A Guide to Film, TV & Media CVs

In the course of my career in Film, TV & Media, I have been responsible for recruiting a wide variety of personnel at the companies I’ve been associated with, from freelance positions to permanent roles, technicians and creatives to CXOs. I have also applied for my own share of roles from freelancer to permanent roles, and Camera Technician to CXO. The difference between the high standards that I have been advised to submit my own Resume/CV to, and the loose standards of those that have been submitted to me for consideration has stood out constantly. I have also written Resumes and CVs for CXO colleagues, and while it certainly is an imperfect art, there are some often unspoken rules to follow. As I am writing from the U.K., from this point forward, for Resume read CV!

I have seen CVs that read like endless multi-page shopping lists, that if presented properly and thoughtfully could and do fit on 2 pages; CVs that are so dense with information that they compete with the small print on a sales agreement; and CVs that suggest the promise of a candidate, but fail to deliver the information to support it.

As a result, this is my guide to Film, TV & Media CVs, based on my own experience and all the advice that I have received. These are the ‘Do’s and Don’ts’, that I have learnt, and there are lots of ‘Don’ts’. So, don’t shoot the messenger!

Don’t Waste a Recruiter's Time

Look past the Job Title! It may seem obvious, but I’ve seen far too many CVs that do not fit a job title, let alone a job description. Always read, and fully understand the ‘Job Description’ and requirements that accompany the ‘Job Title’, and if you believe that your qualifications and experience are compatible, then before applying, ensure that your CV?supports?your application. Too many candidates appear to apply based on the ‘Job Title’ without reading the ‘Job Description’ and requirements. This is not to say that you shouldn’t try to advance yourself, and of course, Richard Branson would say, “Fake it, until you make it!’ However, if you don’t read the Job Description and apply for a role requiring specific experience or knowledge, especially legal and accounting qualifications, or for the benefit of this guide Film and TV experience, equipment and software proficiencies, you are wasting both your time and the recruiter’s.

ATS – Rise of the Machines

In recent years we have seen the rise of ATS software used in recruitment, and now more than ever it is important that your Resume or CV should meet certain standards. What is ATS I hear the uninitiated say? ATS refers to Applicant Tracking Systems, software packages that do everything from reading a candidate’s CV to tracking the progress of an application and indeed your career within businesses and organisations. This is such a complicated topic, that it should really be taught in schools and universities.

78% of recruiters have reported that using ATS software has increased the quality of candidates they hire. It has, however, made the applicant’s journey harder if they do not know the requirements of such systems. ATS has been around for a while now, but there has been a lack of development by many providers, which considering their role, means that many systems leave a lot to be desired. Only increased competition in the space will change this. Recruiters may also still be using older systems.?

Candidate: “I’m sure Banks use these systems, but surely broadcasting corporations and production studios don’t use this software to recruit technicians and creatives?”

Answer: Well, yes they do, very much so! If any of this has come as a revelation, then be prepared for quite a few more shocks yet. Remember, this is about getting past the gatekeeper to interview for the role you want, and you can always submit a visually creative CV once you are talking with a recruiter or potential employer. This guide is non-specific, and assumes ATS will find an issue if there is any doubt that some may and some may not.

Types of CV

There are three main types of CVs:?

• Experience Based
• Skills Based
• Hybrid (Experience and Skills Based)

First of all, don’t get confused and think that either one lacks a demonstration of either skill or experience respectively, the types relate to the layout, not what you may omit or include.

Experienced Based:?This type of CV is all about prioritising your experience, with examples to demonstrate your skills. However, these CVs don’t highlight key skills to a recruiter or ATS. Though I have seen CV writers pushing this type of CV, I really don’t understand why? This CV type makes life hard for recruiters, and employers to quickly appreciate candidates’ talents, without the use of ATS. This means that you may get your CV through the gatekeeper of ATS, but then a human recruiter may reject your CV for being hard work to read. If there is lots of competition for a role, and they are looking for a reason to reject candidates, a hard-to-read CV will be the first to go.

Skills-Based:?A skills-based CV is often good for candidates with less work experience. It gives you the ability to talk about your skills and provide examples of how you used them, in priority to your work experience, especially if you need to use non-work related examples. Two things worth noting are: (1) make sure that you still list your work experience; (2) don’t create banner subheadings for each skills category or ATS may interpret them as jobs.

Skills & Experience Hybrid:?This CV provides a recruiter with a list of your key skills before demonstrating them with your detailed experience. It makes life easy for the recruiter to get an instant picture of your skills. It is my preferred layout for a CV, and this guide is written on that basis.

Structure! Structure! Structure!

It doesn’t matter whether or not your CV is read by a recruiter or ATS, they are both looking for information, and want to extract that information as easily as possible in as little time as possible, and we are often talking seconds, not minutes. If recruiters can’t find information, they may give your CV a lower priority or even reject your CV. When a recruiter reviews your CV, visual appearance is very important. However, in the binary world of ATS, if the system can’t find the information it simply will not identify you as a suitable candidate.

Cover Letters

The advent of ‘Easy Apply’ makes it very easy to just send a CV without a cover letter. Whether or not a recruiter is fine with this is really down to individuals. It is, however, advisable to take the time to include one, and it is the perfect place to identify your ambitions and goals for the future and why you want the role. In a recent recruitment drive, while I didn’t specify a cover letter as a requirement, not one candidate took it upon themselves to include one.

