My Writing Your Dance Resume Table of Content The Elements of a Resume
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Wolfram My Writing Your Dance Resume Table of Content The Elements of a Resume
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Don’t play for safety— it’s the most dangerous thing in the world. Hugh Walpole HeadingsIt is helpful to organize your career information into groups, each under a heading such as: Objective, Career Highlights or Summary of Qualifications, Professional Experience or Experience, and Dance Education or Training. This will make your résumé more readable and allow you to show off your most important accomplishments in a fashion both professional and tasteful.
Objective HeadingSome résumés include a section labeled "Objective" or "Career Goal". One of the most common debates about résumés is whether or not to include an objective section. Some people use this heading and others do not. It’s a matter of style. Here is a chance to clearly indicate your intentions.
Career Highlights HeadingThe next heading is the Career Highlights or Summary of Qualifications section. This is an opportunity to boldly state the best of your career, your most shining moments, right at the top of your résumé, regardless of whether they happened yesterday or seven years ago. When this section is omitted and a strictly chronological format is used, important information can get buried under years of other, less impressive, experience. Avoid simply listing your featured roles in a boring fashion.
Boring:
Better:
Boring:
Better: It is up to you to see your experience objectively and describe it in a compelling fashion. Do not lie, but don’t sell yourself short either. In a résumé it is sometimes difficult to tell where humility stops and egotism begins, but being modest can leave you on the outside looking in. There is a fine line between selling yourself and boasting. Choreographers and directors don’t want trouble from pushy prima donnas so outright bragging is not good policy. However, make an effort to see your accomplishments objectively, then write a résumé which states your experience and level confidently and with dignity.
Professional Experience HeadingThe next section on your résumé is the experience section where you list the companies you’ve worked for and some of the roles you’ve danced. You can enliven this area as well.
Boring: The Great Gatsby Daisy J. Hoover Cinderella Cinderella R. Robins Taming of the Shrew Pas de six J. Hanko Nutcracker Snow Queen B. Houston Flower Soldier Parent Symphony in B Demi-soloist G. Blanch CorpsBetter: Featured as a soloist by Imre Dovella in a variety of principal roles, which include: Daisy in A. Hoover’s The Great Gatsby, Cinderella in R. Robin’s production of Cinderella, Snow Queen in Ben Houston’s Nutcracker, first movement demi-soloist in George Blanch’s Symphony in B, and many other roles choreographed by Mr. Dovella. If, for some reason (perhaps a grant application), you must list every role you ever danced, and insist on doing so in a cold, methodical manner, the title of the work is in italics, the name of the choreographer follows in parenthesis (first name or initial can be given to add clarity), and the role is next, such as:
Fez Ballet 1986-1989
Freemont Ballet 1989-1996 Note: Your web browser might change the format, so read the above paragraph carefully.
Dance Training HeadingA section for education follows the experience section. Here it is also more impressive if you do more than just list your schools or teachers.
Boring:
Boring:
Better:
Now it’s your turn!ObjectiveDecide if you are going to use an objective or career goal heading on your résumé. Phrase your objective specifically as possible. Study the sample résumés ideas.
Career Highlights or Summary of QualificationsPick one of the following headings to highlight up to three of your most important experiences:
1. Career Highlights 2. Summary of Qualifications 3. Featured Roles 4. Outstanding Achievements 5. Experience 6. Summary of ExperienceWrite a compelling and honest paragraph for each of your highlights.
Experience and EducationStudy the sample résumés in the back of this book. On a separate piece of paper, write your experience and education section. Use one or two words from the magic list.Remember a résumé is intended to summarize a dancer’s education and experience, and to be submitted in application for a job. What you leave off your résumé is just as important as what you include. Your dance résumé should quickly provide the information necessary for the director to understand how you might potentially fit on his or her stage. It should logically build upon and support itself to create the impression of intelligence, and imply that you know this profession very well and are committed to dancing your best.
a matter of chance, it is a matter of choice; it is not a thing to be waited for, it is a thing to be achieved. WILLIAM JENNINGS BRYAN
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