syllabus — ART 394 — PROFESSIONAL PRACTICE IN THE STUDIO

Résumé Assignment

brief description:

This course helps you develop a vital collection of materials for your professional life and career. These items are not static, but will be updated, fine-tuned, and maintained throughout your career. For this assignment you will create a professional résumé in two different formats so you will have these materials on hand when you need them for applications. The first format will be an Artist Résumé (also called an Artist CV or curriculum vitae) and the second will be an Employment Résumé.

project requirements:

1) Artist Résumé / Short CV

Typically you should include the following topics, in order:

Name
Contact Information

Education

Exhibitions (solo, group, performances, curatorial projects)

Residencies/Awards/Grants/Fellowships/Collections
Other Headings you find appropriate

Press/Reviews

Professional Activities/Related Experience

2) Employment Résumé

One page; typically you should include the following topics, in order:

Name
Contact Information

Education
Employment History (may be broken into sections or include descriptions)

Skills/Qualifications

References (available upon request / 3-5 individuals)
Portfolio website if applicable

NOTE: Items within each topic should be listed in reverse chronological order. It is absolutely crucial that your résumés have no spelling, punctuation or factual errors.

project submission:

1) First Draft

Print 3 copies of each résumé format (6 total) due as noted on the schedule. You do not need to use a good quality paper at this time.

2) Final Draft

Turn in a revised version of each résumé format as part of your portfolio for the class due during finals week.

resources:

In-class lecture (PDF of lecture on D2L)
College Art Association http://www.collegeart.org/guidelines/ (see Artist Résumé)

Course textbook, Art Inc. pages 128-130

Course alternative textbook, Art/Work (Revised & Updated) pages 66-75 and 93-94

Course recommended book, The Artist’s Guide pages 61-69

DePaul Career Center, LAS Advising with Ed Childs or Margaret McGee-Newton

DePaul Coleman Entrepreneurship Center

CVs for respected/established artists available on their websites or gallery sites.

tips + thoughts:

Content considerations

· Select your topics/sections/headings carefully

The topics listed above are typically good professional topics, but you should choose appropriate topics for your content based on your strengths and the information needed in your field. There is no single standard for what information to include, however the topics covered in class can serve as a guide.

· Put your headings in an appropriate order****
Someone should be able to quickly get to the most important information. The strongest section goes first followed by the next strongest on down to the least important.
****All dated items listed under the headings are in reverse chronological order.

• Write your content with the outcome you want achieve in mind.
  Employment resumes should include your qualifications for the job you want, not just the jobs you’ve had. If your employment history doesn’t highlight your qualifications for the type of job you want (which is common for students who have strong education experience but little work in the field), then you need a section listing those attributes (SEE: topics). If you don’t know which of your attributes an employer would value most, search for keywords in the specific job posting and similar postings as well as key competencies listed on association websites like AIGA or CAA.
  
  
• Use the resources listed above as well as our class lectures and examples to properly list the necessary information for each item.
  For example, see the sample layouts from Art/Work (Revised & Updated) (pages 71-74)
  
  

· Get rid of out-dated material.
Your information changes each year and much of your early information will drop off as you gain more experience. Do not list high school information unless you happened to save the world from cosmic obliteration; it will not necessarily attest to your strength as a professional in your field.

· Space used = importance…if information is not important, don’t use the space.

Keep in mind that lines of type have weight on a page. If a section fills a large area of space, it draws attention and it seems important. Use this to your advantage with your strengths and minimize the space used by less important material.

· You may choose to highlight your work accomplishments in your employment résumé, but don’t list regular duties.
Your work experience section can list accomplishments if you have them, but don’t give more space to accentuate unrelated jobs or tasks that don’t show relevant and meaningful accomplishments.

· In an employment résumé you may consider short descriptive phrases (in lists) instead of single-word bullet points or longer sentences. Choose the best combination of these approaches.

Issues to avoid with each approach:

Phrases require careful crafting for the best use of language and fall short without careful crafting.

Sentences tend to run on with overuse of “and”. Make your strengths separate points instead of using “and”.

Bulleted lists can be vague, misleading, confusing, or boring.

· Use strong, active language (active verbs; present tense when possible).

· Use appropriate key words or “buzz-words” as needed (but use buzz-words correctly and don’t overuse them).

· Put yourself in the best possible light, but always make sure that the information you provide is accurate and not misleading.

· Do not use acronyms even if you think the reader should know them

· Dates (years) are critical so make them clearly visible (often in a column)

· Include the city and state for each entry; include the country if international.

Form Considerations: You are in a visual field and may wish to consider the visual impact of your résumé, however it must be professional above all else. Keep your design to these elements:

• Choose appropriate legible fonts (simple serif and/or sans serif, 10-12 point size)
  
  
• Use margins, spacing, and alignment of information to create appealing white space.
  
  
• Print on a fine quality white paper when applicable.
  
  
• Utilize Contrast, Repetition, Alignment, Proximity
  An example of contrast would be using a sans serif font for headings and a serif font for body copy under the headings, or altering the size of the font for headings. An example of repetition would be formatting each section similarly so a viewer can quickly see which items are headings, which are secondary pieces of information, etc. Test your alignment by drawing vertical columns at the beginning of each line and see how many different levels of alignment exist in your document; usually fewer levels seem cleaner. An example of Proximity is keeping spacing tight between related sections and allowing for more space between unrelated sections.
  
  
• Be consistent with formatting (including the order of and placement of information- for example always leading with the year), spacing or bullets (tabs, dots, dashes, rules, etc.), and all other content.

Other Notes:

• Do not include a picture of yourself. It is distracting on these documents and can be an issue for equal opportunity hiring.
  
  
• You’ve just finished school, so at this point both formats for your résumé should be short—1 page is good.
  
  
• Employment résumés should always be sent with a cover letter. (Artist résumés are often sent with an artist statement.)
  
  
• Interviews and studio visits should always be followed by a thank you note.

• Follow up if you don’t hear back from someone regarding a meeting or correspondence.
  
  
• Make sure your name and contact information is clearly visible. Don’t use unprofessional email accounts (yourfullname@gmail.com is a good account to start and to have forwarded to the account you actually check).
  
  
• If your resume states: “References available upon request” remember to print your reference list on a separate sheet of paper before your interview.
  
  
• Add your professional artist website URL to your contact information.
  
  
• Spell check AND proofread. Have someone else read it too. Really.