Are you looking to become the next Rembrandt? Or maybe Banksy is more your style? Or perhaps you want to establish yourself as a one-of-a-kind artist - the likes of which the art world has never seen before.

Whatever your vision is for your art career, with the right combination of skills, talent, and insider know-how, you’ll be able to achieve it.

However, it will take some hard work. As you may already know, being an artist is one of the most rewarding, but misunderstood professions out there. Despite the romantic vision of a carefree life that’s filled solely with creating art, the reality is quite different.

Creating art represents a substantial chunk of being an artist, but it’s only part of the story. Artists also need to attend to a range of other tasks, such as liaising with potential buyers, establishing connections with galleries, and organizing all of the materials, funding, and resources needed for their next artwork.

Most artists will agree that their love of art makes all of the hurdles along the way well worth it. It’s certainly a lot easier once you start making a name for yourself. So how do you start securing the jobs and exhibitions you’ve always dreamed of? Apply to them with a well-written artist resume.

You may not think it’s necessary for an artist to have a resume, but this couldn’t be further from the truth. Applying for jobs with a strong resume shows a hiring manager or gallery director that you’re a consummate professional, who offers a range of invaluable qualities. While in a perfect world, your art would speak for itself, companies, galleries, and other organizations will not only want to confirm that you’re a talented artist, but also that you hold the credentials they’re looking for.

In this easy-to-understand guide, we’ll show you how to make an artist resume that will get your inbox blowing up. If you’re unsure how to make an impactful one, this guide will cover everything you need to know including:

• How to correctly format your resume
• Which hard and soft skills to feature
• How to expertly include your portfolio in your resume
• What to do if you have little to no experience
• Tips to make your resume stand out from the pack

1. Multiple Template Examples

2. How to Write an Artist Resume That Will Get You Through the Doors?

How to format your resume properly

An artist resume is unlike the resumes of most other professions. After all, you not only need to include standard resume components, such as your professional experiences, but also feature special components, such as the exhibitions you’ve participated in.

That being said, you will still need a tried-and-tested format that makes your achievements shine. We strongly recommend that you use a reverse-chronological format.

In this format, you begin with your most recent professional experience, exhibition, or award, and from there proceed backwards. For example, your March 2020 exhibition should appear first, followed by your January 2020 exhibition, and so on.

The order each section should appear in your resume will depend on what you’re applying for. If you’re applying for a job (for example, curating an exhibition in an art gallery), your professional experience should be the first major section on your resume, followed by your exhibitions section. Then you can feature any additional sections after that, such as your awards section. 

Whereas, if you are applying to be featured in an exhibition, your exhibitions section should be the first major section on your resume, followed by whichever section is most relevant to the exhibition application. For example, if you’re applying to exhibit in an abstract art gallery and you won an award for your abstract artwork, put that above your work experience stretching canvases in an art store.

• • Number of Pages: 1 page only.
  • Fonts to Use: Classic fonts such as Garamond or Arial. 
  • Fonts to Avoid: Don’t use any “arty” fonts that will take attention away from your achievements, such as Naive Deco Sans Font or any hand drawn fonts.
  • Margins: 1 inch on all sides.

• Line Spacing: 1 or 1.15.

• Header size: 14-16 point size.
• Text size: 11-12 point size.

What makes a great artist resume?

A great artist resume paints a clear picture about who an artist fundamentally is as a professional. Your resume should offer whoever is reading it - whether the director of a gallery or a hiring manager - an overview of your most relevant and eye-catching accomplishments.

It should serve to compliment your artist portfolio by providing an insight into what makes you a unique artist, who is worth hiring or exhibiting. While an artwork is a creative representation of your skills and abilities, your resume will use words to shine a light on your most notable attributes. 

After reading your resume, the hiring manager or gallery director should be convinced that you have the ideal educational background, skills, professional experiences, and reputation to excel in the position they’re trying to fill. 

This is why the importance of refining your resume cannot be stressed enough. In the incredibly competitive world of art - where art related work positions are limited and spots in exhibitions are challenging to get - your resume needs to leave no doubt that you’re worth hiring or exhibiting over the hundreds to thousands of other applicants.

What hard skills and soft skills should you put in your resume as an artist?

