Entertainment Resume Example

The aim of this article is to equip you with all the knowledge required to create a resume that positions you to succeed in your entertainment industry professional applications. The article will take you through the key steps of creating a resume that presents your key skills, qualities and career achievements in a format that employers favor. It will also help you tailor your resume according to your unique skills and experience level. Continue reading to discover how to showcase your creative skills in your resume, with tips from careers experts from Jobseeker.

Core sections to include in an entertainment industry professional resume

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

The order you present these sections can vary according to your career stage, but it's still essential to include each of the following:

Resume Header

A entertainment resume header contains your name and contact information. Add your first and last name, your phone number and your email address. Include your address or location, but avoid adding any other personal information. If you have a LinkedIn profile, you can add the URL to your header so the hiring manager can get a better understanding of your work history and experience. Make your resume header clear, concise and as brief and compact as possible. Consider different layouts that spread the information horizontally across the page rather than using a different line for each piece of information.

Make sure your email address appears as professional as possible, and doesn't include anything like nicknames, inappropriate language or personal information. If it does, set up a new email account with an address based on your name or initials, and use that for your job applications. Always double-check your contact details are up-to-date before sending your resume.

Resume Summary

Following your resume header, write a resume summary to introduce yourself and showcase some of your key skills and achievements. Alternative names for this section are 'resume objective' and 'personal profile'. While a resume summary focuses on your career experience, a resume objective covers your ambitions and career plans. In addition, your objective should highlight why you're an ideal candidate for entertainment industry professional roles by showing key skills and qualities that reflect the job description.

Alternatively, you could use this section to reference your objectives and ambitions, and how this role would fit into your career journey.

A strong resume summary focuses on two or three key skills and achievements that showcase your suitability for entertainment industry professional roles in a clear, quantifiable way. It also gives an insight into your personal qualities, to help the reader understand why you're a suitable candidate. You can see some positive examples of a resume summary for entertainment industry professional jobs 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. See above for some examples of things to avoid when writing your entertainment resume summary.

Employment History

Next, list your relevant employment history and any key achievements that show you're suitable for an entertainment industry professional position. Mention only the most appropriate and relevant jobs you've had in reverse-chronological order, starting with your most recent and working backwards. Add your job title, the name of the employer, the location of the role and your dates of employment.

For each job listed in this section, add some bullet points so the employer can understand the skills you developed, and your achievements. Focus on showcasing the impact you made on the organization, and show evidence of how you made a difference.

A good work experience section pulls the reader in with clear examples of where you've put the skills necessary for the job into good use in your career to date. This typically includes evidence of how your skills and activities contributed to positive outcomes for the organization. Review some strong examples of resume work experience sections in the graphic below.

In the graphic above you can see a great example of what to avoid when writing your resume work experience section. Ineffective work experience sections tend to focus too much on everyday responsibilities over skills and achievements. If you use vague descriptions of activities and fail to back up your achievements with evidence, you're likely to fail to make an impact on the reader.

Portfolio and Work Samples

Samples of your previous work as an entertainment industry professional can help to prove your track record to employers. If you have a personal website or portfolio, or other examples of your previous work online, add a link to it in this section.

Although portfolios are most relevant for creative roles, you could provide examples of any previous work. Add a simple link in your resume header, or add separate examples of your work in a portfolio section. Conversely, you might work in a non-creative sector but still have work published online that's worth showcasing. Include links to that work in this section.

Education

In this section list any educational qualifications or degrees that are relevant to entertainment industry professional roles.

Working as an entertainment industry professional doesn't usually require a degree. Even though a degree-level education isn't a necessity, it's still important to highlight your key educational achievements, including a PMP Certification or other courses or training that showcases your video editing software or social media management.

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 could also add one or two bullet points to draw attention to your grades if they were particularly good, as well as any specialist subjects you studied. This will help the hiring manager understand your knowledge and special skills better.

Membership or leadership of any societies, clubs or causes while studying can also make a positive impression on hiring managers. Consider adding these to your education section for more insight into how you used your time as a student.

Hard and Soft Skills

The skills section is one of the main ways to show employers you've got the skills required for entertainment industry professional roles. Whether your skills include social media management, time management or any other useful skills for the role, you'll want to list them here. Once more, review the job description and pick out any key entertainment industry professional skills listed that match yours. Focus on these skills and any other key transferable skills that make you a strong candidate for the job.

