How would this look to a potential employer

[zac coupe]

Hi folks.

 

Some of you may have read my previous post and will know im just weighing up my options when I leave school.

I have several ideas in mind from just gaining experience through to going to derby to do the sound light and events tech course.

Here is another idea ive had and wondered if you were a potential employer for sound and I handed you my cv which basically said I was qualified and had experience in the below how would it look to you:-

A level physics

Electrics on stage (to be honest ive not looked into this thoroughly yet, I just know a C & G exists)

PAT testing

Various short courses on acoustics, mixing techniques, line array and specific products ie. yamaha desks etc

4 years working in the industry on various different events using a wide range of equipment be it for a conference to a rock concert.

 

 

 

Cheers

[Andrew C]

If you sent that to me as an employer, it wouldn't get past the bin. Simple as that.

[mac.calder]

"Various Gigs" does nothing for me. Various gigs could be lighting a big band in a pub, a rock and roll band at your mates 18th and followspotting at a local comedy club for all I know. It could also mean you have been the LD for a local music festival, sound operator for a local community theatre show. Various gigs say nothing of your skill level or level of professionalism.

 

And a 'short courses' on acoustics etc... does not do much either - it shows you are eager, that is a good thing, however I have attended "Short Course" on things like lighting design before, and they have often been as simple as "this is a fresnel, and notice that the S is Silent. This is a profile...". You probably want to back it up with names - reputable ones - either of the company running it, or the trainer. It is a small industry. Chances are if you are attending a course with merit in your local community, any jobs you apply for in that area will have heard about it.

 

Your "electrics on stage" needs to be backed up by either a qualification or experiance, as does your PAT testing. I was taught to PAT test a few years ago during a job interview for a hire place - it took 10 minutes, and I could pretty much test everything there to a decent standard. If I came up against an odd item though, I would be up the creek without a paddle. I would not call that "PAT training". I considered myself PAT trained after I did a course on "Testing of electrical appliances" and had a few hundred tests under my belt.

 

Idealy, everything you put on your resume should be backed up with qualifications and/or experiance, and hopefully not left too open ended. The level in skill between a school graduate who has LD'ed 10 shows and a professional working on the big events is huge. Your resume needs to indicate that you have basic understandings, and that you are willing - and eager - to put in the hard yards to become a 'professional' - and not be missleading, hoping the person interviewing will think you are a professional. They are not dumb. They know when you lie, and they know when you are exagerating.

[Jivemaster]

As a school leaver, claiming four years experience in the industry will simply wind people up.

 

If you are a school leaver you have demonstrated your interest in sound/light/power/theatre by attending training days on ........... run by ............ and assisted in the operation of ......... for.......... at ............ (fill in the blanks accurately)

 

 

 

If you are too inventive, people will not trust the accuracy of the rest of the CV and it will get binned

[Ynot]

I wouldn't be too impressed with such a bland CV either, and sorry, but it said that you have '4 years experience in the industry' when you're only 16, it would probably raise an ironic chuckle.... just before it hit Andrew's bin!

A CV is a chance to show what you HAVE DONE and CAN DO, not what you THINK you have and can. Despite the penchant in general for people to think that it's ok to print little white lies (or thumping big ones) on a CV, it's not - because you WILL get caught out.

 

As a 16 yr old, to be honest, you probably haven't got enough to construct a CV worth the time of many (if any) prospective employers - especially those in the ents industry.

 

My advice would be to stay in education for a couple more years, do your A-levels, at the same time looking at exactly what you want to do. Get some practical experience (paid or voluntary) with a hire company, or local theatre, doing ANYTHING that they give you - you're not going to walk into a sound or elecs design job, or even as an operator, until you have served a bit of time on the shop floor. That's how life works in general, not just theatre.

 

If you decide that a career in theatre is your choice at 18, then great - but then go for more formal training - or maybe a degree course. Either way, look at generalising for a while before choosing a speciality.

Once you've done that you'll have something a little more meaty to put in a CV.

[Jivemaster]

Most/any employer would rather interview a 16 year old who has energy, enthusiasm, a pleasant personality, and some limited experience.

[paulears]

I have never found a CV yet from a sub 18 year old that was of any use whatsoever. With a few exceptions from a minority of people, they really haven't had any chance to gain real experience. Simulations of real world activities, carried out at school or college are a million miles away from useful skills. The best students realise their limitations when they have real work to do, and deal with it. Others simply panic.

 

I was going to cite a few examples, but that's unfair. As an employer of 16-18 year olds you have to accept that the claims on their CVs mean very little. They were no doubt present, but "Lighting Designer - Midsummer Nights Dream" may well mean lights up, lights down, job done. Sound design for Rock and Roll show could be a college show with a miserable band with the PA handling lead vox, and nothing else.

 

Exageration, as we see on the BR all the time seems to be encouraged by the schools and colleges to no-ones benefit, and spoiling the CVs that are legitimate.

[Bobbsy]

A few thoughts:

 

First, at the age of 16 the most you could be applying for is an entry-level training position. As such, your CV is a tool to show your interest and enthusiasm; nobody is going to expect you to be fully qualified (and will immediately dis-trust you if you claim to be). Be brutally honest about your skills and what you've done...and probably include a note on what your future ambitions are.

 

Second, I'd say that at least some of the short courses you've done are worth talking about. Every school leaver claims to be a Lighting Designer or Head of Sound and, as has already been pointed out, these school titles are meaningless in a professional environment. However, not every 16 year old has done a short course on acoustics or a manufacturers course on Yamaha digital mixers. I wouldn't take these as meaning you're qualified but if your CV crossed my desk they might get your CV into the "obviously keen...might be worth talking too" pile if we were looking for trainees.

