Even though it is not literally a person, your entertainment resume speaks. Loudly. It tells people everything they need to know about whether to consider hiring you. Say one of these four things and the answer is likely to be “no:”
“I am boring.”
Longtime YII readers will recognize this oft-repeated refrain coming from me. It is the cardinal sin of resumes. No personality, no pizzazz. ZZZZZ… “Next, please!”
“I am careless.”
One typo can be ignored. A bunch of them says something about the quality of your work. Not formatting your resume so it is pleasing to the eye is also a no-no. Put some TLC into this vital document, people!
“I don’t know where I’m going.”
Regurgitating your entire career history without editing or shaping the document leaves it to the reader to interpret your career path. Don’t make the reader work that hard! If you want to be a Story Editor, write your resume so that it highlights the relevant jobs and relevant duties from those jobs you have had in the past that qualify you for the Story Editor position. Use the job description for the position you want to help you identify what to include from your career history.
“I don’t know when to stop talking.”
Ten bullet points for each position or an over-long resume overall is also a no-no. And don’t think widening the margins all the way to the edges of the page makes it all better. Have the appropriate-length resume for your career length and edit, edit, edit.
In summary, especially in a competitive job market in an always-competitive field, you want to give yourself the best advantage on paper to get you the interview that will get you the job. The last thing you want is a recruiter or hiring executive looking at your resume and deciding to set it aside for later, not to mention dropping it into the “no” pile.
Make it compelling, carefully-crafted, directed, and as short as it can be while still properly promoting you for the position you seek. You want your resume to sing your praises, not stick its foot in its mouth.
Jenny Yerrick Martin, founder of MomentumAdvantage.com, is a Los Angeles-based entertainment career expert and strategist, and a career consultant and professional writer of resumes, cover letters, and bios for people in all fields. Follow her on Twitter [@JennyYM] and connect with her via LinkedIn here.
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About Jenny Yerrick Martin
People tend to go on and on in their resumes, hoping that one bullet point or two or work experience will catch the eye of the recruiter or employer. I consider this akin to casting your net wide and hoping you’ll get something, when in a job search, you should make sure to target the kind of jobs and companies you actually want.
Can you suggest how many bullet points? Many of my duties at my last job along with accomplishments cannot be combined. How do I express these in bullet point form without hitting the dreaded 10?
I try to stick to five to seven, Tucker. I know this is sometimes not possible, but usually your “duties” bullets are more crucial to you than the recruiter. It can take a professional with a critical eye to pare down the excess. However, for the truly crucial, I can limit the # of bullets by grouping ones that are under the job responsibity. Here is an example:
· Created co-op advertising opportunities, advertiser-shared commercials, companion print pieces, and several other methods that gave local advertisers with smaller budgets access to television advertising.
Hope this helps!
Can you suggest how many bullet points? Many of my duties at my last job along with accomplishments cannot be combined. How do I express these in bullet point form without hitting the dreaded 10?