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Music Resume Checkup

Music Resume Checkup

Chloe Bennet
Guest Post by Chloe Bennet

Writing a resume as a musician can be a bit tricky, and it’s certainly different from writing a resume for most other jobs. But if you follow this guide, it will be a straightforward and simple process to create an effective music resume. Here are six steps to write a music resume.

Start with your relevant job experience

“List any experience you consider relevant in reverse chronological order. This can include performances, the years you played, the organization, your instrument(s), your section or chair (if relevant), and whether you were a regular member of the organization or a backup,” writes John Gilliam, resume proofreader at OXEssays. If you’re young and don’t have much experience, don’t worry. You can put things like school performances, recitals, festival entries, and other achievements as a way of showing your ability and passion for playing live music.

Write a compelling bio

We’ve talked about how important your experience section is, but there are a few other must-haves for a music resume. Include a bio that introduces you and your musical ambitions a bit. These can be very effective for grabbing a recruiter’s attention if you write in an engaging way and make it unique. What are your interests? What motivates you to perform? Make yourself stand out from the other applicants by using your bio. Write in a tone that matches the style of your music. Write in second-person, this makes it easy for media and bloggers to republish your bio. Don’t forget to include some career highlights in your bio as well.

Save your education section for last

You can include your education even if it is not directly related to music. If you attended college then you don’t need to include your high school education. But if you are just starting out then it is okay to include high school musical experience to pad your resume a bit. Just write your school’s name, the years attended, and the degree you were awarded. If you do have a musical education, then that will definitely make you a more attractive candidate in the eyes of a recruiter.

Formatting

You have two choices when it comes to formatting a music resume, functional and chronological. Chronological will order your experience, education, and achievements in reverse order, as to display your most recent activity at the top. If you’ve got lots of relevant education and experience, then this is the way you’ll want to go. If you’re short on these things, then the functional resume format is your friend. Functional formatting does not list things in order, but rather it will emphasize your skills and experience. So, for instance, if you are not professionally trained, but you are self-taught and have some performances under your belt, choose the functional format. This format lets you order your information in the way you think makes the best impression.

Use some online tools to write your resume

Most people can use some extra help with writing, and that’s especially true for writing a resume. Here are some useful resources that will help you write a better quality music resume:

1) Resumention – This is a resume writing service that will help you create an effective music resume that will land you your dream job.

2) ViaWriting and WritingPopulist – Check out these grammar resources so you can rest easy that you’re not leaving grammatical mistakes in your resume. Just a single error can result in your resume being deleted, so it’s important.

3) PaperFellows and Essayroo – Use these online proofreading tools to ensure your writing is perfect and you haven’t missed any typos. They have been recommended by the people at Revieweal and are very reliable.

4) SimpleGrad and Dissertation Writer – Read through these blogs to improve your business writing knowledge. They are full of useful suggestions you can use to improve your resume.

5) Custom Essay Writing and UKWritings.com– Use these editing tools, which have been reviewed in UKWritings review, to make sure you haven’t left any mistakes in your resume.

6) MyWritingWay and LetsGoandLearn – Check out these career guides for resume help and more.

Other music resume tips

Keep your resume short; nothing over two pages. Did you know that recruiters on average spend about six seconds scanning your resume to decide if they keep it or delete it? That’s not much time, so be succinct. Consider writing a creatively designed resume to make yours stand out from the competition. Be wise with who you choose for your references; that means no listing friends or family on there.

Conclusion

Music resumes are unique and quite a bit different than your average resume. Depending on your level of formal musical education, you may take one of two approaches. Whatever you do, be sure to organize your information in a way that will best appeal to the recruiter. Follow these six steps to write a good music resume.

Chloe Bennet is a content manager at Essayroo.com and Academized.com services. She writes about education and the latest college trends.

Disclaimer: Please note that the views expressed here do not necessarily reflect those of Tunedly.