Theatre assistant - Job Description

[rishardamod]

Hi I am Head of Drama at an Independent School and have just being pushing for a Theatre Assistant to help run the Theatre at school. I was asked to come back with a Job description and a time schedule for the new placement. I need help compiling the description and as to how I would use their time. Depending on what I provide to management, the technician/assistant would either be full time or part time. If any of you already have a job description / time schedule please can you assist and I will customize it to suit me. The better the description and the more I can prove desperation for an assistant then one lucky person out there will be employed. Thanks

[gareth]

Can't really help with the job description - that's probably best left to those BR members who are currently working in education. I'm sure several of the STSG will be along shortly with useful stuff.

 

However, in terms of "selling" this to the powers that be, maybe you could pitch it as being of benefit to the school as a whole rather than just the drama department. What your department does might or might not be busy enough to justify the existence of a full-time salaried technician to service it. On the other hand, if that post was created with a wider remit that supplemented what they do within the drama department, such as assisting with A/V throughout the school or working with the music department to look after their electronic equipment, then you might just find that previously-disinterested people might sense a possible benefit to their own department and may well start to see things in a different light!

[Stutwo]

I work in education and Gareth has it spot on. The more useful the person is across a range of subjects, the easier it will be to get a person in place.

 

Specify the essential abilities you need in an assistant, for example the ability to setup and operate a sound system for a performance, awareness of current H&S regulations, and include experience with A/V and music equipment. Then list the desirable abilities such as knowledge of media editing software,, PAT qualification or experience(always an eye-catcher for the management), and other things that would make the person useful and justifiable.

 

As for time schedule, you need to include in the description that the person must have be flexible and be able to work as and when. We have a flexi system in place, which works well and although we don't get the same holiday periods as the teaching staff, we usually have enough flexi to take the same time off. It's an excellent way to work and would appeal.

 

If you need anything else, PM me and I can forward a recent job description we used for more or less the same thing.

[PDD]

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See www.stsg.org.uk and drop me a PM or e-mail if you want any further help.

 

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(I'll post a longer reply tomorrow when I'm back in the office as another school has recently asked me the same thing so I've got it on an e-mail).

[rishardamod]

if that post was created with a wider remit that supplemented what they do within the drama department, such as assisting with A/V throughout the school or working with the music department to look after their electronic equipment, then you might just find that previously-disinterested people might sense a possible benefit to their own department and may well start to see things in a different light!

Thanks for the advice. can certainly see how they can assist music and IT/ media departments. will certainly include it.

[PDD]

(I'll post a longer reply tomorrow when I'm back in the office as another school has recently asked me the same thing so I've got it on an e-mail).

And quite obviously I forgot!

 

Try some of this for a start:- (and the wider remit stuff above)

• Theatre-related qualification and/or training;
  
• Experience of working within the theatre industry and/or a similar educational environment;
  
• General all-round knowledge of all aspects of theatre work and staging a production, including scenery, lighting, sound, video, costume, props, front-of-house, etc.
  
• Ability to design, rig, operate and maintain professional lighting and sound systems and equipment;
  
• Ability to design, construct, paint, acquire and maintain scenery, settings, props and costumes for productions;
  
• Ability to set-up and maintain AV equipment, and basic/intermediate knowledge of ICT equipment and systems;
  
• Knowledge of current Health & Safety law and good practice, including Risk Assessment;
  
• Ability to motivate, manage and support young people;
  
• Awareness of budget management and use of budget;
  
• Ability to work under own initiative or as part of a team as the need arises;
  
• Enthusiastic, reliable and able to work to strict deadlines;
  
• Excellent communication skills (also negotiation and diplomacy skills!);
  
• Be prepared to work flexibly, including some evenings and weekends.
  

As for time scale, this probably won't help, but I am employed on a full-time basis, with no fixed working week, annualised hours, with holiday only available outside of term-time. I believe my current salary competitively reflects that committment, and there is certainly plenty to be doing around the theatre/drama dept to fill all working hours of the day and then some... :unsure: