Dance Resume Example

After reading this guide, you'll know what it takes to create a resume that really stands out from other dancer applicants. You'll find valuable tips on writing a resume that best showcases your unique skills and achievements. There is also extensive guidance on how to structure your resume to match the job description, and to reflect your experience levels to impress HR specialists and employers. Read on to discover tips for a creative resume, as recommended by Jobseeker's careers experts.

Main elements of a dance resume

The key sections to include in a dance resume are similar to those for any role or profession.

How you choose to present your resume is up to you. There are plenty of options for a professional resume layout and format, but every application should include the following:

Header and Personal Information

Your dance resume header is the place to add your contact details. Start by adding your full name and underneath, include your email address, phone number and location. Adding your LinkedIn profile, if you have one, can help the employer get a better insight into your skills and industry expertise. You don't need to include any additional personal information or a photo. Be aware of the amount of space your resume header takes up. You don't want your contact details to take space away from the main content of your resume, so keep this section as brief as possible.

Opt for a professional-looking email address based on your name. If your email address could be construed as unprofessional or inappropriate because it contains nicknames or unsuitable language, create a new, more professional email address for your job applications. Always check your contact details to make sure they're up-to-date before you send your resume.

Resume Summary

Next, write a short paragraph to introduce yourself. You could also call this section 'resume summary' or 'personal profile'. In two or three sentences, explain your professional background, achievements and key skills. If you choose to write a resume summary, this focuses on your career experience to date. On the other hand, a resume objective addresses your future plans and career ambitions. However, make sure you keep your resume summary short and snappy, and focused on the skills and experience listed in the job description.

Alternatively, use this summary to introduce your personal career ambitions and explain why dancer roles are a good fit for you at this stage of your career.

The best resume summaries reflect the job description and focus on qualities that are relevant to working as a dancer, while highlighting elements of your personality that make you an ideal candidate. They also quantify the information provided with evidence. Take a look at some strong examples of how to approach a dance resume summary in the graphic below.

Conversely, an ineffective resume summary would include generic, unspecific information on your skills and experience, while failing to provide any useful information on what makes you a unique and interesting candidate. In the graphic above you can find some negative examples of how to write a resume summary.

Work Experience

In the next section, list your employment history focusing on the most relevant previous roles and achievements that showcase your dancer skills. Add each previous employment in reverse-chronological order. This means starting from your current or most recent role and working back in time from there. Include your job title, the company name, the location of the job and your dates of employment.

Under each job entry, add several bullet points highlighting your responsibilities and achievements. Consult the job description for a list of the key requirements for the role and make sure your work experience section showcases how you meet these requirements.

An effective resume work experience section is one that constantly echoes the skills and experience listed in the job description, and shows how you used your skills to positive effect in each job. Each bullet point should be carefully crafted to showcase a particular skill or achievement relevant to dancer jobs, with evidence to show the value you added. Take a look at the examples below for some guidance on what works best for your work experience section.

In the graphic above you can see a great example of what to avoid when writing your resume work experience section. Poor examples of resume work experience sections tend to be vague and fail to quantify your achievements and the impact you've made in your career to date. They may also focus on responsibilities above relevant skills and how you've used them.

Personal Portfolio or Work Samples

Any examples of your work as a dancer will help the hiring manager to assess your suitability for dancer jobs. If you have a portfolio or personal website, include a link to it here.

You're most likely to have a portfolio of previous projects if you work in a creative sector, such as design, web development or architecture. If you decide to include examples of your work, consider adding a link in your resume header or a separate section with links to published work or finished projects. Conversely, if you work in a non-creative sector but have evidence of your work and successful projects published online in some other way, you can include links to that here.

Education

The education section provides space to list your highest and most recent academic achievements that are relevant to working as a dancer.

If you're applying for dancer positions you'll typically need to have a degree. A Bachelor of Fine Arts in Dance will usually help your chances of success. You could also list any qualifications that demonstrate your contemporary dance forms or hip-hop choreography.

Include any qualifications relevant to the role. For each, add the name and level of the award, the institution name, its location and your dates of study. You can also add some bullet points outlining any high grades, awards you won or specialist subjects you studied. Adding this information will show the employer your dedication to learning and your areas of specialist knowledge.

If you took part in any volunteering or you were a leader or member of any university societies, you could also mention these in your education section.

Hard and Soft Skills

The skills section of a dancer resume is a chance to list any skills you have that match those of the job description. You could include contemporary dance forms, time management skills or any other skills that show you're a suitable candidate. Again, refer to the job description and make sure you include skills that the employer has listed as essential or desirable for employment as a dancer.