Artists are well known for possessing a variety of artistic skills that non-artistic-types can only dream about having. These technical skills artists draw on to create their artworks are referred to as “hard skills” in a resume. Without a strong set of hard skills, an artist will struggle to take off in the art world.

Artists also need to possess so-called “soft skills” to succeed. A soft skill describes any type of intangible skill, which requires using your communication or interpersonal abilities. Someone with a strong soft skills set will be perceived as personable, organized, a good communicator, and hard working.

On your resume, you need to show that you offer an excellent balance of the soft and hard skills a hiring manager or gallery director is looking for. You will know which skills these are by identifying the skills they mention in a job ad or exhibition application.

You should ensure your resume incorporates these skills in three main sections, as noted below:

1. Incorporate 1 to 2 skills into your resume objective or resume summary
2. List 6 to 8 skill in a dedicated “Skills” section
3. Include 1 skill per professional experience

Take a look at some of the most common skills gallery directors and hiring managers for artists are looking for here:

Hard skills

• Sculpting
• Pottery
• Life drawing
• Color mixing
• Canvas stretching
• Composition
• Acrylic painting
• Proportional drawing and painting
• Understanding of tonal value
• Sketching

Soft skills

• Time management
• Ability to accept criticism
• Creative thinking
• Adaptability
• Ability to work independently
• Communication abilities
• Negotiation  skills
• Confidence
• Decisiveness
• Personal accountability

What achievements to mention and how to do it correctly?

There are three main achievements you should mention in your resume, which we’ve outlined below. A simple rule of thumb to remember when mentioning any of them in your resume is to focus on the ones that are most relevant to the job ad or exhibition application. 

Work Experience

Getting your work experience section right is particularly important if you’re applying for a job. However, it’s also vital to do so if you’re applying for an exhibition opportunity as it shows that you have a strong work ethic and an understanding of how the business side of art works.

In order to write about each of your work experiences correctly, you must target the keywords you have identified in the job ad or exhibition application. We discuss this further below in the section about targeting your resume to each application.

Don’t just write what you did, like this candidate did:

• Curated an art show for local artists.

Instead, highlight the beneficial outcome of what you did - ideally using numbers to quantify your achievement. We’ve applied this to the above example to show this in action:

• Curated an art show for local artists, which received 2000+ visitors and resulted in over $32,000 of art sold.

Exhibitions

When you look back at your career as an artist thus far, there’s a good chance that the exhibitions you were a part of represent some of your crowning achievements.

In order to ensure your exhibitions get the attention they deserve, make sure to include the following information about each of them:

• Year the exhibition was held
• Name of the exhibition
• Name of the gallery
• City and state the gallery is located (if the exhibition was based overseas, replace the state with the country it was in) 
• The type of exhibition e.g. solo exhibition, two person exhibition, group exhibition etc (optional)

For example:

Solo exhibition: 2018, Lost Memories, Clear Skies Gallery, Berlin, Germany

Awards

To correctly list any awards you have, you must include the following information about each one:

• Year you won the award
• Which place you won (1st, 2nd, Runner Up, etc)
• Name of the award
• City and state the award is based in (if it is an international award, replace the state with the country it is based in)

For example:

2016, 1st Place, Luxembourg Art Prize, Luxembourg, Grand Duchy of Luxembourg

How to include a portfolio on your resume

Telling a recruiter that you’re a one-of-a-kind artist is one thing, but showing them is another. This is why it is crucial that you have a strong portfolio to show them. You will likely already have a physical portfolio that you take to interviews, but you need to have an online version of it too.

Ideally, your portfolio should be hosted on a personal or business website that showcases your best works. However, a link to your Behance portfolio or even your artist Instagram account will also do the trick.

Including your portfolio on your resume couldn’t be more straightforward. Just include a link to it in the contact details section of your resume. For example:

Margaret Wright

Address:
57 Morello Ave.

Pleasant Hill, CA 94523

Phone:
323-924-3195

Email:
m.wright@gmail.com

Portfolio:
www.margaretwrightart.com

Pro tip: When emailing an application to a recruiter, it’s a good idea to provide another link to your portfolio in the body of your email. Some recruiters will want to see your portfolio straight away - even before your resume!

How to write a resume objective or summary (examples of both included)

Many artists mistakenly think that their resume should launch straight into their credentials. While it’s, no doubt, important for a hiring manager or gallery director to discover everything that you’ve achieved, you need to first provide them with an overview of who you are as an artist and what makes you special.