If a recruitment site only allows a single upload, then attach your cover letter and CV as a single file. Always check the Job Description to see if a cover letter is specifically required. You should also fine-tune your cover letter to the company that you are applying to, it can really help your chances. If a recruiter does not identify the client, then use the Job Description to extract key information such as sector and client expectations.

A general applicant’s cover letter should be a single page. If you are applying to a senior management or CXO role then it is appropriate to outline both why you want the role, and without giving your strategy away for free, identify some of the areas that you have identified to focus on if you are successful as a candidate.

Where and to Whom to send CVs?

If you are approaching small companies then ideally identify whom to send your CV to and the correct email address to send it to. Similarly, you can identify individuals at recruitment firms before writing to them, however, you should also check if they have a portal for submitting CVs. If you are trying to submit your CV to large corporations such as Broadcasters, Production Studios, Agencies or similar, then don’t just email a CV to general enquiries. As with all companies that you submit a CV to by email, there are data protection controls in place, which means an unsolicited CV is most likely to be shredded or deleted.

Many larger corporations in Film, TV and Media have ‘Talent Networks, ‘Careers Hubs’ or similar landing pages where they post jobs, and you can submit your CV, build a profile and the recruiters can deal with your application with all the correct protocols in place. So, before applying do the research to find out the best way to apply or submit a CV. The BBC’s Career Hub includes a forum for candidates and current personnel. There are some useful links at the end of this document.

Anonymised Recruitment

Also worth noting is that some employers, most noticeably the BBC, are now holding ‘blind’ recruitment sessions where applicant information is anonymised, so that recruiters cannot be biased by place of education, background, name, age, sex or race etc during the selection process, in a bid to increase diversity.

Anatomy of a CV

Presentation

The first thing an ATS program will do is convert a CV into?PLAIN TEXT, and the more complex the presentation of your CV, the more difficult it may find to do this. If you’ve ever uploaded your CV to a recruitment website and it read it out of order or jumbled the content up, this is why. Save and Review your CV as a plain text document, it is often most revealing. Alternatively, you could try using an app like?www.Jobscan.co, of which more later.

• Don’t Head your Document as ‘Resume’ or ‘CV’:?It’s self-evident what the document is, and the space could be used for more important information or whitespace.
• Don’t Include:?Personal details such as your date of birth, Identity Card or Passport or related identification numbers, nationality or marital status as you may be opening yourself up to discrimination or identity theft.

I’ve recently been working with Ukrainian Refugees, and I know that this throws up a dilemma for them, as identifying yourself as Ukrainian can certainly open doors for support and employment. However, it may also hinder your job search, or even breach an employer’s internal code of practice, so it may be worth considering on a case-by-case basis, and it is worth asking recruiters and employers about their policies.

• Don’t put Ambitions or Goals in a CV:?Ambitions and Goals belong in your cover letter.
• No Graphics:?ATS is unable to interpret them, and it may throw out the system’s ability to recognise other important information in your CV.
• No Pictures:?I am aware that this is a trend in some countries, but it is not convention in the UK and can contribute to discrimination by sex, age, race or appearance.
• No Tables, Columns or Text Boxes:?ATS has real difficulty in interpreting them and it doesn’t know where to put the content if it can even see and identify its presence. ATS literally wants everything in its place and expected order.
• Don’t Overuse Bullet Points:?Bullet points are a commonly used tool in CVs but don’t overuse them. There used to be a trend for every sentence to be bullet-pointed, this is no longer the case and a more conversational paragraph style is current. So, group sentences together by topic to convey competence in a subject before bullet-pointing. Only use standard round bullets.
• Don’t use shaped bullet points, arrows, squares, WordArt or other graphics:?Yes you guessed it, ATS may be unable to read it.
• No Headers, Footers or Page Numbers:?Very few ATS systems are able to read Header and Footer content, and if they are able to read it for what it is, they are likely to insert it into the incorrect field. Page numbers are a similar issue, but in a digital format are also redundant, because no one is likely to lose a page like in the days of paper submissions.
• No Funky Fonts:?Choose a font that is both easy for the ATS and recruiter to read. If you have technical or financial content in your CV, then your choice of font can make all the difference to readability and the amount of whitespace. The Top 10 Recruiter and ATS-friendly fonts are (1) Times New Roman (2) Tahoma (3) Verdana (4) Arial (5) Helvetica (6) Calibri (7) Georgia (8) Cambria (9) Gill Sans (10) Garamond.
• No Font smaller than 10:?

This is no joke; I was once sent a dense one-page CV which included Font 2. You’re not being clever, and your CV will most likely be rejected out of hand. Don’t do it!

