5 Pro Tips to Make an impressive Music Resume

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We live in a world where nothing comes easy. In every field, there is immense competition, especially when it comes to musicians.

Skillful musicians can tap their potential but often fail to convey their expertise to the recruiter. You need to make sure that you do not make the same mistakes as other musicians out there.

The following tips will help you create a music resume that will leave the recruiters in awe:

Optimize the professional experience

Just like a scale is composed of notes that fit well together, your music resume should be constructed in a way that showcases your expertise. And, nothing does this better than the professional experience section.

Comprising all your professional achievements, this section becomes the essence of your resume. However, you need to make sure that you compose it well. Here is how you can make your professional experience better:

Quantify points: Include numbers in your one-liner points. The idea is to quantify the information to create a better impact. Mention the number of people who attended your shows, how many gigs you played, etc.
Club your points: This is a very important step in displaying your skills. Framing stellar points is not going to be enough as the recruiter may not get enough time to skim through your resume. Create sub-heading for 3-4 relevant points. For example, artist collaboration & curriculum design, etc.

*Note: Make sure the professional experience section is composed of just one-liner bullet points. Paragraphs reduce the readability of your resume.

Create a section for your performances

This is not a traditional section in a resume. However, for musicians, it becomes very important. This section majorly focuses on your abilities to play in front of an audience, which is essential for musicians.

You need to include the venues you have played, or if you have opened for a famous band. While emphasizing more on the numbers and your achievements, you need to make sure that your points are restricted to one line.

For example:

Achieved the 2nd position in the Triad-thlon competition while representing the college band
Opened for the band Huey Duey Decimals at the Fastonbury festival in Glastonbury in Dec ‘13

Write a professional summary

Write a brief paragraph in 3-4 lines that talks about your career and expertise. This section should highlight your most valued assets as a musician. Construct your summary in a way that does not leave any doubt against your caliber in the mind of a recruiter.

Here is an example of a stellar career summary of a musician:

4+ years experienced Session Musician with a certification from Berkeley University. Adept at playing 25 instruments and contributing heavily to the composition process. Proficient in transforming to the genre of artist’s music and liaising with other musicians for performance improvements.

Include your skills

Glorifying specific skills, this section is very important for your resume. Musicians have mastery over multiple instruments and amazing skills that should be included in your resume.

Here are the types of skills that you need to focus on:

Interpersonal skills: This may not seem essential for musicians but this is a very important skill to tackle in your resume. For example, collaboration with musicians and working with artists require such skills.
Core-musician skills: This should showcase your skills as a musician. For example, the instruments you can play, etc.
Technical skills: A few skills that are highly important in the studio. For example, some audio engineering such as sound modifications, monitoring, etc.

Master the job description

While applying for a job post, go through the job description to modify your resume. A few adjustments as per the job description can be incredibly helpful in creating a job-specific resume.

It helps to incorporate keywords and highlight expertise that is highly relevant to the job requirement. Let’s say the job profile is looking for a musician who is also fluent in playing the oboe. Now it would be a disaster if it is not mentioned in the resume although you are proficient in it.

Hence, you should equally pay attention to the job description as it helps you draw such essential tips that can dramatically improve your chances of getting hired.

Conclusion

Coming to an end, before submitting your resume, optimize the profile title of your resume as per the role you are targeting. Prioritize achievements concerning your performances, let’s say you won prize money for a music competition, include it as it will help you make a quantifiable impact. Mention the name of the key artists/musicians you collaborated with, but make sure you are not violating any agreement.

Bernard - Side-Line Staff Chief editor

Bernard Van Isacker is the Chief Editor of Side-Line Magazine. With a career spanning more than two decades, Van Isacker has established himself as a respected figure in the darkwave scene.

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