But before you start typing an “about me” section that’s as long as your art history thesis, you should learn how to correctly write one. 

You will either need to include a resume objective or a resume summary. Both of them should span 2 to 4 sentences, but they have some notable differences. Below, you’ll learn about what those differences are, as well as some dos and don’ts to keep in mind. 

Resume objective

A resume objective explains an artist’s career ambitions to a hiring manager or gallery director. It should be used by artists with little to no experience.

Don’t: Undersell yourself by being overly critical of your inexperience in the art world. For example:

• I am an amateur artist who loves photography, but I’m not sure I’m very good at it. I am studying art in college, so I have some knowledge about art. I really want to work in your art store, so I can finally get some experience in the art world.

Do: Emphasize why you’re an aspiring artist to keep an eye on. You can do this by highlighting your relevant professional experiences, skills, and education. You can also share any art awards you’ve won, as well as any art-related clubs, programs, and societies you’re in. Your goal should be to convince the hiring manager or gallery director that you’ll be an asset to their company or gallery, even without having much experience. Remember to be confident about your artistic abilities and progress so far! For example:

• Budding artist with strong photography skills, who is currently completing a Bachelor of Fine Arts (BFA) at Barry University, Florida (3.5 GPA). I am seeking a position in Black & White Art Store, where I wish to apply my unparalleled work ethic and substantial knowledge of art in order to assist customers to the best of my abilities.

Resume summary

A resume summary is an overview of an artist’s most eye-catching and relevant professional achievements to date. It should be used by artists who have already been in the art industry for a number of years.

Don’t: Use generic statements that sound like they could be used by any other applicant. For example:

• Artist with years of work experience, who has a lot of skills. I’ve shown in many galleries and have won some awards too.

Do: Provide specific details about your relevant professional experiences, skills, and education. Your aim should be to convince a hiring manager or gallery director why you’re the perfect fit for the job or exhibition. To really impress, mention one of your most relevant awards and/or exhibitions. For example:

• Abstract artist with 8 years of work experience in the art world is seeking a part-time position at Green’s Gallery. I aim to bring my communication skills as well as my strong knowledge of mixed media art to contribute to the gallery’s success. Exhibited in a range of well-known galleries, including the Tate Gallery, London. Winner of the 2018 American Art Award for Best Abstract Artwork.

How to write an artist resume when you have limited (or no) experience

The art world is notoriously difficult to crack, so if you’re a budding artist with limited of no experience, you’re certainly not alone. But before you give up your artistic dreams, rest assured that there’s still a place for you if you make the right moves.

While developing your artistic skills is essential to becoming a better artist, you also need to work on the practical side of your burgeoning career. One of the tasks that you need to give top priority to is creating your artist resume.

If you’ve thought that there’s no point to create one yet, given your lack of experience, this is precisely why you need to in the first place! While other budding artists are applying for jobs and exhibitions left, right, and center without a resume, if you start applying for them with one, you’ll be sure to stand out. After all, if you want to start being taken seriously in the art world, you need to present yourself as professionally as possible.

If you’re unsure how to transform your resume from being a blank canvas to a work of art, our main advice is to accentuate what you can offer. Here are our top tips for you:

• Focus on your transferable skills: If you’re applying for an art-related job and don’t have any relevant experience, hone in on the transferable skills you have. For example, if you want to work in an art store and you have waitressing experience, highlight your customer service skills and communication skills.

• Include any art-related activities you’re a part of: If you’re in any art clubs, societies, or programs inside or outside of school, don’t be shy about including them in your resume. Doing so will exemplify both your passion for art and desire to strengthen your skills and connections.

• Mention your volunteer experiences: Artists are usually community-driven individuals, so any art-related volunteering experiences that you have to your name will be looked upon favorably. If you don’t have any yet, why not sign up to one? Not only will you be contributing to your community, you’ll also get the opportunity to apply your art knowledge and skills in a practical context.

• Build up your online presence: The rise of social media has transformed many previously unknown aspiring artists into household names with thousands of fans. While it’s certainly not the traditional route to gaining a spot in an exhibition, more and more galleries are seeking artists, who have large social media followings. If you need proof of the role social media already plays in the art world, just check out how active the social media accounts of well-known galleries around the world are.

