Daily Archives: October 7, 2010

Today’s post is very straightforward.

I’d like to encourage you to read this.

And this.

And then I really hope you’ll do this: Grab your fancy ‘eeeee-lectronic’ calendar and schedule in a perpetually-repeating appointment time twice a year so that you can remember to regularly perform a resume skills evaluation. If you haven’t done a resume skills evaluation before, rest assured that it’s pretty straightforward. The idea is to vigorously test each skill that you have listed on your resume and determine if you can honestly claim to be proficient at it or if you’ve been giving in to ‘resume inflation.’

To perform a resume skills evaluation, you’ll want to use every means you have at your disposal to effectively evaluate your skills. If you have juggling listed on your resume, video record yourself doing it so that you can have a good idea of how smooth you look while catching those pins.  If horseback riding is listed, head over to some stables and see what you’ve got.  When in comes to dialects, recording yourself is helpful, but you’ll need feedback from someone else knowledgeable to be sure you’ve really got the goods. (If you’ve made the effort to create an ongoing relationship with a dialect coach, you can handle this evaluation over the phone or via Skype in probably under an hour.)

A few more things:

1)    This time of year is great for skills evaluations. Summer is over, the holidays have yet to catch us up in their wake, and the giddiness of pilot season isn’t a distraction.

2)  If a reminder from your electronic calendar isn’t enough to kick you into gear, you might consider working with a buddy. Synchronize your calendars and hold each other accountable for following through with your evaluations.

3) The second article I invited you to read was written by Joe Von Bokern, one of the three talented and refreshing co-authors of the blog ‘Playbills vs. Paying Bills’ which chronicles the professional lives of actors Ben Whitehair, Joe Von Bokern, and Emily Beuchat as they pursue acting careers in Los Angeles, Chicago and New York respectively.  Playbills vs. Paying Bills  is always such an enjoyable read.  I want to personally thank Joe Von Bokern for publishing his story. When all of us have the wisdom to be this transparent and candid, we’ll revolutionize the entertainment industry.