Your résumé should be a single sheet of paper that lists your name, address, telephone number, e-mail, instrument or voice category, union affiliations, physical description, work experience, training, and special skills. It is not your autobiography.
How come I have to put “call collect” next to my out-of-town number?
About once a month, the director of a musical organization receives the telephone bill. Depending on his degrees of excitability, he may threaten the staff to cut down on long-distance calls, thus cutting you from the picture. Don’t give them the excuse—urge them to call you collect, and if you meet them, make them understand that you will be happy to travel to any audition or job. Also if you have an answering machine or service, put it in parentheses after the phone number.
What are the rules or guidelines when listing physical characteristic?
Your height should be how tall (or small) you stand in bare feet. Don’t lie about your weight—if you feel the urge, it’s a sure sign you need a diet. When you list your hair and eye color, be creative so as to be more memorable. Nothing is so boring as to read brown hair/brown eyes over and over again. Doesn’t chestnut/sienna/auburn hair and dark brown eyes sound more intriguing? I admit this advice applies more to female singers.
What about giving dates?
The only dates that should appear on your resume are the dates you won competitions or the dates you expect to be awarded an educational degree. Dates of birth, productions, etc. are superfluous and can work against you. For example, if you are older, remove educational dates.
What’s the best way to organize a résumé?
Your résumé should be set up like a menu –meat/fish/poultry—make the categories clear.
Merchandise yourself for this position. If you are applying for a job in opera, the résumé should list those credits first. You will probably need two or three versions of your performing résumé to cover the different kinds of audition possibilities.
The other question that confronts the singer is the matter of listing operatic and musical credits on the same page. I try not to be rigid about this, but it often confuses the auditioner when you lump together all credits from opera to Broadway. He’ll want to know what the talent is really right for. It’s best to leave out the musicals unless you have too few credits or you’ve starred on Broadway, and if you dance or act, list it under “Training” or “Special Skills.” The exception to this would be if you have really important credits which may involve theater, television or film. It speaks well for you as in the Jess Muñoz résumé.
In what order should I list my operatic roles?
Because we’re trying to merchandise you as a lead singer (and therefore a moneymaker), you would be wise to list your most impressive, bread-and-butter roles first and list the more obscure, smaller roles further down. However, the first and last position is the most important and make the biggest impact, so don’t end with a trivial role.
“How much information should I list for each credit? “
If you have performed a role or sung a concert in a prestigious place, appeared with a well-known artist or have been conducted by a famous conductor, list it as a second or third column on the sheet. Otherwise just list the work, role and company. [See sample) Try not to stress university or amateur auspices. This information levels the professional impression and distracts the reader. For example, let them concentrate on the fact that you can sing a Violetta. Also, if you had a chorus part in a production and there was a name to the role, list it; it looks better. If you were the understudy is sure to note it. If you understudied and got to perform the role once, your résumé should list that role. For younger singers or someone who is changing Fachs, you might want to make a separate category called “Roles prepared.”
“What’s the reason for listing ‘Special skills’?”
There are several. Professionally, you might land a job because you have some athletic skill, speak a language or dialect, or play another instrument. For singers, the ability to play an instrument signals competency as a musician. On a more personal level, you reveal here in just a few words your interests and the kind of person you are. This might just strike a chord with the decision maker. After all, an interesting, three-dimensional person is an asset to any organization. Let them see your humanity. A wit or sense of humor also makes you very memorable. [See sample]
Some final notes: If you have some extremely impressive credits, please don’t dilute their impact by listing unprofessional ones. Let it be short, it will speak volumes. For those who sing in church or synagogue, I hope the money is good, but the job doesn’t belong on the resume’. However, if you can persuade the organization to sponsor a concert for you, definitely list that under recitals. In the beginning, you must think carefully about every job you take. Can it be used on my résumé or is the money what I need? If the job doesn’t serve one or the other (your résumé’ or pocketbook), channel your energies toward a more marketable you.
Word to the wise: it’s a smart idea to alphabetize your list of teachers, conductors and coaches rather than ranking them in order of importance.
FINAL PRODUCTION
Staple the résumé (cut down to 8 x10 size) back-to-back with your photo, on all four corners. The bands of the staples should be visible on the picture side, the little teeth on the résumé side. Your photo looks better this way. Remember to staple tightly—draw blood and you won’t be liked. Don’t glue the photo and résumé because glue stains, ripples, and you can’t pull the pages apart when you want to update the résumé or photo. A staple remover would do nicely should you wish to make a change.
Important! Your name and union affiliations and category titles can all be in uppercase letters, but to increase legibility, everything else should be upper and lower case. It’s an advantage to have your name in a bold logotype so that it really stands out. If you’ve had professional stationery designed you logo can be reduced and pasted up on the résumé original.
I would recommend using a quality paper stock of 20 % rag bond. I once leafed through a lot of business resumes sent to a prestigious firm. The Harvard and Yale applicants used a fine, grained stock that made a more dignified impression.
As often as you need to update your résumé’, do so. Remember to take off a lesser credit to add the more impressive one. Use your new résumé as a good excuse to contact someone you have performed for in the past, or hope to work with in the future. You can circle the change in red to signal your addition and write a personal cover letter that implies you are working, progressing, gathering steam, and ready for more work. The idea is to keep your name and credits in front of as many people as often as possible and every résumé (or photo) update is a good and relevant excuse to do so.
