By Robyn Guilliams
Earlier this year, GG Arts Law and GG International was in the process of hiring a new administrative assistant. As I’ was reviewing applications, I’m sad
to say that I was shocked – shocked! – at the very poor quality of some of the
cover letters and resumes we’ve received.
So, as a public service to all
of you young’uns out there who are searching for a job in the performing arts
field, or for those of you who already work in the arts and would like to move
up the ladder as quickly as possible, I’d like to offer a bit of advice – some
pitfalls to avoid – when submitting a cover letter and resume to a potential
employer:
- Spelling errors:
This is the most prevalent problem, and the one that is most easily
remedied. Do not rely on
spell-check, people! Proof-read
your letter and resume, and then proof them again. I realize we all make the occasional
spelling mistake (my own emails are proof of this), but the documents you
submit as your job application are the only criteria by which you are
judged for a job, at least initially.
If you won’t take the time to proof-read your letter and resume,
this tells me everything I need to know about what kind of employee you
will be. When I see these types of
errors, the letter and resume immediately go into the recycling bin.
- Writing Style:
The ability to write well is required for many jobs in our
industry. (And even if not, it’s a
great skill to have!) A number of
the cover letters we’ve received, while not being grammatically incorrect,
are very awkwardly written. I
highly recommend “The Elements of Style”, by William Strunk and E.B.
White, to anyone wishing to improve his or her writing skills. This book is a great resource for young
professionals who want to learn to communicate more effectively through
writing.
- Irrelevant Job Experience: Tailor your resume to the job for which
you’re applying. There is no reason
to include work experience that is completely irrelevant. For instance, don’t include in your
“employment history” your job as a bag-boy at Piggly Wiggly when you were
14 years old. I don’t care. Don’t tell me about working as a
ball-girl for your college softball team.
Seriously. Nothing about
that work experience is going to make me say, “This is the person we’ve
been looking for!”
- Try to keep your resume to one page. Unless your professional career began at
age eight, you probably don’t have enough relevant content to justify a
longer resume. Keep in mind –
there’s no need to write a long narrative describing the responsibilities
of each of your jobs. Bullet points
will do. And, please, please, don’t
use an 8-point font in an effort to cram everything on to one page. I’m old, and I can’t read anything
written in an 8-point font unless I hold the page an inch from my face. I don’t like doing this. It’s annoying, and it makes me feel old.
- Don’t include the details of your entire
professional life in your cover letter.
This is why you attach a resume.
Pick a few items from your resume that are directly relevant to the
job for which you are applying, and include a detail or two about each
experience. Your cover letter
should be no more than three paragraphs, and should be concise. As I’m reviewing 150 letters and
resumes, and I come across your two-page, ten-paragraph cover letter, I’ll
want to stick a fork in my eye. I
already don’t like you. (This
really isn’t the reaction you’re looking for from your potential employer,
is it??)
- Avoid hyperbole in your cover letter. Don’t tell me about your “extensive”
experience in whatever. If you are
in your early twenties, it’s highly unlikely that you have extensive
experience in anything. (See above
regarding the one-page resume.)
Along the same lines, don’t tell me about your “professionalism”,
“strong work ethic” or “integrity”.
I see these descriptions so often that they’re virtually
meaningless. And don’t describe
yourself as “an ideal fit” or “exceptionally qualified” (particularly when
you are not at all qualified). Your
resume will speak for itself in this regard.
- Don’t describe yourself as “detail-oriented” in
your cover letter. (This goes over
especially badly when your letter is riddled with typos.) When applying for a job, everyone
describes themselves as detail-oriented.
Who the heck is going to say “I’m not so great with details”? I can get an idea of your attention to
detail from how carefully you’ve crafted your resume and cover letter, the
types of jobs you’ve held in the past, and your responsibilities in those
jobs.
- In your cover letter, there’s no need to write about how “passionate” you are about the arts, how much you love going to the theater, or that Beethoven’s Eroica is your favorite musical work. This is not your OkCupid profile. Everyone goes into our field because we feel strongly about the arts, and we wouldn’t be happy working in any other field. Your education, work history and other relevant experiences will show that you are committed to a career in the arts!
No comments:
Post a Comment