• Font Size:?Name and Main Job Description (14 to 16); Section Headers (12 to 14); Company Names, Job Descriptions, Location (i.e., London), Dates (12 or you may find long job descriptions hard to fit); Content (10 to 12). Minimum Font Size 10.
• No Division Lines:?They can apparently confuse some ATS systems.
• No more than 4 Fonts:?Every time you change the font size, use italic, superscript or subscript it counts as a font, so limit yourself to no more than 4. It helps maintain a professional and consistent appearance.
• No more than 4 Font Colours:?Every time you change colour it counts, and it can be visually distracting when a recruiter reads your CV, and colour-heavy CVs are both expensive and a pain to print. If you add hotlinks to email, websites, portfolios or additional information, make sure the links are of a consistent colour. Black and Blue are common, but some corporations may stipulate submission in Black only, so there are no issues if copied. Also, never use shading or less than 100% of a colour.
• Don’t Overuse Manual Formatting:?If you over-use the space bar or multiple tabs?it may throw out the ATS when it converts your CV to plain text. Instead, use the 'Insert alignment tab' function. If when you upload your CV to corporate job platforms and websites like Monster or Indeed they lay your information out poorly, this is why.
• No Inconsistent Capitalisation:?Watch out for this! Apart from when starting a sentence or capitalising a title be consistent. For instance: executive, Executive, EXECUTIVE.
• Document Format:?PDF or Docx are both acceptable formats. However, for maximum readability by ATS use DOCX. In addition, if a recruiter likes your CV, but it contains the odd error, they can be corrected quickly, without sending your CV back to you or rejecting it. It also easily enables CVs to be tweaked and for contact information or other details that may cause bias by an employer in the recruitment process to be removed easily. If you think recruiters make no changes too, or don’t edit CVs, think again!
• Don’t Repeat Yourself:??Only place one set of contact details at the top of your CV and do not use a Header. This does not mean, don’t adjust your margins to compensate for the loss of area. Only use a section classification once. With the exception of Job Titles, if you had the same responsibility in more than one role, find a way to vary the description, as some ATS may flag the repetition.
• Don’t Overuse Glue or Sticky Words:?Glue or Sticky Words are the words that bring cohesion to the English language. However, they can sometimes be overused. The recommended limit for glue words is 40%, but you should aim to be lower. Examples are: By, for, from, in, much, of, some, there, to, and was.
• No Templates:?Especially not those that you find online or in Word, Pages, Google Docs etc, or TORI Awards (more later), as they regularly fail to meet ATS criteria.
• Don’t Hide Text in the Whitespace:?This really annoys recruiters and me particularly! First of all, it will be revealed by ATS, or by a simple conversion of all text to a single colour, and secondly, it may not know where to put it or what section it relates to. These CVs are unlikely to succeed!

Number of pages

• TWO A4 Pages is the preferred standard in the UK. Though this is not set in stone.
• If you are an entry-level candidate or have low work experience then you may find that you only need a single-page CV. In this case, always submit a cover letter.
• Some consider 3-pages to be acceptable for a CXO role, but it is debatable. I prefer 2.
• Three pages?are,?however, acceptable in many European Countries due to the complexity of the language. I have written CVs for conversion into Dutch and German and my starting point was a two-page English language version.
• A third page may be acceptable if you are highly credentialled or have a high volume of credits.
• If you are highly credentialled and have a complex education, certifications, multiple speaking engagements, credits and portfolios, these can also all be communicated to a recruiter via hotlinks to additional information online or via a resource such as Dropbox, and there is a growing trend for this, but don’t overload your CV, and keep them relevant, also remember that ATS will not read them, so reserve them for secondary and supporting information. Ensure you note that your CV includes hotlinks to other information, which I will come to later, and this relates to what your CV is trying to convey.

Word Count

• This is where you will get lots of different answers and opinions, and it really depends on the sector you are in, your age, experience, and your seniority.
• 400 words per page is seen as a minimum, and the average person with a two-page CV should aim at up to 800 words across 2 pages.
• More than 800 words to approximately 1200 words is considered relevant for Senior Level and CXO candidates. Don’t worry if you are three words over a target.
• Be concise and try to avoid flowery language. The app Grammarly is very good at removing flowery unnecessary words from the English language, while it is undesirable when writing a novel, in this case, it is just what you want.

Whitespace

The balance between whitespace and text on your CV is important for readability, though is somewhat subjective, but getting it right can apparently increase readability by 20%. Some CV writing apps can be useful to monitor this, unless, of course, you have access to a friendly recruiter and their expensive ATS. Font type can contribute to readability and the amount of whitespace, so keep this in mind. If you have too much whitespace, you may want to go through the other steps I suggest, to see if you’ve provided enough information.

Relevance of Content

Keep the content relevant, not just to your profession, but to the role that you are applying for too. It is imperative that you read the job description to pitch your CV correctly for a role.?

For instance: If you are a Head of Broadcast Operations, pitching for a Head of Operations, VFX & Post-Production role, then demonstrating proficiency in Resolve, Baselight, Flame, Maya and Nuke etc is going to be more relevant than your knowledge of ingest and playout.?

Content Priorities

• Consider what in your CV is most important to the role that you are applying for and prioritise it: Key Expertise, Professional Experience, Education, Training and Certifications.
• If you want to prioritise your skills then lay them out ahead of your work experience, or adopt a skills-based CV and conversely, if your work experience is stronger then you may consider swapping them around. Personally, I prefer to always see a candidate highlight their key skills and abilities before their work experience.?
• Unless you only recently left school or college or are extremely well credentialled, the chances are Education will take its conventional position toward the end of a CV. If, however, you are a PhD or have other letters after your name, then you can immediately alert a recruiter to these by putting them after your name.

