Creative CVs, Resumes, Media Kits, and so on

Every so often I like to look at creative interpretations of CVs, resumes, and other documents that introduce you to the world. My current CV is ok but rather boring; it doesn’t really communicate my personality, my interests, nor the fact that I like to try unusual things and bring things together.

I want something I can send not just as job applications, but also as introductions to people and groups I find interesting. People I’d like to get to know better, work together with, create something of soulful merit. Do fun stuff. I don’t want my resume to put me to sleep! My kit would need to look more like this:

I’d like my CV to be offbeat, reflective of me, and unorthodox. Sure, it may not get past the typical HR headhunters – but I’m not going for “typical”. I’m going for people who appreciate individuality, creativity, and openness to ideas.

Nubby Twiglet has an article on creating a successful press kit with examples of her kit that she updates every year.

I asked my friends (and my sister, who does illustration and has her birthday today!) about how I could get such a kit for myself. My main questions were (from the email):

• How do I create a CV+portfolio+thingo that is creative, reflects me, and gets the attention of the receipient?
• How do I do this without being wanky?
• How do I structure my content in this creative CV kit?
• How do I get the thing designed?
• Am I only stalling because I’m overwhelmed by vast nothingness, so I’m either trying to be outrageous or trying to procrastinate? (Well, possibly, but that’s an issue for another email)

(I’m not facing vast nothingness at the moment, which is great, but I still may be stalling.)

Now that I’m starting The Merch Girl and am delving a bit deeper into performance work, especially theater and burlesque, having some sort of a kit to represent myself would be really helpful. Inside this kit would be:

• My CV/resume
• Performances lists
• Headshots
• Artist statements
• Business cards
• Personal letter

what else? What else should my kit hold that represents me and gives other a good picture of myself?

Issue 1 of the Underground Art School had an article with questions that build your artist statement. Questions like:

How & why is your work meaningful to you?
What is it that you like about what you make?
Do you do things differently from the way you were taught?

This statement is going to be a lot more important if I’m going to apply for grants or for work at festivals and such (The Merch Girl may have a gig at This Is Not Art as Stage Manager!). It’s pretty exciting to even consider such a statement, but I’m only just developing my work, and I don’t want to come up with something really academically dense like “Tiara extrapolates given assumptions about her heritage culture and synthesises it with modern dogma about society, commenting on the juxtaposition between the expected and the desired” when really what I want to say is “Tiara does things that are fun. This is one such thing.”.

I’ve contacted Autumn Heep – who worked with us at the Vagina Monologues – to help redo my resume for me. She has a thing going where she could retool and reformat your resume for you from $50 upwards. Hopefully I’ll be able to afford the $100 for a complete changeover! If I want a full-blown kit though, I may have to invest in more than just a resume change. But small things first.

Do you have your own specially designed CV, resume, media kit? What’s something tangible that you have available for others? What do you include in yours?