 

Third, be scrupulously honest and don't over-play your experience. Nobody is going to believe that you were working professionally at age 12 (which is what "4 years experience" implies) and, if somebody WAS employing you then, they were breaking the law which is NOT a good thing to commit to writing.

 

Finally, when you get around to typing this up, make sure your spelling, grammar and on-page formatting are perfect. Things like this do count. Also, at your age, keep the CV brief and to the point. Two pages should be your absolute maximum, probably more like a page and a half.

 

Bob

[mattyfish]

Zac,

 

I am also in your position, just about to finish A levels and heading to uni, looking at Derby and others. I agree with Bobbsy and the others here. I have thought about the various options over and over again and have concluded that my chances of getting a decent job within the industry are far higher if I have a BSc and three years of part time work/more experience within the industry.

 

CV's will look alot better with a degree and also with many degrees satisfying membership for things like The Institution of Engineering and Technology (http://www.theiet.org/).

 

Anyway, three/four years learning about and gaining experience within the industry isn't that bad'a thing (great life experience along the way!) and will make people like you and me far more employable. I have also been on a few short courses, one at SFL etc. I have been thrown in a the deep end and actually used the Yamaha PM5D digital mixer in a venue but ultimately, unless you are very lucky, I think that you are very unlikely to get the dream job that we are both looking for without proper training and experience.

 

I also think its a lot easier to go to uni at this stage in your life, almost like a one chance opportunity with all the funding (yeh OK student loans and all that!?) but uni is not something that will be easy to do later in life.

[Ken Coker]

derby to do the sound light and events tech course.

 

Derby. BSc Sound Light & Live Event Technology

 

physics

 

Physics

 

yamaha

 

Yamaha

 

.....now, it may just be me.......

 

 

KC

[zac coupe]

Just to erase any confusion, This is not my CV I was just asking if any of these qualifications would be appealing (if I described them properly, rather than just 'short courses) Ill try and ammend my post to make it a little clearer, ill also sort the puntuation out, it was early and I was in a rush....sorry.

Regards the 4 years experience, I was speaking from the point of view that by the time ive done the ellectrical courses I will have had 4 years ie. 14 - 18.

cheers for the advice so far

[Ynot]

Regards the 4 years experience, I was speaking from the point of view that by the time ive done the ellectrical courses I will have had 4 years ie. 14 - 18.

cheers for the advice so far

Yes, but again no employer worth their salt is likely to take heed of any 'experience' under 16 certainly, and possibly not of anything under 18. As has already been said, be very careful what claims you make.

[Bobbsy]

I think Ken's point is, similar to something I said, that in a CV perfect spelling, grammar and punctuation are essential. Although this thread is talking ABOUT your potential CV, being this careless opens you up to the sort of criticism you've just experienced. Don't forget, the people commenting on your post today may be receiving your CV in the mail in a few years.

 

Second, please don't make the mistake of confusing "training" and "experience" on your CV or in the covering letter. To any potential employer they are two very different things. Also, sad for you but very true, any actual experience you did get when under age will be largely discounted by potential employers.

 

Your planned training makes some sense as far as it goes...but don't inflate your job expectations for when you finish. You'll be up against people with more training (perhaps degee level) and 10 years professional industry experience.

 

Bob

[Just Some Bloke]

Zac,

 

Having read your original post, I think you're not that far away from making good decisions.

 

You say you want to do A Level Physics which means staying at school for another 2 years and you say you want to get extra experience and attend courses in that time. All good plans. You also have heard that an electrical qualification would be good and are planning to look into that. Another good idea.

 

In fact, it seems to me that the one thing that people are worried about was your comment about "4 years experience" which some members took to mean you had now, but I took to mean you would have by the time you sent out your cv in several years time.

 

Basically you said you wanted to stay on at school/college, attend some relevant courses, get appropriate qualifications and gain lots of experience. Can't see anything wrong in any of that. :)

 

Having said all of that, the thing that let your posts down was that you hadn't taken them seriously. The sentence in which you apologise for the mistakes in your first post and claim that it was early and you would sort out the punctuation the next time, had 6 punctuation errors of its own. Add in the spelling errors and incorrect use of capitals (capital letter after a comma and "I" instead of "I" for example) and it all just looks like you couldn't be bothered to do it properly.

 

That, I would imagine, would be the reason why Andrew would throw it straight in the bin. That's also why you offended Ken by misnaming a course at his own place of work. That's also why Bob calls you careless. Employers would simply say "if he can't be bothered to get things that affect his career right, how can we possibly expect him to be careful in his work?".

 

To sum up: do the training, get the experience and continue making plans, but do try to let other people realise how commited you are to getting a good job. Hope it all works out for you. :)

[Andrew C]

Add in the spelling errors and incorrect use of capitals (capital letter after a comma and "I" instead of "I" for example) and it all just looks like you couldn't be bothered to do it properly.

 

That, I would imagine, would be the reason why Andrew would throw it straight in the bin.

In one JSB. If I had pile of CVs and application forms to look through, first impressions would count for a lot. It isn't something I've had the misfortune to do a lot of (Thank His Noodlyness) and last time we did take on someone with the odd grammatical error, but it realy won't help your cause. Someone wrote above; the people on here now, will be those to whom you will be sending CVs in a few years. Good luck with the GCSEs next term!