Sections of a CV

Always make sure that your layout clearly defines sections, and makes it easy for both recruiters and ATS to identify.

Required Information

• First Name, Surname
• Contact information
• Personal Statement
• Key Expertise & Skills
• Professional Experience (Jobs, Job Titles, Employment Dates)
• Responsibilities & Achievements (relevant to each Job Title)
• Education
• Professional Training & Certifications

Additional Information?(Optional Categories)

• Awards, Publications & Speaking Engagements
• Work-related conferences you attended
• Additional languages
• Volunteering jobs
• Hobbies & Interests

Regardless of which categories you use, always make sure that the titles that you use are compatible with ATS layouts and expectations. A Google will generally provide an answer.

Your Name

Always include your first name and last name on your CV. If your CV or information is in the public domain, then don’t display your middle initial(s) for security reasons.

Your Contact Phone Number & Email

Always include your email address in an all-lower-case format as a hotlink. In a hangover from the days of paper CVs, some people enter email and other links in all CAPS. Don’t though, as some ATS then fail to recognise the email. Check if it works before submission!

Always make sure your telephone number is in either a local or internationally recognised format. Again, this is important for ATS, and for when recruiters want to contact you.

Postal address

Including your address is helpful, though not essential. It is extremely rare for anyone to respond to job applications by post anymore. Unfortunately, too many corporate sites still require an address, but this may change as efforts to protect data and prevent discrimination progress.

Including your address, can, however, work against you if you live outside of Greater London or other metropolitan areas. Many recruiters and employers appear to lag behind on commuter trends, or may not know that you are relocating, so if it may work against you, consider leaving it off. Alternatively, you can make a point that you have no issues with commuting to your job in the closing paragraph of your cover letter.

Job Title

If you are sending your CV to someone in a prospective manner or simply to demonstrate your credentials then your Job Title should be your current title, or possibly the most senior role that you have held.?

If you are applying for a role, then you should use the Job description that is used in the role for which you are applying.

Contact Details

ATS will expect your contact details (Phone and email) to be at the top of your CV. Don’t use all caps, as I’ve found it can confuse some ATS. It’s a bit hit-and-miss.

Personal Profile

A personal profile is now a generally expected part of a CV, and ATS will likely flag its omission. It should appear directly beneath your Job title banner. It provides a useful summary of you as an applicant and is an opportunity to grab the attention of a recruiter.?

Personal profiles are generally 4-6 lines or 50-80 words long. Unless you are a Senior Executive or CXO, your introduction shouldn’t be more than 80 words, and even then, it’s worth trying to stick to around 80 words. You have the whole body of your CV to dazzle the reader with.

Key Skills & Expertise

Your skills and expertise should be identified and demonstrated throughout the content of your CV, but it is advisable to highlight your key skills and expertise early on in your CV, to give a recruiter a snapshot of what they are. Don’t fall into the trap of listing something in your key skills that isn’t later demonstrated in the body of your CV.??Also, note that the more times you mention a skill the greater dominance some ATS may give it.?

For the purposes of this guide, skills and expertise largely fall into two main categories: Business skills and Film, TV and Media skills. Below are some examples, though depending on your expertise there are likely to be others, and the list is indicative, not definitive.

Business Examples:

Asset Management, Budget Management, Business Development, Entrepreneurship, Financial Management, Forecasting, Logistics, Manufacturing, Operations Management, Personnel, Project Management, Sales Management, Strategy, Supply Chain Management, Team Leadership, Vision

Film, TV and Media Examples:

Broadcasting, Cameras, Lenses, Grip & Lighting Equipment, Cinematography, Content Creation, Creativity, Digital Marketing, Digital Video, Directing, Facilities, Film, Health and Safety, Hire, Producing, Production Budgets, Production Management, Programming, Social-Media, Streaming.

Don’t fall into the trap of combining types of management to reduce the instances of the word ‘management’. ATS is looking for specific phrases, and may not register skills if you write, for example, ‘Project and Supply Chain Management’ instead of ‘Project Management and Supply Chain Management’. Also, check extremely carefully for double-spacing between multi-word keywords, as ATS may not see the words as being connected.

Range of skills

Your CV should demonstrate a good range of skills, relevant to your experience, and more importantly the role that you are applying for. I’ve said this before, but don’t apply for roles that require a range of skills that your CV does not demonstrate or support.

Recruiters and ATS are looking for compatibility with skill sets and requirements defined by working with the employer to produce the job description. Read the job description carefully to identify these. Some apps like Jobscan will identify these in both your CV and the job description and compare them. However, use such apps as a guide, and don’t become obsessed with trying to chase the perfect CV and skills match. Note that, if you dismiss skills on Jobscan, ensure you reset your preferences before testing your CV against a new job description, or it may miss a key skill identified in the text.

The Location of Skills

As I have already said, your skills and expertise should be found and demonstrated throughout your CV. An analysis of skills in a CV may vary between ATS depending on how they are set up and what they are looking for. As an example, an analysis of my own CV through ATS identified 105 skills and skill categories, the breakdown for each section was:

• Key Expertise 30%
• Professional Experience 64%
• Education 3%
• Professional Training 1%
• Additional Information 2%

Skills dominance

Depending on the system, an ATS may produce a list of your skills and their dominance for a recruiter or employer. Below is an example of one generated by ATS from my CV.

