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.
Ways to use Presskit.to: Professional/Personal Resume
Here’s Part 3 of our blog series outlining ways to use Presskit.to. For Part 1 on Creating a Presskit for an Upcoming Album Release, click here. For Part 2 on Creating a Presskit for an Upcoming Tour, click here.
Don’t call us. We’ll call you.
The job market in today’s economy is a dog-eat-dog world. With the competition greatly outweighing the number of available jobs, it’s important that individuals remain on their toes and find tactful ways to set themselves apart from the rest of the crowd.
The days of the PDF Resume are over. Gone are the lines of hyperlinked text directing to your latest portfolio accomplishments. Present yourself like an Amateur Professional - NOT a Professional Amateur. Presskit.to is the best platform to showcase your abilities as an individual and a professional competing in the job market. Check it out!
Cover Art: You, of course! Make sure it’s a picture you’re okay with using in a professional setting.
Title: Naturally, the Title of your Presskit should be your name, if you’re using it as a way to present yourself as an individual. List your Hometown as wherever you’re active in the Job Market.
Tagline: Throw in a few words about yourself, such as “2010 Graduate of University of California, Santa Cruz” or “Law School Student currently applying for Internship Opportunities.”
Media+
Audio: Include anything you’ve done that can be encompassed in an audio form: speeches, interviews, lessons, spoken word/poetry, performances, or even an “about me” introduction to your potential employer.
Video: Include some videos of you performing, speaking, teaching, or even a video introduction of yourself. This section can be used to show people what you do.
Images: Throw in your Headshots, Photos of you “hard at work”, or PDF’s where you’ve been written about, etc. Feel free to get as creative as you’d like!
Files: Include your most recent Resume in your Files section.
About
Bio: Write a concise biography of you as an individual - from school credentials and areas of study, to past and current experience in your working field. Be detailed, but remember that no one appreciates hearing your life story.
Members: Well, this section is fairly self-explanatory. Add your name as well as the current or past positions you’ve held professionally in the Role/Instrument field.
Links: Add relevant links to your professional career in the links section, such as your LinkedIn profile or your personal website. Mark the 4 most relevant links to your career as Featured Links. Note: If you choose to post your personal Facebook profile in the Links section, you may want to do a sweep of the information that’s listed on your profile to make sure it’s work-friendly.
Wins: Add your accomplishments to the Wins section, like Graduating from College, winning a Scholarship, or any awards that you’ve gotten over the years. You can take a lot of accomplishments from your resume in the event that you don’t know how to brag about yourself!
Contact
List your email address and phone number, and street address if you feel comfortable.
Calendar
List any important events that you plan to attend, or use this section to plot out your un-availability for the next series of months. For example, you could list “Going on Vacation” as one of the Calendar items, and specify the duration and other details.
