Do You Want a Job or a Life? Represent!

We are in the process of staffing the weekend warriors for the upcoming dance competition season. In total 30 positions need to be filled for the 5 month tour.  This includes Stage Managers, Merch Managers, Judges Managers, Tour Managers, and Awards Managers…Lots of people who need to…Manage.

Often I get questions through email, phone calls, and faxes (Yes… I get asked questions through fax from time to time….I didn’t even know my efax number was still active…). Here are a sampling of some of the questions I get:

-       Should I send my theatrical resume or my business resume?

-       Do you need a cover letter?

-       Is there a limit to how many words I should keep my cover letter to?

-       Would you like a photo? (Hu?)

-       What should I wear to the interview?

 

Here is my answer to all of the above questions: “Apply in a way you would like to represent yourself for this particular position”.

I respect the fact that candidates want to make a home run for potential employers. Interviewing and applying for gigs can sometimes be an art into itself. I welcome questions from people who apply. It is important to me that you feel welcome in any company I am associated with, regardless to if you are going to be brought on board or not.

There is no magic way to apply for a position. There is no special outfit to wear. Follow the instructions the company has requested in the ad, beyond that do what you feel is right. Represent yourself in the light you would like to been seen.

 If someone hiring does not like you because your cover letter has 25 too many words, or because you wore your hair up instead of down, you probably don’t want to work for that individual anyway.

 Also, notice that I don’t use the word “job” in this message. Call me quixotic, but I want to work for people who love what they do and consequently get paid for it. That’s not a job, that’s a juicy life.

Go Juice Life….

(This posting dedicated to Randolph Pierson from AMDA, who painfully taught me the lesson above when I asked in class if I should get a headshot with or without my glasses on – which I ended up getting both – No wonder why I’m no longer an actor.)