Highlighting your hard skills

Under hard skills, add any specialist skills you possess that are specifically required for dancer jobs. These tend to be technical skills and industry knowledge essential to the position. Furthermore, it's important to show these skills in a dance resume as they provide a strong indication of your experience in the sector. If possible, add four or five hard skills that reflect the requirements of the job description. These will boost your chances of success in your applications.

If you want to make a strong impression with your hard skills list, focus on hard skills that align with your specific industry expertise, and that reflect the job description. For inspiration on the right type of hard skills for a dancer resume, see below.

Listing soft skills on your dance resume

Your soft skills are the core qualities and personal characteristics that make you a good employee. They tend to apply to multiple professions and jobs, though the soft skills you'll require may change as you move from junior to senior positions. Indeed, as the nature of work changes, soft skills are growing in importance, so make sure you include them in your resume. You should generally look to include up to five soft or transferable skills that match the job description.

An effective dance resume soft skills section should be targeted to include skills that reflect your personality and unique characteristics, while also matching the job description. The graphic below includes some examples of good resume soft skills.

Licenses and Certifications

Under certifications and licenses, add any further qualifications that show you're a good fit for the job. These could be official licenses required for the job or certifications that improve your employability. Therefore, add any professional licenses or certifications, along with valid dates that show they're still valid.

Take a look at some example certifications for a dance resume below:

Optional Sections

If you need to provide further evidence of your suitability for the job, optional sections can be useful for a dancer resume. Pick from the optional sections below to help show the employer you have the skills and experience for the job.

Hobbies and Interests

Hobbies and interests can be a useful way of showing your skills and experience beyond your work and education. Consider listing hobbies and interests to help your resume stand out, or to provide the employer with some insight into your personality and wider interests. They're perfect for candidates who might lack genuine work experience as a dancer. If you're thinking about adding hobbies and interests, just make sure they add something unique to your application, and showcase your personality and interests in unique and interesting ways.

Volunteer Experience

Voluntary work can help you develop useful skills, so it's a valuable addition to your dance resume. Write your volunteer section in a similar format to your work experience, including your role, the organization name, relevant dates and the details of your contribution.

References

It's not typical to include references in a dance resume, but some employers might ask for them. Don't add references unless requested by the employer. Include a maximum of three professional references, being sure to check with your referees before including them in your resume.

Best action words for your dance resume

Action words can help illustrate to the hiring manager the difference you made in each of your previous jobs. The suggested action verbs below will help the reader to understand your key qualities and the impact you made on the organization.

If you need help creating a resume that impresses HR managers, take a look at Jobseeker's professional resume templates. You can also access beautiful cover letter templates that help your application stand out.

Example of a dance resume

The dance resume example below includes all the sections above, so you can see how a completed resume looks:

How to make an ATS-friendly resume

Applicant tracking systems (ATS) help recruiters and employers to streamline their hiring process. They can store and process data, including applications and applicant data, quickly and efficiently. One of the jobs ATS applications are increasingly responsible for is initial candidate screening. The systems can quickly scan and rank resumes based on how closely they match the job description. When drafting your dance resume, there are a few guidelines to follow to give you the best chance of passing the ATS screening stage and progressing with your application.

Create an ATS-optimized resume by following these quick tips:

• Choose a resume structure that matches the traditional, reverse-chronological layout or alternatively, the functional resume structure. This should make your resume more readable for ATS applications.
• Use of job description keywords throughout your resume will help it rank higher in the ATS scanning stage, as it will more closely match the requirements laid out in the job description.
• Add each section with clear headings that match the established resume conventions, so ATS software can easily identify each part of your resume.
• Utilize a clean, clear resume design that helps make your content more readable. Use simple fonts and subtle color accents and design elements that don't detract from the written content.
• Keep your resume as concise as possible, to make it easier to read, and for ATS software to scan.

Takeaways for a winning dance resume

Writing a strong, impactful resume is about using your experience to demonstrate your relevant skills and achievements. You can do this through your work history or other resume sections. Pick a resume format that matches your experience levels, and tailor the content of your resume to reflect the details of the job description.

Jobseeker has a wealth of resume tools, including resume templates and examples, to help you create a winning job application. Sign up today to get started. Whether you're a junior or senior candidate, a professional cover letter can help to grab the attention of the employer. Jobseeker's cover letter examples were created by careers experts to provide useful tips and ideas for your cover letter.

Sources:

(1) Careers for creative people, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics: https://www.bls.gov/careeroutlook/2015/article/creative-careers.htm

(2) Occupational Outlook Handbook, Craft and Fine Arts, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics: https://www.bls.gov/ooh/arts-and-design/craft-and-fine-artists.htm