Communication & Interpersonal Skills, Leadership & Management, Creativity & Innovation, Commercial & Customer Awareness, Organisation & Planning, Teamworking & Collaboration, Administration & Management, Production & Processing, Communications & Media, Sales & Marketing, Building & Construction*, Engineering & Technology, Law & Government*, General Sales, Corporate Development, Investor Relations, Lending*, Public Relations, Advertising, Business Planning, Channel Partner, Ecosystem Marketing, Specs & Documentation, Corporate, Logistics, CEO, Management, Activities Or Functions, General Engineering, Planning & Estimating.

It’s worth noting that ATS does not always get things 100% right! ATS is often set up in a generic manner, particularly at recruitment companies that deal with multiple sectors, and this can throw up aberrations. In the above list, I tagged three items, and I’ll explain why below.

• Building & Construction: I have ‘Built’ and planned facilities in Film, TV and Media, and have been responsible for ‘Building’ relationships in business, but a generic ATS read it in relation to the ‘Building & Construction’ sector.
• Lending: I have been involved in setting up leasing agreements and negotiations for the investment of sizeable amounts of money, but I have never been a ‘Lender’. Again, ATS has misinterpreted terminology.
• Law & Government: I have been an expert witness in court cases and dealt with the ‘Law’ and lawyers or legal situations often, and I’ve worked with ‘Government’ departments in the course of projects, met the odd Head of State, Senator, Ambassador, and Diplomat, but I’m not a ‘Lawyer’, nor have I ever worked in ‘Government’.?

Perhaps those strange roles that LinkedIn and other job sites keep offering you may now make sense, after all, LinkedIn’s algorithms are very similar to an ATS.

Transferable skills

Transferable skills are the common skill types that every employer is looking for. Probably the most requested transferable skills in a job description are, but are not limited to: Communication, Teamwork, Leadership, Organisation, and Problem-solving. Flexjobs has a great list?here.

Key Areas of Knowledge

These are the key areas that apply to either generic job requirements, or those that are more specific to a sector, such as Film, TV and Media. Identify these for your own CV and then expand on them providing the recruiter with evidence of your knowledge. I see far too many Media CVs that list a job title, and then don’t provide any further information about the role.

Some useful Key Areas in Film, TV & Media (again the list is indicative, not definitive):

Administration & Management, Broadcasting, Cinematography, Cinema/Theatres, Directing, Editing, Equipment Rental, Sales, Design and Manufacturing, Filmmaking, Finance & Accounting, Production, Set Design & Construction, Technology, VFX, Writing.

Professional Experience Section

This is the section where you should demonstrate your skills and expertise in detail with examples.

The most common failure in Film, TV and Media CVs is to list a job title, such as ‘Head of Post-Production’, then list a number of production credits, but say nothing about the equipment, software, setup, or your responsibilities, whom you worked with or reported to, and the size and nature of the budget or contract. I would encourage you to provide this information in an interesting sentence structure. Possibly detail problems that you overcame, or a technique that you developed, particularly if it was ground-breaking.

I’ll deal with credits separately later.

Job Titles & Company Names

All your jobs should have job titles and companies. Job titles easily convey your level of experience and career progress. Ensure that they are accurate, don’t be tempted to get creative. If you were freelance and ATS says it is unable to identify the ‘Company’ you could try using your name as the ‘company’, and freelance as the position, it worked for me.

Job Title, Employer, Location and Date Layout

Present both the recruiter and ATS with an easy-to-read layout. For example:

Head of Post Production | XYZ Post | London | APR 2020 to JUN 2022

A leading London facility for Film & TV post-production

• Established facilities for XYZ Post, specified equipment, network and software requirements (Baselight, Flame); recruited personnel. Generated ￡1M in contracts.
• Supervised post-production on the $100M Feature ‘A’, TV Drama ‘B’, over 40 commercials for ‘Agency C’, and Concerts for ‘Band X’, ‘Band Y’ and ‘Band Z’.
• Developed an award-winning post technique, saving production ￡10M in budget spend and reduced render time by 30%.?

Note: Remember to use the ‘insert tab alignment’ function to align your header.

Dates

There are certain formats for dates that ATS likes to see, and those that it appears not to. Don’t just use years only; or if you are applying to both UK and US recruiters, day dates, as ATS may read days and months incorrectly.

04/2020 to 06/2020

April 2020 to June 2022

APR 2020 to JUN 2022

Apr 2020 to Jun 2022???????????????????

Job Order & Inclusion

Your work history should be presented in reverse chronological order. The first role the recruiter or ATS should see is your most recent. Generally speaking, after 15 years of experience, you can either drop the oldest roles from your CV or summarise them each as one or two lines.

However, in exceptional circumstances, you may choose to include older roles in detail, such as a significant role and contribution in your career history that will be excluded if you only represent 15 years of experience, and which may explain how you arrived at a later significant role. This may be useful if you took time off, or had to take a lesser role after a period of career success, as many experienced during the pandemic.

Multiple Current Jobs

Unless you’re a Board member or Director of multiple companies this should not apply to you. Employers and recruiters generally do not like to see multiple current jobs.

