Every semester the design and production faculty organize reviews of student portfolios and resumes. These sessions are designed to help students with the guided development of portfolios and resumes. They are also opportunities for faculty to identify suitable production assignments for students. Portfolio reviews are mandatory for all design and production emphasis students and open to all theatre majors and minors.
Participation in portfolio reviews provides guidance for developing and improving your portfolio incrementally, semester by semester. This is a more manageable and less daunting approach than trying to put it all together in the final semester of your senior year. Also, participation in portfolio reviews is a requirement for design and production students who want to apply for Department of Theatre scholarships. Student dress and conduct at portfolio reviews should be guided by a sense of professionalism appropriate for professional theatre practitioners.
Beginning students often feel as if they have no materials worthy of inclusion in a portfolio. Not so! Many of the assignments that you will be doing in classes and in production generate work appropriate for a portfolio. What follows are some suggestions for how to develop a portfolio and resume for the purpose of successfully marketing yourself as a theatre professional.
Student participation in portfolio reviews
Portfolios, resumes and interviews
A well prepared portfolio and resume, and the ability to conduct oneself well in an interview are the primary means to success when searching for a good job or a good graduate training program. In this department design and production emphasis students are required to maintain two portfolios: the My Work Portfolio and the Design and Production Portfolio.
What is a My Work Portfolio?
A My Work portfolio is a collection of anything and everything you have done that documents your work as a theatre practitioner. It should include everything – class work, all production work, and other work in the form of research, sketches, drawings, renderings, process photos, finished product photos, 3-D objects and models, production paperwork, production photos, programs, posters, etc. This is the master collection from which you will make selections for your Design and Production Portfolio.
What is a Design and Production Portfolio?
A Design and Production Portfolio is a presentation of selected design and production work in a professional portfolio format. This portfolio is one of the most important tools used by theatre practitioners when seeking employment or entry into graduate school.
What is a resume?
Your resume is a document, usually one page in length, which summarizes important information about your training, experience and skills. Resume usually follow a format dictated by the standards of the profession, and include current contact information for you and your references. Resume can be thought of as briefing documents. Their purpose is to communicate to a complete stranger as much relevant information about your training, experience and skills, as quickly and easily as possible.
What is an interview?
In addition to considering your portfolio and resume, a prospective employer or graduate program representative may require an interview, in order to learn more about you and the experiences represented in your portfolio and resume. An interview is a dialogue between you and one or more persons and is guided by the questions directed to you by the interviewer(s).
Developing Portfolios and resumes
How to develop a resume
The best way to learn how to develop a resume is to attend portfolio reviews and listen carefully to suggestions made by faculty. Make sure take notes so you have a record of the suggestions when you actually sit down to make the revisions. In addition, past student resumes are available from faculty as models.
How to develop a portfolio
Form
The very best source for ideas about the form of your portfolio (how a portfolio is put together) is the observation of other student portfolios and the portfolios of theatre professionals. You should take advantage of as many opportunities as possible to see the portfolios of other students and those of working theatre professionals.
Content
Good content is the most important consideration for the development of a strong portfolio. Get into the habit of taking photos of your work, both “in progress photos” and “finished product photos”. If you have materials that have anything to do with a major project, keep it. Save sketches, worksheets, spreadsheets, charts, mock-ups, etc. One thing that is desired by employers and graduate programs is evidence of the process by which designs or building plans are developed and executed. There are lots of places where you can acquire this kind of content for your portfolio:
Strayer-Wood Theatre production assignments
As a student, you may have numerous production assignments that will generate work for your portfolio: Fundamentals running crews, Practicum I studio hours, Practicum II crew head assignments, Theatre Production assignments, etc.
Class projects
Class projects are an important source for design and production portfolios. This includes Theatre classes at UNI and any other class that generates work related to Theatre.
Summer theatre work
Summer theatre work can generate important portfolio materials. Remember to pack a camera!
UNISTA work
UNISTA productions offer many opportunities for portfolio building.
Theatre UNI production photo archive
The Theatre Department commissions professional photos of every main stage production. You can access copies of those photos through the Marketing Director.
Guidelines for [Design and Production] Portfolio Review ParticipationBring at least 8 copies of your resume to every portfolio review, dress appropriately, and follow the presentation instructions specified by the design and production staff.
Guidelines for My Work Portfolio Meetings
My Work Portfolio meetings usually occur every other semester. My Work Portfolios are an ongoing project, and you should be adding materials to them every semester.
Guidelines for Professional Portfolio Presentation
Presentations usually occur every other semester. Plan to present in 10 minutes, and then have 5 minutes for discussion. Focus on your professional goals but also show your breadth of abilities and interests.
Guidelines for Resume Preparation
The following headings can be considered a beginning format for designing your resume. The listings under “Production experience” should appear in an order appropriate to the experience of individuals.
Name
Contact Information
Career objective
Education
Production experience
Position Title Venue Year
Sub-categories can help organize your production experience for example:
Electrics
Scenery
Costume
Sound
Makeup
Special Skills
Honors and Awards
References (3)
Ask your references how they wish to be listed. Include name, job title, organization, address, office telephone, and email contact information.