Resumé Rants

I'm cleaning out my blog drafts folder - notes that I've made to myself and never fleshed out for a full post. Enjoy this, a random brain dump from last autumn's audition application process:

Please, dark/black font color only. Occasionally your resumé gets printed or photocopied, and the sexy light blue text disappears.

When you list the venue/organization for a role you've performed, please don't write "Opera Theatre." It may be apparent to you which Opera Theatre you mean, but it's terribly confusing for us until we match it up with the name of your conservatory, etc. Find a better way to abbreviate so that it fits in the column.

I'm liking the thumbnail photo as a feature on the resumé itself. The one upside-down thumbnail photo got our attention, but ultimately, it was a little irritating.

Please resist the urge to tell us everything you've ever done. A 3-page resumé is hardly ever to your advantage. Get a website and put everything there.

Last things first: Please put performances, degrees, etc in reverse chronological order.

In general, though, the professionalism of singer resumés has improved noticeably in recent years. Doesn't mean that we don't receive occasional train-wrecks, but my anecdotal sense is that it's getting better.