Employers - CVs or Portfolios ?

[Ken Coker]

We are just about to start implementing formal PSPs for our students.(Personal Development Plans). There are a number of reasons for doing this, the most pertinent for employment purposes being to provide:

 

an audit of transferable and academic skills

a record of career development skills for CV development.

 

What I am interested in , so I can help make these plans relevant for our students and our industry, is what do employers look for as "signifiers" of employability/suitability? Do you look at a CV or do you want to see a portfolio of work? I realise that this will vary from post to post and I am imagine that everyone interviews candidates after creating a short list. How important do you rate literacy, numeracy and communication skills?

 

My own criteria vary depending on the job I have to offer. If I'm looking for an assistant then I tend to ignore a long list of shows they may have lit at college and I concentrate on their people and organizational skill - I don't need anyone else to light the show, I need someone to deal with the logistics of the show, be able to reproduce it and work out how I am lighting the show. These skills may have come from lighting a lot of shows but they often have not.

 

If I am employing an electrican/technician then I look for a basic level of competency but I also look to see if the person will fit in as part of the team. For example, I once took on a deputy chief not only because he was competent as an electrician but because he had sailed a small yacht across the Atlantic. I figured that running the electrics department at a small West End theatre was pretty straightforward so I might as well be cheered up by tales of taming the mighty sea - this is slightly flippant as I thought it showed a number of other qualities too.

 

Right, that's it - one day I will write a short message on here! If you feel that you do not wish to answer these questions publicly then please reply by PM/email. I am interested to hear from all sections of the industry and all disciplines.

 

Thanks

 

 

Ken

[w/robe]

I would short list from CVs or application form for any position but the more creative the job, the more I would expect to see a portfolio at interview. Portfolios not only give you a look at the persons work but a starting point for a conversation where you may discover wether you could stand to be in their company for 8 hours a day.

 

When employing recent graduates I also place a lot of reliance on what I know of the course they have taken. If I did not know a course I would look it up to at least know what specific areas they have studied, even if that does not tell you how good the teaching was.

 

 

For a number of years a colleague of mines standard last interview question was 'What is your favorite type of bun?' vital information when you work near to North Londons best bakers, and on one occasion 'I see you have come up from Caerphilly today, did you bring us any cheese?' The person who answered that question was one of the best appointments I ever made and still works for me regularly as a freelancer.

[Just Some Bloke]

As a Prod Mgr looking for technicians or crew, I'd be looking at their cv for

1. experience,

2. experience,

3. experience.

 

I'd also be looking for the person to have worked at more than one venue, but to have worked at two or more venues several times. The former proves they have seen more than one way of doing things, the latter that someone has thought them good enough to ask back.

 

I'm afraid I wouldn't be looking for qualifications unless they were quite specific (electrical, first aid, that sort of thing) not just "a thechnical theatre course". I've taught on these sort of courses and worked with people who've passed them and I know how the system works - if they stick it out till the end of the course they pass or you don't get as much funding. (Apologies to anyone who values results which mean something above money - most places don't! /cynicism).

 

At the interview I'd be looking for other things which you can't tell from a cv, like whether they're a nice person or not and whether I'd feel confident leaving them to do a job on their own, but the cv is best with facts and previous experience is the top fact I'm after.

[Frog Genius]

without qualifications though how do you get people to notice you and ask you to come and help/do a rock concert for instance, par looking on blue room, when im old enough all I will have done is 3 major school shows and nine other school shows a year . that is 72 shows when I leave school. but although I might be competent I have only ever worked at one venue

im sure there have been other threads but it is a point that it can be hard to get jobs without qualifications, generally no matter how good you are the employer will value qualified people over you.

 

DJ

[sam.henderson]

I think a CV is more appropriate for a technician/ engineer however a portfolio is probably better for a designer.

 

Just how I have always thought of it,

 

Sam

[Jivemaster]

I was taught that the CV is to get you the interview, often the cv is to get you past the personnel screening process into the hands of the relevant interviewer for short listing and interview, Therefore the cv must show the min of x GCSEs inc Maths and English if asked in the ad. before it will get to the manager who wants to see experience (s)he can rely on and build on.

 

The portfolio is only applicable when you have met your interviewer. And it forms a bridge for conversation to let them see if you will do the job and be a member of their team

[w/robe]

I was taught that the CV is to get you the interview, often the cv is to get you past the personnel screening process into the hands of the relevant interviewer for short listing and interview,

 

 

This is only true if the organization is large enough to have a personnel dept. and the interviewer is not willing to read all applications and risk missing the ideal, but not obvious, candidate.

[Suzette]

I personally don't like receiving cv's that are just a list of shows that the person has worked on - it doesn't tell me a great deal about the person themselves.

I like to know a bit about the person - especially if the job is a technician (multi-skilled) job .... usually everyone has a particular strengh or interest and as an employer you need to find people that will fit into your team, so knowing a bit about the person and their skills/interests rather that just a list of shows and jobs is so much better.