How to target your education, professional experiences, exhibitions, and awards for each application

While you may be well-versed in renaissance art, we’re guessing that you probably don’t have an equally deep knowledge of how to target your resume for each application.

In order to ensure your resume ticks all the right boxes, you need to customize it to the criteria listed in each job ad or exhibition application. That means you should never send the same version of your resume to apply for different opportunities. After all, no two jobs nor recruiters are alike, so you won’t be able to get away with submitting the same resume over and over again.

To target your resume, you will need to make some strategic tweaks to it so it appears custom made just for that application. To get started, identify the keywords contained within a job ad or exhibition application. Keywords refer to the words (usually nouns) that show what a hiring manager or gallery director is looking for from their perfect candidate.

Once you know which keywords to focus on, you can then structure your resume around them. You can do this by selecting the professional achievements which best reflect these keywords.

For example, imagine that you want to apply for the following exhibition:

Small gallery in Munich is seeking submissions from artists with a talent for modern art, who wish to appear in an exhibition on the theme “By the Seaside.” Interested artists should demonstrate their passion and skills in modern art. Artists with skills in sculpture and pottery will be given strong preference.

It is clear that the main keyword in the job ad is “modern art,” as it represents the main criteria the art director is looking for. Other keywords that are worth targeting include “sculpture” and “pottery.” Another not so obvious keyword is “seaside”!

In order to target your resume to this application, you shouldn’t focus on showing off your artistic abilities in styles of art that aren’t modern art, like this artist did in their exhibitions and awards section:

Exhibitions

2019, An Ode to 19th Century Art, Old Time Gallery, Coppenhagen, Denmark

Awards

2017, 2nd Place, Renoir Remake Contest, Limoges, France

Instead, try your best to select the professional experiences you have that target the keywords we mentioned above. Doing so will allow you to demonstrate that you have the appropriate skills and competencies to be a part of the exhibition, like this artist did:

Exhibitions

2019, The Story of Graffiti Art in 2020, Modern Art Gallery of Cologne, Cologne, Germany

Awards

2017, 1st Place, Best New Graffiti Artist, New York, NY   

Pro tip: Another reason it is crucial to include keywords in your application - particularly if you’re applying for a job - is because the hiring manager may be using an advanced recruitment software called Applicant Tracking Software (ATS). ATS fields candidates based on whether their resume contains certain keywords. If your resume doesn’t include them, your application will not be accepted into the next stage of the hiring process.

How to make your resume stand out

The simple act of submitting your artist resume with the rest of your application for a job or exhibition will put you ahead of most other candidates. But how do you make sure that it’s as eye-catching as possible? Here’s the insider scoop from our resume experts:

• Include any publications you’ve been quoted in: One surefire way to catch the attention of a hiring manager or gallery director is to include details about any art-related publications you’ve contributed to. You can include the details in an additional section called “Bibliography”. Be sure to provide the name of the author, title of the article, name of the publication, edition (if any), and date.

• Get the length just right: Many artists encounter one of two problems when writing their resume: they either have too much or too little to write about. As we highlighted in our layout recommendations, it’s vital to keep your resume to one page. If your resume is looking too cramped, try removing any information that’s irrelevant to the job or exhibition you’re applying to. If your resume looks too sparse, consider trying out different resume templates to find one that formats your resume in a way that removes any huge chunks of white space.
   
• Don’t make your resume too arty: While creative freedom is usually encouraged as an artist, your resume is not the place for it. Using funky fonts, an assortment of colors, images, and other unnecessary design elements will simply distract the hiring manager or art gallery director. It will also make it difficult for ATS to properly read and process your resume.

3. How Resumebuild.com’s Resume Builder Tool Can Be Utilized for an Easy Resume Setup

There isn’t an artist out there who’d like to switch from art making to resume making. While you should now understand the importance of making a strong artist resume, you may have already abandoned the idea of making one, considering how much work is involved.

We’re not going to lie; making a resume from scratch is indeed hard work. It’s difficult for most people to get in the right frame of mind to work on their resume - let alone if you’re someone who’s artistically minded! After all, who wants to spend hours staring at their resume, when they could be admiring a work by Klimt or making their magnum opus?

