Theatre Design & Technology - Spring 2005 - 63

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...

a job

Graduate schools offering MFA degrees interviewing prospective
students for admission into their programs in scenic design, costume design, lighting design, sound design, technical production, theatre crafts,
and stage management.
Production companies interviewing prospective staff members
capable of making positive contributions to mounting and running productions. Positions might include designers, assistant designers, carpenters, electricians, cutter/drapers, craftspeople, prop specialists, scenic
artists, and running crews. The types of production companies ran the
gamut from resident theatres, festival theatres, road companies and others whose primary purpose is to combine the talents of experienced theatre artisans to mount productions.
Industry manufacturers and/or dealers interested in prospective employees to fill positions like project managers, installers, product
design, and development specialists, sales representatives, specification
writers, rental agents, and fabricators.
The selection of people to receive the survey was largely determined
by the author's association with a number of regional and national organizations. He felt that soliciting "cold" responses would not be productive. For this reason he bent people's ears at conferences and on the
phone in an attempt to gauge their willingness to take time to complete
the survey. Robert Barber of BMI Supply and Dennis Aplin of Theatrical
Lighting Systems enthusiastically contributed valuable insights for commercial vendors. They suggested a number of Entertainment Services and
Technology Association (ESTA) members to contact. In many instances
this led to identifying other people that could provide meaningful per-

Academic Record
1
2
A
3
4
1
2
3
B 4
5
6
7
1
2
3
4
C
5
6
7
8
62

Academic Transcripts
Overall GPA
Theatre GPA
GPA Within Chosen Discipline
Graduate Record Exam
Theatre Coursework
Theatre History
Play Analysis
Multi-Discipline Exposure
Practicum/Production Lab Experience
Number of Directed Studies/Spec. Proj.
Low number of Withdrawals/Incompletes
Low Number of D/F Grades in Theatre
Non-Theatre Coursework
Fine Arts Studio Courses
Fine Arts Foundation/History Courses
English
Humanities
Natural Sciences
Foreign Language
Social Sciences
Computer Science/Engineering

S P R I N G

2 0 0 5

TD & T

spectives. This pre-survey contact is largely responsible for the high response rate to this survey. There were a total of 141 people contacted.
One hundred thirteen individuals responded to the survey. They represented over 100 different companies or institutions in all areas of production related activities. Nearly 68% of the participants were willing to
provide additional written comments. Comments ran the gamut from
long term career choices (and how to make them) to what to wear to an
on-site interview. Nearly everyone provided additional useful insights.
Combined averages of the three major portions of the industry are
presented in the tables which start on page 58. The ITALICIZED responses indicate a variance of less than 5% in the weight respondents
place on a survey question. This does not mean they strongly desire an
item. For instance, all respondents place very little interest in having a
photograph of the applicant. At the same time they agree that an e-mail
address should be a virtual requirement on all résumés. There are areas
that have wide differences of opinion from respondents. These questions
have been highlighted in BOLD and indicate a difference of at least 20%.
As expected the greatest differences occur between graduate programs
and the commercial portion of the industry. Grad schools place significantly more weight upon a student's portfolio than does the commercial
sector. Conversely a student's résumé carries more weight in an applicant's
packet for the commercial sector than it does for the academic.
Interviewing for a job will never be fun. But it will be much less
stressful if you know the answers to two questions before you begin: 1)
what skills and knowledge do you have to offer and 2) how do your
knowledge and skills match the needs of your future employer? Building

RATING

1(Low) to 10 (High)

Grad
School

Production
Company

Commercial
Dealer/Manu.

94%
80%
76%
63%

83%
76%
65%
43%

60%
63%
76%
37%

88%
93%
85%
80%
78%
77%
100%

62%
61%
66%
95%
73%
80%
83%

63%
37%
80%
81%
53%
64%
71%

93%
88%
92%
90%
78%
81%
80%
73%

81%
82%
80%
83%
55%
73%
70%
73%

81%
94%
85%
82%
65%
45%
58%
55%

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Practical experience at school is
important, as is coursework outside the strict theatre curriculum.
Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Theatre Design & Technology - Spring 2005
