There are many entry-level opportunities in animation for Production Assistant type roles across productions. Production Assistants work closely with Production leadership and artists supporting day-to-day scheduling of meetings, preparing for daily reviews, taking notes, tracking asset delivery milestones and workflows, etc. This team is made up of great communicators, strategists, and organizers, and they are quick to respond to ever-changing production schedules. 

The following are key foundational skillsets to consider when putting a resume together for entry-level production roles: 

• Fit your resume on one page. Keep it short and concise! Unless you have years of experience in one or more fields or tons of publications, you should be able to keep your resume to one page!

• Write a compelling resume summary or objective. This is especially good for when you are pivoting careers and are able to showcase what you are able to bring to a production. 

• Add your work experience, starting with the most recent job.  Be clear about roles/duties when listing work history.  Be sure to describe your jobs and experiences in enough detail to inform the recruiter about what skills you utilized and specific responsibilities you had in that position.

• Tailor your resume to the role you are applying for. It's ok to be interested in multiple things and some of you may have creative aspirations, but it's always helpful to highlight the skills that align with the role you are applying for. 

• Include academic projects. If you do not have professional experience, include projects that you may have worked on or led while in school. These can be team projects or personal. 

Note: Oftentimes, prospective entry-level applicants will use a large portion of their resumes to list the various student films or personal projects they’ve completed. While you may want to show your active involvement in production, this can usually be accomplished in one or two bullet points. Unless you have provided links to the work you are describing, it is hard for a recruiter to do much with just the name of a short and your title on that production. Simplifying to something like “Worked on x short films in roles ranging from storyboard artist to producer” still gives us insight into how active you’ve been, but saves you a lot of space to further contextualize your strengths and skillset. 

• Software applications. Include software that you have worked in. Provide examples of how you used the software in your work and/or academic experience. This will help highlight your working knowledge of different software applications. 

• Academic or other organizations affiliations. It's great to see how you participate or contribute to organizations, i.e., volunteer to mentor students at XYZ organizations. This will help highlight your soft skills!   

• Research the various Production Management job descriptions. Use them as a guide to help align your experience and skillsets with the role you are considering applying to. 

• Be confident. Most of the time you are going to be submitting a resume to a potential employer without any conversation ahead of time. Because of this, your resume is going to serve as a recruiter’s first impression. Nobody can make a better case for you than you! Make sure you’re showing your skills and accomplishments confidently. If we don’t see them on the page, then we can’t have any way of knowing just how truly awesome you may be!