If you’re nodding along, you’ll be pleased to learn that you don’t need to make your resume all by yourself. With Resumebuild’s well-designed resume builder, you’ll be able to create a flawless one in just minutes and help your achievements as an artist truly shine.

As a creative person with an understanding of good design, we know that you’ll appreciate the many attractive resume templates on offer. You’re also sure to love that we’ve separated out each resume section so that you can focus on getting each one just right. If you’re worried that you won’t know what to write or how to write ithttps://resumebuild.com/, just fall back on the dozens of pre-written examples we’ve made available throughout the builder.

In short, we’ve taken the hard work out of making an artist resume. See for yourself how easy it is to use by making a DIY resume with our resume builder, that’s worthy of a place in the Guggenheim!

Do you dream of being the next Helen Mirren or Jack Nicholson? Or perhaps you wish to emulate the success of Idina Menzel or Ben Platt? 

Every actor or actress knows the feeling of wanting to be finally recognized for their talent. After all, you work tirelessly to refine your craft so that you can land a role in the next big TV show, film, or stage production. It is no doubt a gruelling process to try to crack into this highly-competitive industry. It’s especially hard to remain motivated when you know you’re ready for your time in the spotlight, but you keep receiving countless rejections.  

So what if we told you that the reason why you’re not landing more roles isn’t necessarily because you’re not right for the part. It could be that your resume simply isn’t up to scratch. Yes, your resume could be costing you acting jobs. 

The fact of the matter is that your resume will significantly increase or decrease your chances of getting called in for an audition. It may not seem exactly fair—but the reality is that a casting director will pass you over for another actor or actress if your resume fails to make a lasting impression.

That being said, you’ll be the one they start calling in if you take steps to improve your acting resume! So how can you make a resume that casting directors won’t be able to turn away from? We’ve put together the following comprehensive guide to creating the ultimate acting resume. 

Our acting resume guide will cover a range of important topics including:

• How to professionally format your acting resume 
• What casting directors are looking for
• Which skills to highlight
• Whether you really need a headshot 
• How to make your resume stand out

1. Multiple Template Examples

2. How to Write a Perfect Acting Resume

How to format your acting resume

The key to making the perfect acting resume is to leave no doubt in the casting director’s mind why you’re the best actor or actress for the job. While it may come as a surprise to you, the format you choose for your resume can support you to achieve this. 

To help you understand why, think about it in terms of acting. An audience will not be moved if your character has brilliant lines but your delivery is off. Likewise, a casting director will fail to be impressed if your resume is well-written but poorly formatted. 

The best format for an acting resume is reverse-chronological format. Therefore, you should feature your most recent acting credit at the top of the “Acting Experience” section in your resume. The acting credit you completed immediately before that should appear next, and so forth. 

You will also need to include an education section in your resume that includes details about your college education and/or training at an acting school. For expert pointers on how to create a masterful education section, refer to the section, “Make your education section shine” in our guide.

In terms of the layout of your acting resume, it is wise to stick to these recommendations:

• • Number of Pages: 1 page maximum.
  • Fonts to Use: Legible and clear fonts such as Tahoma or Garamond.
  • Fonts to Avoid: “Playful” fonts such as Ultra and Lobster.
  • Margins: 1 inch on all sides.

• Line Spacing: 1 or 1.15.

• Header size: 14-16 point size.
• Text size: 11-12 point size.

Pro tip: There are no exceptions to 1 page limit! If you are having trouble fitting everything in, consider culling some of the less relevant experiences or skills from your resume.   

What recruiters will look for

In the world of acting, there’s one main type of “recruiter” you will need to impress with your resume: casting directors. Casting directors are in charge of selecting the very best talent for a given role. They do this by fielding hundreds to thousands of applications to find the most suitable person to bring a role to life.

As each acting role they need to fill is unique, the qualities a casting director will look for will change. That being said, casting directors are by and large looking for an actor or actress who possesses an enticing combination of the right acting experiences, skills, and education. Additionally, the actor or actress needs to look the part. 

What they are looking for will depend on the type of production they are in charge of casting for. A casting director for an amateur production will be looking for a very different actor or actress than one for a multi-million dollar professional production. 

So how exactly do they track down someone who has all of these qualities and more? By sorting through the acting resumes that have been submitted to them. That’s why it’s absolutely non-negotiable to create a resume that puts your very best qualities and achievements front and center. 

