The Anonymous Production Assistant

Two Resumes

Scott writes in: The NBC Universal Careers twitter tweeted this link about the automated systems that scan resumes for keywords. I’ve applied to a lot of jobs through these horrible portals such as Brassring and I’ve never gotten a call back. This infographic is interesting, but whenever I see these types of tips I always […]

So You Worked on a Dirty Movie…

Maggie writes in: Your blog is full of great advice and has given me TONS of useful notes so many thanks!! Here’s a question I wasn’t exactly able to find the answer to though. I worked on a very small film with a terrible title. It’s so bad that I don’t know if I can […]

When Is an Intern Not an Intern?

When she’s an unpaid PA, of course! B.W. writes in: Most of my experience comes from working for producers in the advertising world as an intern. I’ve been able to work on a lot of really great commercials with a lot of notable clients, but my positions were always “production intern,” “intern,” etc. However, in […]

How Much Can I Bullshit?

Leo asks: I wanted to ask you about applying for jobs that I’m on the borderline of being qualified for, but not really. Positions asking for a year of experience, familiarity with X Studio Pro or Other Program 2000. I have about three months worth of internship experience in pretty solid companies in LA and […]

How Much is Too Much on a Resume?

Dylan writes in with two questions: I’ve read how you recommend listing out EVERY paying non-student film job you’ve ever worked on to start the ball rolling on the resume. But how many items realistically should make it? I see you recommend 1 page, so what is that, 15 jobs? 30? Secondly, my highest credit […]

Amateur Resume Mistakes

Mark writes in: I came across your blog while searching for tips on CV-s and cover letters. I found a lot of helpful advice, but none about putting your photo in the CV. I know it’s not common to embed photos in your resume for the production intern positions, but it seems to me that […]

Don’t Slave Your Resume to IMDb

I’ve noticed a pattern among clients of my resume service. One of the first things I ask people to do is give me a list of every movie, show, commercial, video, or whatever that they’ve ever worked on. Even if it was just for a day, or all you did was deliver some DVDs to […]

Working Title

Gabrielle writes in (via Twitter, which is why it’s so short): The movie I worked on is still in pro&working under a mock title does the m.t. or the actual name go on the resume? This is similar to a question Melissa asked a couple months ago, but it still bears addressing. I’m assuming you […]

Should I Send My Resume Twice?

T writes in: Omg, I made changes to my resume based on your resume advice and there’s already a huge improvement. Is it a bad idea to resend your resume to a company you just applied too? I know it’s probably a really stupid question but I know the one I have now is soooo […]

The Right Title

Alex writes: I got my first big PA job! A friend in the camera dept. put a good name in for me. I’m a 3D Camera PA for [REDACTED]. I was just curious how I should put that on my resume. Do I specify what kind of PA I am or just put Set PA […]

If You Didn’t Get Credit, Does It Still Go On Your Resume?

Melissa asks: A few months ago, I helped a director on his low-budget film for about 4 weeks. It ended up being a huge mistake (he took advantage of my inexperience), and I didn’t receive any credit for it on IMDb. Can I still put it on my resume? Yes, you can! It doesn’t matter […]

A Random Collection of Resume Tips

After helping over a hundred people with my resume service, I’ve noticed certain mistakes seem to crop up repeatedly. So, here’s some tips in no particular order: Don’t include “social media proficiency” or something like that under your “skills.” Old people read that as “spends all day on Facebook.” Or possibly Myspace. Because, you know, […]