Gavin Ricketts - Clearly Creative CVs: Write a Winning CV for the Television, Animation, and Other Creative Industries

Copyright 2013 Gavin Ricketts

Design by Lewis Darby, Napoleon Creative, www.napoleoncreative.com

The moral right of the author has been asserted.

Apart from any fair dealing for the purposes of research or private study, or criticism or review, as permitted under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, this publication may only be reproduced, stored or transmitted, in any form or by any means, with the prior permission in writing of the publishers, or in the case of reprographic reproduction in accordance with the terms of licences issued by the Copyright Licensing Agency. Enquiries concerning reproduction outside those terms should be sent to the publishers.

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ISBN 978 1780887 241

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For the S.K. who taught me how not to be a producer
and the S.K. who taught me how to be one.

Clearly Creative CVs is based on the cv4.tv workshops Gavin Ricketts developed to help film and television crew write more effective CVs. Here are testimonials from some of those who have attended.

I found Gavins workshop an invaluable wake-up call: if your CV isnt up to scratch then you wont get that job, even if you deserve it! His comments were to the point, practical and motivating. I was able to come up with a new version that hit the spot almost straightaway.

Caroline

Gavin has such a great teaching method, and made learning so easy. I would thoroughly recommend the workshop!

Mel

Gavin helped me get some valuable perspective on my achievements and highlight my skills in a concise, direct way. His insights have really helped me focus on my strengths and given me more confidence to approach potential employers.

Rachel

Preoccupied with looking for jobs, Id neglected the key ingredient: my CV. Gavin has a real talent in finding areas for improvement, and instantly helped me see the shortcomings in my CV.

Phil

Gavin delivers the goods directly and clearly, making sure that each individuals CV is addressed and analysed in such a way that you are learning more than expected. The session was friendly and inspiring.

Rani

Its really helped me to bring out my strengths and experience and present it on the page for someone to easily take in and comprehend. I was surprised by all my experience!

Jody

The television industry is an extremely competitive marketplace, and with the explosion in digital broadcast channels and the Internet, together with the ever increasing flow of media graduates into the workforce, learning how to stand out from the crowd has never been more important.

I have given career advice to numerous freelancers over the years, and what has been abundantly clear to me is that you can always improve on how you present yourself to a potential employer, no matter how many years you have been in the industry.

It still amazes me that talented people with all the right skills and experience can still mess up on getting that next production role simply because they have not put themselves in the best possible light.

Learning how to market yourself is essential; from your covering letter and CV to your mobile message and Twitter account, there are key techniques that should be learned and lots that must be avoided!

And what about taking the next step up in your career? Are you in a rut, stuck in second gear? Without sounding like a HR officer in a corporate bank, you should know what you want to do in 5 years time or at least have a good idea. Yet, there are many out there who seem to take each role as it comes hoping that the next job will be the biggie they always wanted. I would say, plan it to happen that way dont leave to it chance!

The great thing about this book is it clearly sets out how to market yourself in all stages of your career; from the budding wet-behind-ears grad, to the seasoned series producer, there is plenty in here to grapple with, no matter what rung of the ladder youre on.

Television is an exciting and very rewarding industry to work in you will meet fantastic and talented people along the way, but the very individuals you stand back and admire didnt just arrive on the scene overnight, many would have had a focused career plan, diligently harnessing their people skills and selling themselves as the person a production could not do without.

A crowded market it may be but opportunities will always present themselves and it has never been a more exciting time being a freelancer in a truly multi-media landscape. So, if you want to make the most of your talent and learn how to navigate your way to a successful and fulfilling career, this book will certainly help you accomplish it.

Joe Mahoney

Managing Director, ProductionBase

How tough is it to whittle down fifty applications for a single days freelance work to five people to interview? If the average CV is two pages, then thats 100 pages. Surely that will take ages to sift through?

Actually, its surprisingly easy, because a chunk of them will be discarded at first glance.

Ive worked in the media for nearly two decades, on feature films, television programmes, websites and print projects, in roles from runner to creative director. Ive been responsible for employing people for over ten years: researchers, camera crew, website designers and animators.

Ive read thousands of curriculum vitae or CVs as they are usually known (resum in the States) and Ive learned that many share the same problems of poor design and layout, not enough of the important details, too much non-essential information, and at the end of the day, they do not actually communicate the applicants skills with clarity.

Whenever we post a job advert at Napoleon Creative, my production company and animation studio, we get inundated with responses. We cant spend long reading each one when beginning the initial cull, so those CVs that do not hit the nail on the head hit the recycle bin pretty quickly. What Ive also learned, however, is that a poor CV is not necessarily indicative of a poor applicant; their CV may not be doing justice to the senders skills and experience. This means theyre not cutting through the clutter of other applications to get them through to the interview stage.

In 2007, as a frustrated employer wading through countless poor CVs, I started to run workshops to teach creative people like you how to write a great CV for the television, film, animation and other creative industries. The ideas in the workshop are based on my 15 years of experience as a producer and writer, working within broadcast organisations, corporate communications companies and now in my own business. Theyve been road-tested by working crew members, whove seen a dramatic increase in the interest their applications generate because theyve applied my principles to their CV and covering letter.

Ive now taken the principles from the workshop and illustrated them with real-world examples in this book, so you can learn the skills you need to write an effective CV that will confidently make your skills crystal clear to any employer even at a quick scan, and get your name on the must interview list.