22/9/17 - Career Lecture Notes

Notes from Careers Lecture

What does dance mean to you? It says everything whilst saying nothing. 
What is my dream career? I want to dance in every continent, become an artistic director/choreographer, commercial work/tours.
How will I get there? Be open-minded, perseverance, audition for everything I can, make contacts, work with as many choreographers as possible, know the industry, find my own style, make a good impression.

Next steps:
 Further training, vocational school - the place, urdang academy, rambert, performers, bird college, trinity laban. 
University - roehampton, chichester
Could work full time for a dance company, do freelance work - short contracts, teaching.

Diverse careers:
  • Choreographers
  • Costume/set designer
  • Community dance practitioner
  • Dance film maker
  • Dance photographer
  • Dance movement therapist
  • Pilates/yoga instructor
Key skills:
  1. Discipline
  2. Motivation
  3. Team work/collaborative
  4. Creativity
  5. Resilience
  6. Time-management
  7. Confidence
  8. Independance
  9. Self-motivated
  10. Determination
  11. Hard-working
Each story will be unique. 

CV Writing

CV writing - it is essentially a summary of your career history so far. Need to sell yourself, skills and qualifications. Each job needs a different CV. It is not just about you, it is about the business, and what you can bring them to improve it. 
The brand/personal statement is key, needs to grab their attention as you have about 10 seconds to convince them to carry on reading. 

Be specific, can't say 'good people skills' - need to expand, could say 'When dealing with people in different situations, I stay calm and polite'. Show that you have achieved each skill.

Layout:
Personal Details, Brand/personal statement - make impact, 3 key achievements - must be related to the job you're applying for. Education, professional qualifications and further training. Start with the most recent, always put the highest level e.g. grade 8 ballet.
Employment/work experience.

Personal statement - state what you're best at, what is your unique selling point, no more than 150 words. Short and sharp but full of impact, needs to be concise and authentic.
My unique selling point could be: Not only hard-working, but I put the work into the right places to improve, and the energy isn't wasted mindlessly repeating. Instilled a level of professionalism. 

3 essential criteria - that you meet with PROOF - need evidence. Check the job description for these skills that they want. 

E.g.
Good at using the internet - work experience in an office
Interest in Sadlers/the arts - trained dancer and have performed there
Foreign language skills - A* in French GCSE
If write a CV, can bring it to the careers office to get some feedback, and go online to careers to get a template for a CV.

DOs and DON'Ts:

DO:
  • Have a clear layout
  • Use positive vocabulary to describe yourself
  • List the most recent achievements first
  • Be honest
  • Remember it is a professional document
DON'T:
  • Have any grammatical or spelling errors
  • Include photos
  • Have an inappropriate email address
  • Lie
  • Make it longer than 2 pages
I wrote a draft of a CV and from this I learnt that you need to be extremely clear about how you link the achievements you have completed with how that makes you better suited to the job you are applying for, and it is best to write down everything you have done as long as you can ensure that it is entirely relevant. I also learnt that it is vital that you make the structure of your CV clear and label every section with a subheading to ensure it looks professional and appropriate. It is also important to make note on your CV of why you as an individual are uniquely appropriate for the job, as it is important to stand out as best you can to get their attention, so you need to make sure you demonstrate your unique selling point. Also I learnt that you must remember to make the hours you can work clear and make sure that your contact details are obvious on the page so that the employers can easily contact you.
Here is a section of the practice CV that I wrote:

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