Whether you are freelance or a corporate director and are currently working on several productions or contracts, then they should be presented together under a common Job Title for the period.

Listing yourself as a ‘Director / Filmmaker / Cinematographer’ can create issues with employers, and production crew alike, especially if one of the roles is more senior than you are applying for, or the person that you are applying to. I’ve lost count of the CVs I’ve received from newly graduated students, that identified a prospective 2nd?AC as a Director of Photography. It might suggest that you are not invested in the role, and would really like the top job. It’s fine if it was for a particular past role in the body of your CV, but not if it is your banner headline when sending your CV out to prospective employers.

If ATS is interpreting your CV as if you have multiple current jobs, and you don’t, then look to see why. Check your employment dates as a first stop. Jobscan, or loading your CV onto a recruitment website will often reveal any issues.

Responsibilities & Achievements

• Ensure that you outline what your responsibilities in a role are or were as a minimum, but also try to name at least one achievement.
• As I’ve said before, it’s amazing how many people enter a job description or title in the main body of their CV and don’t say what their responsibilities and achievements in the role were.
• What to include: Measurables, such as revenues, budgets, budget cuts/increases, contract types and values, margins and percentage decreases/increases. departments and managers you worked with etc.
• It’s really important to ensure that your skills are demonstrated in the body of your CV from the point at which you acquired them, as ATS may summarise your skills and how long you have had them based on where they appear in your CV.
• More on this in relation to Credits later as there are certain nuances.

Sentence Length

• Long never-ending sentences make a CV hard work to read, so try to keep it to 10 to 20 words per sentence. Sometimes though, it can’t be avoided, but try to limit yourself to no more than 2 long sentences of 30 words over 3 lines in the 2 pages.

Credits

How Media professionals present credits really depends on how they are using their credits. If you are listing your credits simply to demonstrate that you won a contract, or have a body of experience in the realm of production, secondarily to a business role and the main body of your CV, then it may be appropriate simply to list project titles and group them by type, such as Features, TV Drama, Factual, Unscripted etc.

If you are reliant on those credits to support your ability to carry out a job function in your application then more information will generally be expected, unless you are a celebrity of some kind, such as: Producer, Director, or Cinematographer. Here are some examples of my personal expectations:

• Producers: Studio/Prod. Co, Distributor, Director, Lead Actors, Cinematographer, Format, Duration.
• Production roles: Studio/Prod. Co, Distributor, Producer, Prod. Manager, Director, Dept. Head, Format, Duration, Actors and Cinematographer (optional, but always a polite nod).
• Directors: Studio/Prod. Co, Producer, Lead Actors, Cinematographer, Format, Duration.
• Cinematographers: Studio/Prod. Co, Producer, Director, Format, Camera & Lenses, Duration, Camera Operator(s) and Lead Actors (optional, but a nice nod).
• Camera Operators: Studio/Prod. Co, Producer, Director, Cinematographer, Specialism (Steadicam, Drones), Format, Camera & Lenses, Format, Duration, Lead Actors (optional).
• Technicians: Studio/Prod. Co, Producer, Director, Cinematographer, Operator(s), Format, Duration, Cameras & Lenses.
• Editors, VFX & Post-Production Personnel (Visual/Audio): Studio/Prod. Co, Producer, Director, Cinematographer, Dept. Head, Specialism, Post Production Systems.

Everyone likes intrigue! If you’ve worked on a production that’s under wraps, don’t leave a hole in your production credits, put it down as Top Secret, Confidential, or Under Embargo, that way there is no hole in your work history!

Section content

All section headers should have related content beneath them. As I’ve said before, don’t enter a section, particularly a job description and title without including supporting information, such as responsibilities and achievements.

Certifications

If you have certifications or memberships relevant to your work, such as:?MBA, BSc,?ACCA, CIPD,?CIPM, B.S.C, A.S.C, G.B.C.T, G.T.C or similar, then it is common to find these listed after your name. If you have multiple certifications or memberships then it may be appropriate to place them underneath your name at the top of your CV. This often applies to Accountants, Lawyers, Chief Information & Security Officers, Cinematographers and Guild members. Don’t forget to give greater detail about them at the end of your CV.

Education Section

If you have less than 3 years of experience then your education should include GCSEs, A-Levels, and Degree or equivalent training, as this gives employers an indication of your potential and capabilities. When you have more than five to 10 years of experience, you may want to consider gradually dropping GCSEs and A-Levels from your CV as your work experience progressively takes the stage. The latter is somewhat subjective and really depends on the speed of your development in the work and business environment. Your rate of promotion and the number of promotions is often a good indicator.

You should include:

• Your education in reverse chronological order.
• Name of School, College, University.
• For GCSEs and A-Levels, list all Subjects and Grades.
• Degree, Course, Specialism, Dissertation, Grades, 1sts, 2nds, 3rds.
• Provide Course Dates (see additional commentary below).
• List relevant skills that you may have acquired in your education, particularly if you are low on real-world experience. Include related equipment and software that you may be proficient in.

Education dates

Including dates on your education ensures ATS puts your education in the correct order and is able to tell your most recent qualification.

