Wow! Y’all really liked last week’s column on Resume Feng Shui, huh? Well, thanks! Here’s just some of your awesome feedback. Thank you!
Hi Bonnie,
I just wanted to thank you for your most recent column on Resume Feng Shui! It was great! You really hit home with several key points but the one that hit me the most was principal/principle! My resume as well as all three online resumes all had it spelled wrong! So I not only corrected all those typos, I redid my resume to work as a marketing tool and made it look a lot more organized and professional. Great article!
Adam Dunnells
Thanks, Adam! I think most folks miss the principal/principle thing because we were taught at a very young age: “Your school’s principal is your PAL.” So, when we’re doing that first resume, we think, “Well, I didn’t play a principal, so it must be the other spelling.” It’s just a bad habit, I’m afraid. And it seems to be on about 40% of the resumes out there, based on what I’ve seen.
So, good for you, catching it now. Better now than never, right? And I’m glad you were able to retool your resume so that it helps you with your marketing. That’s its mission. Good! Thanks for the feedback too!
Bonnie,
Thanks for all the resume info. So insightful and specific. Of course, it required some effort but I feel like I just got that haircut you mentioned, where all the dry split-ends are cut off and everything is fresh again 🙂 I can actually see white space again on my new Feng Shui Resume!
Awesome! Don’t you love that fresh new haircut? Such a great feeling! Good for yo. Thank you!
Hi Bonnie,
OMG, THANK YOU for this week’s article… wow wow… I think I finally “got it” and am embarrassed by my former self. 😉 I also just re-read the archived articles on billing and it’s all RIGHT THERE… geez!
Thank you really for all your great help and advice. 🙂
Sherry Locher
No embarrassment necessary! You got the info now and you’re ready to roll. That’s awesome! One of the reasons those of us who write for actors each week will revisit some territory we’ve covered before is because there’s no telling how into checking the archives any one reader is… and if someone has just discovered my column, maybe that person will never go back and search something out, but if I cover it now, it’ll be right on the radar at the perfect time!
We “get it” when we’re open to it. I’m glad you were ready! No need to be down about how much you missed before. Be glad you’re on the right track now. 🙂 It’s fun, huh?
Hi Bonnie,
I’ve been reading your column for the past few years way back when I was still living in Australia. 🙂 Now that I’ve relocated to North America, I’ve found all the articles such a wonderful resource, especially in understanding the US market. My resume is bang on, even before you wrote “Resume Feng Shui” BECAUSE of the past articles I was able to check out!
One question I do have (especially with electronic submissions such as Showfax) is should I put my age range or is that lame? I have just turned 40 but still get cast as a 28 year old. Other actor friends have said that I should put my real age as that is a smaller market than the bloated twentysomething market. Sheesh, I’m confused!
Any comments appreciated. Thanks Bonnie.
Regards,
Lana Lukich
Hi Lana. Good news! Your age, age range, anything like that doesn’t go on your resume at all! How ’bout that? Yep. Your age range — just like your type — should be clear from your headshot. Just like the actor who asked last week about including his logline on a resume, the same advice applies here. No need to spell out to us a tool that you use to guide you in submitting!
If you still get cast as 28, that’s how you should submit yourself. Don’t worry about telling us how old you are. We’ll form our own opinions of your age range and type when we see your headshot or meet you in person. The only actors who need to put their age on their resume are those in the “under 18” zone. They need to let us know how old they actually are because it impacts how many hours we can keep them on set.
Bonnie,
What a stellar column. You really got my attention because you spoke to me in my language: “Reduce Clutter!” “Get rid of stuff!” I started to read your column and then immediately opened up my resume and had it trimmed by about 40% before I even got to “Bon’s Guidelines”! Of course, being a voice actor, I chose to interpret “get rid of voice acting credits” in my own way.
Thank you so much for such a helpful article. Many of us come to acting from very different paths, all with different resume or Curriculum Vitae-writing cultures, so I’m sure your Guidelines will continue to amaze (and delight) actors everywhere for a long time to come.
All best wishes,
Fabulous! That’s great! And, of course, performers who specialize in voiceover should have voiceover resumes, and those who specialize in hosting should have host resumes, and so on. Absolutely! I’m so glad you were rockin’ through as you read. That’s fun to read. Thank you!
Bonnie,
Two credits on my resume died today. I hope you’re happy.
Terri J. Freedman
Ha! Blissfully happy! Hey, I know it can feel like killing off babies when you cut those credits, but you’ll have a stronger resume for having done it, so I’m glad you were able to sacrifice two of ’em. Definitely happy. Thanks for the update and the laugh, as always.
Bonnie Gillespie is living her dreams by helping others figure out how to live theirs. Wanna work with Bon? Start here. Thanks!
Originally published by Actors Access at http://more.showfax.com/columns/avoice/archives/000934.html. Please support the many wonderful resources provided by the Breakdown Services family. This posting is the author’s personal archive.