What skills to mention and how to do it correctly

Your unique skill set as an actor or actress is what differentiates you from your competition. For this reason, it’s vital that in your resume you list your skills in a section called “Special Skills” or “Additional Skills”.

You will no doubt already have a variety of skills under your belt, but it’s crucial that you don’t just copy and paste the same skills on every application. Make sure to pick the most relevant ones to the job you are applying to - and your most outstanding ones at that. 

For example, if you’re auditioning for a part in a movie set in Spain and you have an intermediate level of Spanish, list it. Likewise, if you’re auditioning for a part in a musical and you are a classically trained singer, note this down. 

Be sure to specify your skill level and any other relevant details, as appropriate. For example, specify what type of dance you specialize in as well as your ability level. 

Below are some of the most common types of skills to list in an acting resume:

• Dancing ability
• Singing ability
• Voice training
• Stunt training
• Music ability 
• Accents
• Any foreign languages you speak
• Any acting methods you are trained in
• Sports you are skilled in

Pro tip: Don’t waste space listing skills that are irrelevant to the role you’re applying for. For example, you may have years of stunt experience, but if you’re auditioning for a period piece, leave it off your resume.

What achievements to mention and how to do it correctly

In most cases, your resume will be the first impression a casting director gets of you. You therefore need to carefully handpick which acting achievements you will feature.

If you have limited acting experience, consider including any college or acting school productions you acted in. Whereas, if you have extensive experience and are having trouble fitting it all on your resume, you will need to determine which of your acting credits are most relevant to the role at hand.

In order to present your achievements correctly, you need to format them in a logical and eye-catching manner. 

We recommend dividing your achievements into 3 main sections with the following headings, as appropriate to your acting experience:

1. Film
2. Television
3. Theatre

Each section should formatted into three columns, as follows:

Film

The name of the film  |  The type of role (Principal; Supporting; Lead)   |  The name of the production company and director (or the name of the school if it is a student production)

For example:

7 Days in Budapest  |  Principal  |   Claudia Anderson/ABC Studios

Glass Half Empty  |  Supporting |  Jeffrey Klein/Hummingbird Film

Television 

The name of the TV show  |  The type of role (Regular; Recurring; Series; Guest Star; Co-Star)  |  Network or production company

For example: 

Enemies  | Recurring | XY Productions

The Single Man |  Regular  | Channel 20

Theatre

The name of the theatre production  |  The role you played  |  The name of theatre and the location (the state) where the production took place

For example: 

The Taming of the Shrew  |  Petruchio  |  Yellow Theatre, NY

Chicago  |  Roxie Hart  |  Memory Lane Theatre, LA 

Pro tip: Order the 3 main sections so that your most impressive achievement is positioned first. For example, if your shining achievement is a TV role you starred in, position the television section first.

What to avoid mentioning

So far, we’ve focused on which essential pieces of information you need to include your resume. So is there anything you should avoid mentioning? Prevent any potential resume faux pas by steering clear of the following: 

Non-Acting Work Experience

Your acting resume should exclusively focus your acting experiences. Any other non-acting work experience should be excluded. The simple reason is that your resume should act as a showcase of your acting skills and experiences, so including any irrelevant information will divert focus off of your acting talent. 

Pro tip: Don’t let your non-acting experience go to waste! Simply create another resume that features these non-acting positions. You’ll be able to use this resume any time you apply for non-acting jobs. 

Extra work

If non-acting work experience should be left off your resume, surely extra work is fine to include, right? It can be tempting to include any extra or background actor work in the experience section of your acting resume. However, including these experiences is also a big no-no when it comes to applying for acting roles. 

While your extra work required you to use your acting skills, it simply doesn’t involve the same level of work as a regular acting role. Casting directors casting for an acting role only want to see relevant work experience on your resume, and unfortunately, extra roles do not count.  

Pro tip: The “exclude any extra work” rule even still applies if you were an extra in a blockbuster movie or well-known stage production.

How to write a resume objective (with examples)

Are you wondering how you’re meant to catch your big break if you have minimal acting experience? Crafting a persuasive and passionate resume objective could be just the thing that convinces a casting director to give you a chance. 

A resume objective provides a casting director with an insight into what your acting aspirations are as well as your passion for the craft. It should only be 2-4 sentences, so you will need to be concise. To really make your resume objective memorable, try to incorporate either a notable achievement you have to your name or something particularly eye-catching about your acting profile.

