I thought I'd re-work my CV since I had been referring to it whilst writing my blog profile. I recently participated in a Musical Theatre workshop where James Hopson, a Casting Agent for Pippa Ailion advised that he would not expect to see any amateur or college productions on a professional CV once the performer had been graduated for more than three years. This may be of interest to some of you??? Since I graduated in 2008, I have decided to take this opportunity and remove some items from my CV. Click the link below to view and feel free to comment!
Alana Shirley CV
Hi Alana. That's really interesting about the college shows. I was saying to someone on blog the other day that my agent put my CV together and I've never questioned whether it's right or not, I've just assumed that it is. I graduated 7 years ago and I'm sure he still puts college stuff on there. After what you've said I'm going to speak to him and get him to take them off. I don't feel like my CV needs padding which I suppose is all it is. Thanks for the advice. Oh and it's nice to meet you :)
ReplyDeleteI agree with James, it has made me want to check with my agent who also put my CV together. I would hope that there were no college productions still lingering. I know I have none on my spotlight version.
ReplyDeleteIt is clear as mentioned in my blog that performers who are starting out are still under the added pressure of "beefing up” their CV in the first few years. Having to transfer from show to show, never staying too long in a contract, especially if they have to minus College and amateur show credits within the first few years.
http://nicholasnorman.blogspot.com/2010/09/super-success.html
Welcome to the blogs Alana..
Hi Mark and Nicholas! Thanks for your posts, lovely to meet you both. Glad the info was helpful, I guess it is "better" to have less professional credits than heaps of irrelevant amateur/college shows. Whilst these productions help us to develop and carve us as performers, I'm sure every Casting Director doesn't really want to read about them!. Nicholas, my agent did exactly the same and you do take it as a given that what they are telling you is correct... always worth questioning!
ReplyDeleteFor me one of the key issues with CV is the audience for the document. When I have applied for jobs; funding grants; professional roles etc I have tended to align the CV with the requirements of the job.
ReplyDeleteThis is not so easy when you are presenting a profile which has to reach and meet the needs of perhaps with different audiences.
This makes me think that the profile is much more about 'locating' us within our particular field, whereas the CV locates us for a specific role or job? Does this suggest distinct and different criteria between CV and Profile?
You certainly have a point there! On reflection, my CV and profile appear to be much the same, the profile is merely a condensed version. Perhaps, I should rework the profile and consider whether it is appropriate to make it more personal as opposed to a list of facts???? Any thoughts?
ReplyDeleteI think that Alan is right in suggesting that a profile has a more general role than a CV. I think a CV is designed to demonstrate a specific set of qualities that hopefully match the requirements of the job. I think the profile however gives us more opportunity to show personality. Not just what we have done but how we felt about it, and what we want to do next. It shows our professional position in a much broader context and gives readers more insight into out nature. I'm beginning to think that in an industry like ours, where reputation is so important, this is a vital tool because it gives us more control over how we appear. We have the ability to manipulate (in the nicest possible way) the reader more.
ReplyDeleteHello Alana. My initial profile is very casual and more a mark of my personality whereas my C.V. is professional. However, as I am familiarising myself with everyones bloggs it has occured to me that although I want to show my character in my profile, I do not want to appear too informal and come across in a negative way. After all, if people come across out C.V. via a search then they will also see our profile. I tihnk perhaps I need to work on getting just the right balance of professional and personal!
ReplyDeleteI must say though, your bloggers page is looking very polished!