If you're looking for a job in the music industry, you'll need a CV just like any other job search, so in this blog we're going to look at some top tips for writing your music CV/Resume.
As the music industry is very competitive, you'll need to make sure that your CV stands out, even at first glance. For example, imagine how many CV's have to be looked through if there's a job position at a major record label and how many don't even get looked at because they're just standard black and white documents that don't stand out at all to the employers.
In my opinion, a CV for a creative job role should be creative itself. Use colour and have a picture of yourself on it to give more of an impact and make the employer feel like they're dealing with an actual person, not just a lifeless document.
There are lots of free CV templates out there as well, which can at the very least can give you a good starting point.
Next, we're going to cover the style, relevance and personal touches for optimising your CV.
Style
A lot of CV's that I've seen have just been black and white and quite plain looking. Although there is nothing wrong with this, you'll have more chance of your CV standing out to music industry employers and having it looked at if it catches their eye at first glance.
Think about what might help you to make your CV more unique and different from the competition.
Adding a professional headshot of you at the top of your CV instantly humanises it and as I mentioned earlier, makes the employer feel like they're dealing with an actual person as opposed to just another CV. I would recommend just a small picture, maybe showing you doing something musical if you're a musician or singer for example.
Also, try and be creative with the layout of your CV. Looking at online templates and example CV designs can be a great place to start. Make sure it's clear, concise and has quality not quantity, but also some colour and life to it.
Relevance
One thing that I think is really important in CV writing, is making it relevant to the area of work that you're looking to get into.
For example, if you're applying for a music tech teacher job, the person looking through your CV probably won't really need to know about a job you had as a paper-boy when you were a teenager.
Putting irrelevant work experience also takes up CV real estate, which is counter-productive as you don't want it to be pages and pages long. Potential employers may get put off by overly wordy and long documents.
Put down your relevant qualifications and/or work experience and maybe a section for your hard and soft skills.
For example, under hard skills you might have sound engineering and expertise in a DAW, whilst the soft skills section may contain qualities such as being creative and having good interpersonal skills.
Personal Touches
I believe adding relevant personal touches to your CV can also be useful in optimising it for the area of work that you're looking to get into.
Including things like your own music projects or band is always a good idea.
Even if it's not directly linked to the specific role that you're looking for, saying about your own music and collaborations shows that you're passionate about music and that it's more than just a job for you. It also shows that you can work well with other people if you talk about your collaborative projects and work.
Your potential employers may even look your music up and be impressed with how it sounds, musically and production wise. They may also be impressed by the way you've promoted it if they look at your social media engagement.
Big companies like major record labels are less likely to do this due to the sheer volume of applicants they have, but you might have more of a chance with some smaller companies.
Conclusion
Music industry Jobs are very competitive and often come up via word of mouth, but having a good CV that's been optimised for the job role or roles can really increase your chances, so it's definitely worth doing!
David Griffiths
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Check out some of our other blog posts:
How To Know When I Need To Upgrade My Equipment
How To Balance Making Music With A Full Time Job
5 Ways A Musician Can Stay Productive In Isolation
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