Here are a few resume objective examples to inspire you: 

• Actor with two years of professional training at the American Musical and Dramatic Academy looking to play a supporting role in a major Hollywood production. Has undertaken 5 years of private stunt and voice training. 

• Theatrically trained actress seeking a breakthrough role in a local theatre show. Winner of The New York Film Academy’s Merit Based Tuition Award. Aspires to one day be cast as the lead in a Broadway production. 

How to write a resume summary (with examples)

Unlike a resume objective, a resume summary is appropriate for experienced actors and actresses. You can think of a resume summary as your elevator pitch. It should emphasize your most attractive qualities and experiences related to acting that would bowl over even the most hardened casting director.

In 2-4 sentences, focus on communicating your attributes as an actor or actress. The goal should be to convince the hiring director that your resume is worth taking a closer look at - or even to contact you on the spot! You can also briefly mention your acting goals if you wish.

Here are a few resume summary examples to inspire you: 

• Actress with over 10 movie credits to her name, including a supporting role in a movie that grossed over $12 million in the box office. Saturn Award winner for Best Supporting Actress and two-time Independent Spirits Award winner for Best Female Lead. Seeking a lead role in a feature horror film.

• Dedicated method actor with 14 years of experience in local and national theatre productions. A Juilliard alumni who has played Hamlet for 5 seasons at the renowned Three Ships Theatre in North Carolina. Looking to land a major role in a national musical theatre production touring the country.

Pro tip: Remember to tweak your resume summary with each application so it is customized to the role at hand!

Why a headshot is important for an acting  resume

An acting resume is only one of a handful of resumes where a headshot is absolutely essential. If you thought a headshot was just a “nice to have,” keep in mind that most casting directors won’t give the time of day to a resume without one. 

The reason why a headshot is so important for an acting resume is because casting directors usually have a particular “look” in mind for each role. They want to be able to immediately gauge whether you may be a good physical fit for a role, and they do this by looking at your headshot.

That’s not to say you don’t have a chance if your look is different to what they had in mind. In fact, a casting director may not know what they’re looking for until they see your headshot! 

To ensure your headshot ticks all the right boxes, you’ll have to get it professionally taken. Don’t be tempted to take a DIY headshot - it will show. You want to look like a consummate professional, not an amateur, so you need a headshot to match. 

Pro tip: Your headshot should be 8 x 10 in size. Make sure to position it in the top right- or left-hand corner of your resume. 

What additional information is necessary and how it can help you land more jobs

Physical attributes

A casting director will likely spend only a few moments checking over each resume. One thing they will definitely look for are your personal stats. Your resume must clearly note down your physical attributes including your:

• Height
• Hair color
• Eye color
• Weight

Contact information and online acting profile

If a casting director believes you could be a good fit for a role, they will want to reach out to you to discuss any further details or invite you in for an audition. Your contact details therefore need to be clearly identifiable on your acting resume.

The casting director may also want to delve deeper into your acting history or see if you have an online presence as an actor or actress. That’s why you should also make sure to include details about your online acting profile, whether it’s a website about your acting work or your IMDB profile.

At the top of your resume, make sure to provide the following information:

• Full name
• Address
• Telephone number
• Email address
• Website and/or IMDB profile

Pro tip: If you have an agent, you should additionally include their name and agency, and ensure you provide their phone number instead of your own. 

Union Membership

If you are part of an acting union, it is critical to make note of this on your resume. Union membership shows a casting director your commitment to acting and enhances your credibility within the industry. These are two attributes they are known to look favorably on and are helpful in setting you apart from other actors and actresses without union membership.

Pro tip: Rather than write out a union’s name in full, use their initials e.g. AEA (Actors’ Equity Association) and SAG (Screen Actors Guild).

How to list your acting experience and awards

If you have won any acting awards from within the industry, congratulations! You should use this recognition of your acting abilities to your advantage on your resume.

There are two main ways to emphasize your award/s in your acting resume: 

1. Include an “Awards” section on your resume and list it there.
2. Add it in italics underneath the relevant role within the job description section of your resume

Whichever you choose, make sure that you include the following information:

• The organization you received the award from
• The name of the award / the award category
• The role you received the award for
• The year you received the award

Pro tip: Only include industry-recognized awards you have received. Unofficial awards, such as a competition run on Facebook, should be left off. 

