If you're following the Causerie you may have noticed that up to now I've glossed over one of the basics of the job hunt: the creating, writing, editing, and delivering of your resume to a prospective employer. It's not that I don't think it's important, but with so many resources available out there, you hardly need my help. Nevertheless, I'll put in a few tips at the end. In the meantime, let's play with an analogy.
Here's a fun fact: 85% of people buying wine in the liquor store choose their wine based on the label on the bottle. Wineries spend an inordinate amount of time and money designing a label that will appeal to their target market. But these are the occasional wine buyers. For the remaining customers, the next best is when they ask for a recommendation from the clerk, or read the little ratings label on the shelf. A tiny percentage of buyers, not yet connoisseurs, will actually do a little homework on their wine before they choose. They become the loyal customers. So how do wineries attract loyal customers? They create wine clubs. They do cross marketing with other businesses. They have social media campaigns. They hire influencers. In short, they attract loyal customers through association and community.
Some people put a lot of effort into their resume; how it looks, what comes first, putting in keywords, tailoring it to the job application, and so forth. I've seen some elaborate resumes, including one designed with a pop-up (for a marketing position, naturally). At the other end of the spectrum I've seen resumes with enough grammar gaffs to make the whole thing unreadable. I've had innumerable conversations over whether to stick to one page or more, whether to use bullet points or indents, and what to put at the top versus the bottom. All of it matters, and most of it doesn't. The biggest challenge facing the candidate is that the average employer will spend 8 seconds reading your resume. In those 8 seconds they may miss the good stuff, but they'll definitely catch the typos. It hardly seems worth the effort, and yet the effort is an essential part of the process. It's the label on the bottle of you.
This is why I put so much emphasis on research, connections, and networking when out searching for a job. Yes, your resume is important, but it's only a part of the picture. You want to make an employer curious about you, and ideally this happens well before that 8 second read. It's the connections you've already made in the arts community. It's the informational interview you had with one of their colleagues or competitors. It's who you know that they know. It's your LinkedIn profile, Instagram, Twitter, or just a Google search in general. By the time they get to your resume, you want them to be reading about the person they think they already know.
In the meantime, if you're looking for solid advice on writing a resume, I recommend the Guide to Rethinking Resumes by Richard Bolles. If you're really stuck on how to write the resume itself, don't just pick some random schlub off of Facebook. Start with the National Resume Writers' Association and find someone that resonates with your own style. Or you can ask me and I'll help.
If you're cranking out applications left and right and you feel like just another bottle on the shelf, remember to go after the 15% that are looking for your label. You just have to help them find it.