Showcasing hard skills on your entertainment resume

In your hard skills list, include any specific abilities related to the role you're applying for. These could be technical skills or industry knowledge that showcases your expertise in your chosen profession. Furthermore, your hard skills list helps to show employers how competent and experienced you are at key entertainment industry professional duties and responsibilities. It's best to aim for four or five key hard skills that match the job description. These can really showcase your suitability for the job.

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 an entertainment industry professional resume, see below.

Listing soft skills on your entertainment resume

In your list of soft skills, add any personal strengths, qualities or transferable skills that make you a good fit for the job. Soft skills are often less specific to different industries, but that doesn't make them any less important. In fact, you can develop soft skills throughout your career, and they tend to be suitable for various roles and professions. You should generally look to include up to five soft or transferable skills that match the job description.

Your soft skills section should make the most of your unique personal qualities and strengths, while also reflecting the requirements laid out in the job description. See below for some examples of useful soft skills for an entertainment industry professional resume.

Certifications and Training

In this section, include any entertainment industry professional certifications, training or licenses you hold that are relevant to the job. You could list accreditations for certain professional roles or licenses for certain activities that help to make you a strong candidate. Therefore, include the details of any licenses and professional certifications required for entertainment industry professional roles, along with completion dates so employers can see you're up-to-date.

Review the list below for some suitable certifications for an entertainment resume:

Optional Information

As well as the main sections of an entertainment industry professional resume, optional sections can help you prove your credentials to employers. Add any of the sections below that help you showcase your key skills and experience.

Hobbies

Adding your hobbies and interests is a legitimate way of showing off your skills and personal qualities. They also help to show a different side of your personality, and can help your resume create a more memorable impression on hiring managers. If you're short on real world work experience, hobbies and interests can be a useful way of providing more information about your qualities. Don't include hobbies and interests in your resume unless they showcase a specific interest or aspect of your personality. You'll want them to add something to your application that you can't add elsewhere.

Voluntary Work

If you're lacking relevant entertainment industry professional work experience, volunteer work can help to show you still have the relevant skills. List your volunteer job title, the organization you volunteered for, its location and the dates of your involvement, alongside a brief explanation of your responsibilities in the role.

References

It's relatively unusual to include references in a standard entertainment resume, but they are required occasionally. Check the job advert to see if you'll need to add references to your resume. Be sure to prepare your referees in advance, so they've agreed to provide a reference and are ready to be contacted.

Best words to use in an entertainment industry professional resume

Using strong action verbs in your work experience bullet points can make a stronger impression on employers and show the value you added to your previous roles. Choose from the list of words below to increase the impact of your work experience section.

Jobseeker's resume templates were created by careers experts to help you produce a professional resume in minutes. You can also find cover letter templates to complete an eye-catching job application that gets you noticed.

Example resume for entertainment industry professional applications

Using each of the sections above, we've created this example entertainment resume, to help guide you when creating your own:

How to make an ATS-friendly resume

Applicant tracking systems (ATS) help recruiters and employers to manage their hiring process. They can handle some of the more time-consuming and resource-intensive jobs, such as initial screening of resumes. Employers often receive hundreds of applications per vacancy, and ATS software can quickly and accurately scan and rank resumes based on their likely suitability for any role. When you're writing your entertainment resume, there are several things you can do to make sure your resume stands the best chance of passing the ATS stage.

Here are a few quick tips for creating an ATS-friendly resume:

• Adopt a traditional structure for your resume, such as a reverse-chronological format or a functional format. These are likely to be the easiest layouts for ATS software to scan.
• 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.
• Use clear headings that break your resume up into readable, scannable sections that match the standard content employers expect from a 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.

Key points for your entertainment resume

If you want to catch the eye of employers and recruiters, you need a professional resume that showcases your best skills and career achievements. Pick a resume format that matches your experience levels, and tailor the content of your resume to reflect the details of the job description.

HR-approved resume templates and other tools by Jobseeker are the easiest way to create a winning job application. Sign up and follow the simple instructions to complete a resume that stands out from the crowd. To make the best possible impression with your applications, write a cover letter with the help of Jobseeker. You can also find plenty of expert-designed cover letter examples for inspiration.

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