entertainment job after college can be very difficult, especially depending on what type of jobs you are looking for.  To find an assistant job you would go a completely different route than if you are looking to work on set as a production assistant.  I’ll explain both ways you can go, and then try to help you figure out why you aren’t hearing anything back after you apply.

Assistant Jobs

The assistant route is a good one to take if you are looking to be a talent agent, studio executive and sometimes a producer.   Assistant jobs, especially for big studios or producers are very cut throat and hard to get.  These are not easy jobs by any means think of The Devil Wears Prada.  However, if you stick with it and work your butt off it could get you to where you want to be.

Now how to find these jobs.  There are several websites you can go to which I mentioned before but you have to keep in mind that hundreds of people are applying to the same jobs that you are so you need to stand out (more on that in a minute).

Another good way to go is to also take a look at the websites of the studio or production company you want to work at and see if there are job listings on there or if you can find an HR contact.  For these jobs it is better to find out who exactly is hiring and get your resume to them rather than the random gmail account (for example assistantjob@gmail.com) where your email will get lost with the hundreds of others.

The best way I think to get jobs though is through referrals and networking.  Contact anyone and everyone that you know in the industry and let them know that you are looking for work.  If you don’t really know anyone then go to networking parties/events, which you can find information about online.

Production Jobs

The production route is good to take if you want to become a director, producer, editor, director of photography or any other production position.

These jobs you can also find online on those websites however it is the same as assistant jobs where hundreds of people are applying to the same four jobs.  I certainly would say to continue to apply to these jobs online but do not let this be your only avenue of finding work.

Networking I think is even more important for people looking for production jobs rather than those looking for assistant jobs, because most production jobs are not posted online.  You have to know someone that knows someone to send your resume to.  So again contact anyone and everyone you know and go to networking events.

Now back to your question as to why you might not be hearing anything back.

There are three reasons why people don’t hear back from jobs posted on entertainmentcareers.net or other websites.

First, your resume got lost in the hundreds of other resumes that got sent in.  The only way to help yourself in that situation is to send your resume in first.  That means you need to stay on top of the job websites and as soon as you see a job or a gig you want apply for it.  I actually have a saved draft of my resume/cover letter in my email so I can just add the email of who I need to send it to right away.  That way I can get an alert on my phone while I am away from home and still be able to apply to that position.

Second, you don’t have the qualifications that are needed for that job.  Are you applying to producer jobs when you have barely been a PA on set?  Or are you applying for assistant jobs that require 3 years experience?  Make sure you take a look at the qualifications before you apply, that way you will have a better chance.

Lastly, the reason why you might not be hearing back is because your resume sucks.  I don’t say that to be mean.  I just can’t tell you how many resumes that I have seen that are absolutely terrible.  Check out my other post about resumes and that should help you out.

If you still have questions about your resume after you re-worked it or if you just want another set of eyes on it I can take a look at it for you.  Email me at rachelmmarks@gmail.com

Hope this helps with your job hunt!  If you have anymore questions let me know.

4
comments

Posted in Being a Production Assistant, Being an Assistant, Job Hunting

Jan 10

Update on production resume

 

Today in the office I got assigned to put submitted resumes into a binder for my line producer.  As I was going through the resumes I started to realize that there are some extremly terrible production resumes out there and I mean seriously terrbile.

If you are making a  production resume or a CV for you silly Brits,  please just keep it simple.  All you really need is four columns.  First for the date you worked on the project, second for your title, third for the show name and network and the last one for the production company and viola!  You have the perfect production resume.    You do not need to describe every single thing you did  in your past positions because usually the person hiring you will know exactly what a PA does.

Also another tip.. make sure your resume makes it clear what type of position you are applying for.  For example if you are applying for a production assistant position make sure you have production assistant positions on your resume, not your summer job working at McDonalds.  Keep in mind that this is the first thing a potential employer will see from you so make it look good..not like you just threw it together 10 minutes ago.

If you are interested in seeing what my resume looks like for your reference feel free to email me.  I am no resume expert..but I do keep getting hired so I must be doing something right.

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Posted in Being a Production Assistant

Nov 12

Production Resume Update

Found this article while searching for answers online:

How to Make a Production Coordinator Resume

By Scott Nicholas Amendolare, eHow Contributor

In my time in the entertainment industry, I’ve seen thousands of résumé’s come across my desk. The irony is that oftentimes a person with the highest level of skill has a more difficult time selling themselves on paper whereas a person with less skill has no problem selling their experience beyond their true abilities. A Production Coordinator is hired for their ability to be highly efficient and organized and your resume must reflect that. This article will show you how to construct an effective Production Coordinator resume. Please look to the example résumé in order to see the step by step applications of the directions.

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Instructions

Things You’ll Need:

  • A computer with printing capabilites
  1. 1

    Lay out your personal information in a clear, simple and professional manner. This is important as it says so much about you as an individual. Avoid overly fancy fonts and ostentatious presentation. List you name in an 18- to 22-point font. In this example, the name is prominent with a line underneath to separate the contact information. List your full name and address with all your contact numbers as well as an email address.

  2. 2

    Lay out your primary work experience. Start with information about work directly related to the job you are going after. For this example we will be using a résumé with a three-column format as it makes this clean and easy to read, and condenses the information so that you can limit the number of pages. Starting with the left column, list the job title you held. In the next column, list the title of the show you worked on. In the last column list the company that produced the show and the year it was released.

  3. 3

    Next, lay out your directly related experience. This is experience that is similar to the coordinator position. List experience that shows you have held positions of responsibility and were required to perform tasks that are similar to the ones you are looking to perform.

  4. 4

    List any special award(s) that you have earned over the course of your career.

  5. 5

    List any special skills, software knowledge, guild or union membership and language ability that would be pertinent to the entertainment industry.

  6. 6

    List your education. Make sure that you list any educational distinctions you have earned during that time. Do not forget to list years of graduation.

  7. 7

    On the bottom of the page, centered in the middle, type the line: References available upon request. Although some people like to list their references on a separate sheet, it is really more professional to have a prospective employer request them.

Tips & Warnings

  • Make things clean and simple.
  • Do not list your references.
  • Use no larger than a 12-14pt font for the headings and 10 points for the information.
  • Spacing of the resume should be as follows: Use a 9pt space for the line per credit and a 12pt space to separate each of the headings.
  • Do not pad your resume; people can tell when you are lying.

Read more: How to Make a Production Coordinator Resume | eHow.comhttp://www.ehow.com/how_4463843_make-production-coordinator-resume.html#ixzz156LdcMh2

6
comments

Posted in Being a Production Assistant

Sep 01

PA Resume

 

I have been getting a lot of questions lately about how your PA resume should look.  Should it just list the title of the production, your position, production company and dates you worked on it?  Or should it be more descriptive and explain everything you did?

Honestly, I don’t really know the true answer.  So I am throwing this question out to everyone out there, how should a resume for a production assistant look?

When I find out more I’ll post it here.

0
comments

Posted in Being a Production Assistant, Job Hunting