In a message dated 9/4/01 2:27:09 PM, nturnage@h... writes:
<< Judy,
At a resume-writing workshop I attended a few years back, it was suggested
that a "personal" or "hobbies" paragraph be added, along the lines of "my
specialty is exploring bodegas in my Hispanic neighborhood" or "I am a
Chinese checkers enthusiast. I learned from my grandmother, who is an
expert"... in short, anything that gives a sidelight on how you might choose
to spend some of your free moments and which presents you as a human, fun,
or interesting personality.
My examples aren't the greatest, but you get the idea. >>
Nancy,
Opinions vary as to whether that sort of information actually belongs in your
resume.
I personally think that it belongs in the cover letter (if anywhere) rather
than the resume, which I think should be 100% professional.
BTW, resumes submitted for corporate positions are often electronically
scanned and either discarded, archived or forwarded based on content. In that
case, you want a very high percentage of relevance, so including personal
trivia (unrelated hobbies, food preferences, etc.) is not a good idea.
The resumes that I've seen of highly successful singers (people who've sung
at the Met and La Scala, for instance) are quite surprisingly brief and to
the point. Some are positively minimal! Personal trivia clearly identifies
you as an amateur.
A singer who includes personal trivia in his or her resume also runs the risk
of appearing rather self involved (as opposed to clearly focused on a
professional objective). A busy conductor wants to know what you've sung, and
where, not that you're an amateur philatelist.
Also, as a singer, your headshot should do much of the job of presenting you
as an interesting, vibrant and unique individual. If it doesn't, you need a
new one!
Judy
BTW--Did anyone see "The Human Face" on TLC? It was fascinating--and offered
lots of insights on headshots, etc. I highly recommend watching if you can
catch it!
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