Get Hired: Think like a Hiring Manager
Written by Sophia Moon.
Standing between you and your dream job is a gatekeeper, namely the hiring manager who sorts through hundreds, sometimes thousands of submissions to match candidates to open positions. They are experts at spotting careless errors, have no tolerance for missing information, and will unemotionally eliminate unfit candidates to get to a manageable few that show the most promise.
The challenge of dazzling a hiring manager is manifold - to provide the right information to stand out amongst all the candidates, while selectively adding samples from your portfolio that best represent you and your work.
A helpful exercise, I find, is to think like the hiring manager who comes across your Presskit and resume. Let’s assume for the purpose of this exercise that you are absolutely qualified for job “X”. How do you create a Presskit that showcases your talents and compels a hiring manager to see you as a strong candidate for your dream job? Now, go assemble your Presskit to include all of that relevant information and content. Every individual has unique experiences so with a media-rich Presskits you can really distinguish yourself with examples of your work.
Check out T.J. Petracca and Reynold Roque’s Presskits for great examples.
Below is a basic checklist of items your Presskit should definitely have. (Note: these are the minimum Presskit requirements for Justine Taormino to submit your Presskit for opportunities on the Berklee LA Opps Board as well.)
- Name: Your Name, Band Name, Company Name - whichever is relevant to the job you are seeking.
- Cover Image: High-Res Professional Headshot or band photo; or company logo.
- Current Location
- Professional Skill
- Video Introduction: Read blog post on Video Introductions here.
- Professional Resume: Upload to your Presskit in the Files section, under the media tab.
- Media: At least one (1): audio, video, image
- Bio: A short description of yourself and your work (Tip: list your accomplishments in the Wins section)
- Wins: Highlight a minimum of 2-3 notable accomplishments
- Contact Information
- Links: Website and social media presence (Tip: Avoid adding personal social media links.)
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Sophia Moon is the Chief Marketing Strategist for Presskit.to. She holds an MBA in Marketing from the D’Amore-McKim School of Business; and a BA in Sociology from Brandeis University. Sophia specializes in brand management, content strategy and social media marketing. She is a well-respected, independent Singer-Songwriter, currently working on her second album, Shades of Love (Acoustic R&B) .
Make A Great First Impression With A Video Introduction
Written by Sophia Moon.
It’s a dog eat dog world out there and that dream job you’re applying for has applicants lined up from here to Timbuktu. Having a neat Presskit that showcases your professional resume, wins, and media will definitely put you in the lead, but a video introduction might be just the personal touch that could set you apart from a sea of candidates.
To that end, here are some simple steps to creating your own introduction video.