• If you have more than 10-15 years-experience, then you may well want to consider removing the date of your degree altogether, to prevent age discrimination.
• It is not generally considered necessary to include dates of education if you have more than 10 years of experience and it may cause discrimination if your experience is in excess of 20 years.

Social Media

• Links to social media accounts on a CV can bring an additional layer and depth to your personal branding, but be careful of the pitfalls.
• Only include social media platforms that you use as professional outlets. Remember most social media platforms are in the public domain, but you can ensure your Facebook is set to friends only.
• Avoid making controversial posts or entering into arguments on social media, it won’t endear you to recruiters or employers.
• Know the difference between polite professional debate and an argument, even if others don’t. If a topic is going somewhere you would prefer that it didn’t, try: ‘I respectfully disagree’ and say no more, or maybe ‘You may think that, but I couldn’t possibly comment’. In the worst-case scenario, withdraw and delete, after screen-grabbing the exchange for reference if later required.

LinkedIn

• Include your LinkedIn URL with a hotlink.
• Edit your URL! Either JohnDoe or Jane.Doe are acceptable formats. Do NOT leave it in the LinkedIn default format. You can find guides online on how to do this.
• LinkedIn is a great place to attach documents and expand upon the information in your CV. Make it work for you.
• A comprehensive profile can aid your personal branding.
• Post at least once a week, but if you do this, make sure it is in a regular window; and anything up to 7 times a week maximum.
• Posting an occasional article can increase your professional profile and thought leadership, but never more than once a week unless you are a journalist.

Hobbies & Interests.

While there are arguments for and against, it would seem that including Hobbies & Interests is becoming increasingly irrelevant in the ATS-dominated recruitment world. That said, a passion for music and proficiency in an instrument, may be relevant for a role with a production company working on music production or a music publisher. Similarly, a love of Gardening may suit you for a role on a Gardening Production. If, however, you are unable to make a tenable link to a role, you may want to use the space for more relevant information.?

Spelling & Grammar

Pay attention to your spelling and grammar, it demonstrates that you have an eye for detail to recruiters, but in the case of ATS, it may mean the difference between a keyword being registered or not. If a recruiter is looking for a decision-maker between your CV and another, then spelling mistakes may be the deciding factor.

• For those in Media, be aware that ATS may flag trade names and production titles as spelling errors. ATS has flagged the production ‘Ballykissangel’ on my CV.
• Use spellcheck or an app like ‘Grammarly’. Though, if you’re a creative writer, be aware even its British English grammar can sometimes lack that flowery quality. In a CV, this may not be a bad thing and might keep your language succinct.
• As Film, TV and Media is an international sector, if English isn’t your first language then you need to take great care of your CV.

A Positive Choice of Words

Make sure that you use a reasonable number of positive adjectives to describe yourself, and verbs to describe your actions. Be as self-aware as possible, and don’t lie in describing yourself. If in doubt, ask a close friend or colleague for help.

• Adjectives:?the website Indeed, have a great list?here.
• Verbs:?Indeed, also have a great list?here.

Always begin a sentence by being positive, but don’t use the same word every time, it makes it predictable to read, and ATS will be looking for multiple keywords.

For example: Contracted, Controlled, Delivered, Established, Headed, Launched, Secured, Successfully, Transformed.

Particularly useful in Film, TV & Media are: Awarded, Broadcasted, Commissioned, Created, Designed, Directed, Edited, Equipped, Expertly, Filmed, Led (the team/campaign for…), Produced, Professionally, Programmed, Scheduled, Streamed, Supervised, Won.

Most used words

Most of us have a tendency to fall back on the same vocabulary. Knowing what your favourite words are can help you re-write your sentences to make them less repetitive.

Numbers

When writing a CV, you are trying to be succinct, so round numbers up to a few decimal points. Discuss large numbers in terms of: ￡10K, ￡100K, ￡1M ￡100.3M ￡1.54B etc. Whether you use small or big letters for values is up to you, but ‘Caps’ draw the human eye better. Whatever you choose to do though, be consistent.

Terminology & Tense

There are certain terms and their usage that are common in Film & TV that are American or Trans-Atlantic in nature. When we discuss a film's box office run in the US, we may refer to revenues of ‘$100M Domestic’ rather than ‘domestically’; or discuss ‘production spend’ over ‘spending’. Similarly, the tense of some words may be key to an ATS recognising a skill in your CV. Watch out for this when writing and spell-checking your CV, and make sure that your terminology matches the job description and industry trends, as otherwise an ATS may not be set up to register a skill, so keep on it.

Hotlinks

Provide a really good way of including other information on your CV that might otherwise make your CV overly long. They also ensure that things like portfolios, documents and comprehensive credits, technical, training, education, speaking and awards histories always accompany your CV wherever they may be sent. Just remember:

• Don’t overuse hotlinks.
• Make sure that the links work before sending your CV. Check every time!
• Ensure that you draw attention to the inclusion of hotlinks in your cover letter.
• Only use hotlinks for secondary information, which is not imperative to your application, as ATS is unable to read it.
• You are primarily using a hotlink to make a human recruiter’s life easier, not ATS.
• Some older ATS systems can’t even identify the presence of hyperlinks.
• Some companies’ corporate policies won’t allow personnel to open links, though there are usually corporately approved procedures that enable them to be opened.