3. Differences Between Theatre Actor Resumes and Film/TV Resumes

There are a handful of notable differences between theatre actor resumes and film/TV resumes. These can be clearly seen in the section above, “What achievements to mention and how to do it correctly.” 

As you may have noticed, the way you should write out your theatre acting credits is not the same as your film and TV credits. The primary difference is that for a theatre acting credit, you should state what role (i.e. which character) you played.

However, you should not do this for your TV or film acting credits. Instead, you should state the type of role you played (e.g. Principal, Supporting, Lead, etc).

There are a few other differences, too. For theatre credits, you will also need to include the name of the theatre production, the theatre company’s name, as well as the location where the production took place.

In contrast, for both film and TV credits, you will need to include the name of the film/TV show and the name of the production company/network. For film credits, you will also need to include the name of the director.

4. How to Make Your Resume Stand Out

You won’t need a reminder of just how competitive it is to score a role, whether it’s big or small. To give yourself the absolute best shot of wowing a casting director, you’ll have to go above and beyond to impress them. Here are a few things you can do to make your resume stand out:

Make your education section shine

Your education section may seem like the most dull part of your resume, but this couldn’t be further from the truth. Your education section should shine just as much as the rest of your resume. After all, being a well-trained actor or actress shows discipline, determination, and passion. It also reiterates that you are skilled and have taken the steps to transform from an amateur into a professional.

A straightforward way to make your education more eye-catching is to include any seminars, acting workshops, masterclasses, or private acting classes you have undertaken. If you trained under a notable teacher, don’t be shy to note this down as well.

Be completely truthful

Casting directors are highly-experienced professionals who have turned the process of finding the next big thing into an art form. Part of their success comes from knowing precisely what to look for in a resume...including any red flags.

That’s why it is pivotal to be completely truthful on your resume. You may think a few white lies here and there won’t cause any harm, but if you get caught telling them you could  ruin your reputation before you even get your big break!

Remember, integrity is everything as an actor, and it is difficult to gain back after it’s been lost. Just take it from Mike Fenton, a well-known casting director and co-founder of the Casting Society of America, who has been quoted as saying, “A reasonable resume is one that doesn't have too many little white lies on it.”

Don’t forget to include your age range

With so many components to remember to include in your resume, it is a common mistake to think that it’s necessary to include the age range you can play. However, it is crucial to include an age range as what you put will play a big part in whether or not you score a given role. 

In order to provide an accurate range, it’s a good idea to ask a few of your professional contacts for their opinion. Don’t leave it to your own guess work!

As we stressed above, it is vital that you are completely truthful. Casting agents will sense something is up if you write that you can pull off playing a 25 to 35 year old when your headshot clearly shows you are more suited to playing a 40 to 50 year old. Be realistic, and you’ll soon start landing the right roles.

5. How to Use a ResumeBuild Template to Make an Acting Resume

Just like working on your craft, putting together a strong acting resume takes time, expertise, and effort. If you have all of these and would like to try putting together a DIY resume, you can just follow our guide above. But if you’d rather channel that time and energy into auditioning and practicing lines, why not use a resume builder instead?

Our easy-to-use resume builder is designed to help professionals like yourself make resumes that land high-quality acting jobs. When you use our resume builder, you’ll be able to choose from one of the many HR-approved resume templates we have created. 

What makes our resume builder particularly useful for busy actors and actresses is that we give you all the tools you need to create a custom resume quickly and conveniently. For example, we offer acting professionals a range of pre-written examples of acting achievements that you’re welcome to add to your resume. You can access them in a couple of easy steps:

1. In the “Experience” section of our resume builder, scroll down until you see the “Job description” box.
2. On the right-hand side, find the subheading, “Career Field”. Use the drop down menu underneath to find and select “Performing Arts”.
3. In the “Career Subfield” drop down menu next to it, select “Actors”.
4. You will be presented with a range of job descriptions suitable for actors. Select the ones you want to use.
5. After you have added your chosen job descriptions, you can edit them to make them more appropriate to your unique acting experiences.

Remember, if you’re done wasting time trying to figure out all the ins and outs of making the perfect acting resume, there is another way. Our resume builder will ensure your name is up in the lights in no time.