Most actors take for granted the fact that they need a resume. But building a resume that represents the actor well is a challenge.

A resume is not a dumping ground for everything you've ever done. Nor is it a race to fill the page. A resume should represent your strengths as a performer. It should be a guide for the auditor to how you have been cast, and to a degree, how you see yourself being cast in the future. Accuracy is key. And points are taken off for spelling errors. It would help here to provide guidelines. No?

The largest thing on your resume should be your name. Beneath your name should be your union affiliations. Avoid the beginner's mistake of putting the word ‘actor' beneath it. The resume is an acting construct and the word ‘actor' is redundant.

You should include your height, hair color and eye color on the right and your agent’s or your contact phone number, the fastest way you can be reached, on the left.

Next comes experience. What qualifies? Theatre, Film, and Television. Speaking roles, primarily, though you may have been cast as a non-speaking principal, a primary character. Under-5's count. As do day-player, and other principal players. Student films are a good starting point and also qualify as experience.

Why the emphasis on principal roles? Think of it this way. If your resume is filled with extra parts, how do you think the casting director will cast you? Do extra work for the experience (certainly not the money) but list only work that speaks about what you can do as an actor.

Representative roles are meaningless to most people, since they want to know that someone else actually cast you and you actually did the role in a full production. Scene nights are not good resume fodder. Do scene nights to get industry people to see you, but they have no place on your resume.

Right now you may be thinking ‘but I won't have much on my resume.' Good thinking, if what you do have has credibility. There should be nothing on your resume you need to apologize for or explain. And more importantly, your greatest strength might just be that you are a new face, and hopefully well trained. Which leads us to the next part.

Training. Here is a great chance to shine. The first thing people want to know is that you know what you are doing. It is necessary to shape your resume to include seven basic areas, including where you studied and with whom:

• Acting Technique
• Scene Study
• Voice (not singing)
• Movement
• Improvisation
• On Camera Scene Study (including daytime drama classes if you are a soap type)
• On Camera Commercials - upon request
• Singing

Notice that audition classes or business classes are not included. Your training as an actor is what is needed here. Audition classes should be evident from how you audition.

Two other sections are often found on resumes: Education, and, Special Skills. The Education section is usually used when people have degrees outside of theatre. It is not a required section, but more than one person who has been called in because of a connection with the Alma Mater.

Special Skills can be a fun section. This includes things like foreign language fluency and drivers license sort of items. But it can also include sports and things that you do that may be unique. One of the casting execs at ABC called an actor in because he said he could get six golf balls in his mouth at the same time. He got to read with her and got the day-player role, but she thought it was fun to see if he could really do the golf ball thing.

A few words of caution now that we have gone through the guidelines: Never lie on your resume. The industry is fairly concentrated now and most industry pros have a working relationship that will uncover the truth pretty quickly.

And remember that your resume is a living document, by that I mean that as you grow, it will grow. You can drop and add parts as you need. That is the joy of an actor's resume. It represents you every step of the way!