Filmmakers’ CVs

There has always been a trend for the CVs of Camera Crew to be solely a list of all the positions they’ve worked in, productions they’ve worked on, and the equipment they’ve worked with. I would, however, encourage crew members to adopt the Hybrid CV layout but to use either the second or possibly even a third page for listing credits and technical information. Note that, in this rare exception to the rule, unlike secondary information discussed here to hotlink to, in this case, we a discussing primary information, that you want both a recruiter and ATS to register. If you have more credits than will fit on 2-3 pages, then and only then, be selective, and consider hotlinks to older and less relevant credits and information.

References

Don’t include references, and don’t write ‘References available on request’ either. Both are a waste of useful space. It is generally expected that a candidate will provide references when they are requested, so have them ready for submission. Some corporate job sites, such as the BBC Careers Hub have a references area. If you complete the references section on a corporate website, make sure that you keep them up to date.

Reading Time:?

• An average CV will take approximately 2 to 3 minutes to read.
• A Senior Management CV may take between 4 to 5 minutes, depending on the profession, position and nature of the content.

File Names

File Names should be succinct, professional, easy to search for and exclude complications such as hyphens and underscores, corporate names, dates, and version numbers:?

Don’t use:?‘Joe_Bloggs_CV_XYZCorp_Feb_2023_Vs2.Docx’ for example

Do use:?‘Joe.Bloggs.CV.Docx

If you use a file name with the company you work for, or the last company that you applied to, it really doesn't do to send it with that filename to a another company.

In addition, freshly save your CV before attaching it to an application. If you send your CV with a file date of 2021 in 2023, it will suggest that you haven’t updated it in all that time.

CV Writing Services

If you choose to use a CV writing service, there are a few things to know and watch out for:

• There is a current trend to get Senior Executive CVs and Cover Letters written specifically for each individual application. This may sound expensive, and it is. However, in the world of corporate media executives, it can be the difference between getting or not getting a role.
• There are numerous professional CV writing services.
• If you work in the Media, then identify one that has a track record of working for broadcasting corporations, studios, streamers, and agencies like the BBC, Amazon, Disney and WPP.
• Don’t use the cheap generic services online, you won’t get a good CV for the money they charge - consider the time and work involved!
• There are many dreadful reviews of cheap services and instances of CVs being farmed out to people for whom English is not a first language.
• A quality service will pair you with the appropriate writer from their team.
• Use a quality writing company, not a worldwide corporation, and always check their reviews.
• TORI Award-winning services are a good indicator of a quality service (see below).
• Discuss your CV needs with the company before contracting them or making any payment.
• It’s a two-way process, so make sure you give them the information they require to do their job properly.
• Pick a service with good references in your sector.
• Remember, ‘you get what you pay for,’ conversely, make sure the writer delivers.
• Don’t keep changing your mind about what you want from the service.

TORI Awards

The TORI Awards are an annual competition for CV writers, and potentially a good way to judge if a CV writing service is worth hiring. However, be aware that there is a significant difference between CVs written for awards competitions and CVs that will land you a job, so if you are writing your own CV, I refer you back to my earlier comment about not using templates from the internet, and following convention in the country that you are applying.

Debatable

It won’t surprise me if this piece begins a debate on LinkedIn, between CV Writers, Recruiters, Employers and dare I say Candidates in Film, TV and Media, over CV content and presentation. I’d like to remind all that might choose to engage that the purpose of the article is so that we all submit and receive high-quality, effective CVs that don’t frustrate either party. If there is contradictory intelligence on a topic, this article assumes the worst.

Useful Media Links in the UK

In the UK the Generic places to find jobs are the websites Indeed, Monster, LinkedIn and other portals such as the Guardian Jobs site, as well as specific corporate websites. In the Media, things can be more specific, though LinkedIn and the Guardian remain good places for management roles in Media. So below are some useful Media related links to find jobs and training, to become a member of a professional organisation or to get yourself listed.

www.cinecircle.co.uk - 50-london-film-recruitment-companies

Careershub.bbc.co.uk

Careers.channel4.com

Comcast - Talent Community

www.itvjobs.com/recruitment

Media.Monks.com/careers

paramountcareers.uk

www.publicisgroupe.com - careers & job opportunities

careers.sky.com

www.gbct.org

www.gtc.org.uk

careers.wbd.com - talent community

www.wpp.com people careers

jobs.theguardian.com

www.4rfv.co.uk

www.bafta.org

www.bectu.org.uk

www.bfi.org.uk

www.bsccine.com

www.creative.wales

www.crew-united.com

www.Directors.uk.com

www.equity.org.uk

www.filmlondon.org.uk

www.grittytalent.tv

www.kays.co.uk

www.kftv.com

www.productionbase.co.uk

www.productionguild.com

www.productionhub.com

www.screen.scot

www.screenskills.com

www.screensouth.org

www.screenyorkshire.co.uk

www.skillset.co.uk

www.talentbases.com

www.theknowledgeonline.com

www.thetalentmanager.com

www.ukscreenalliance.co.uk

Thank you for reading and I hope that this has helped, been informative and useful.

#cv #resume #cvwriting #recruitment #film #tv #television #media #broadcasting #broadcast #filmmaking #filmproduction #tvproduction #setlife #entertainmentindustry