Need advice for crafting the perfect CV? Well, look no further than this guide. Industry expert, Siobhan O’Donnell, is an extremely well-renowned Floor Manager and First Assistant Director. She spoke to Studio Insider to give you the top tips for
curating a successful CV.
“I run a Facebook group for runners with over 100,000 members and I also do a CV clinic at the Royal Television Society Fair. I sit there with a red pen and say, “You don’t need this. You don’t need that.” Everyone is like, “You’re brutal,” but I’ve spent
so long doing this and I know what works and what doesn’t.” From working on the Brit Awards and Formula 1, to Teletubbies and Big Brother, Siobhan has a wealth of experience under her belt and now she passes on that wisdom through CV support.
But how did she actually get to where she is today and what do you need to do to get there? Let’s find out.
Her journey:
Having completed a film and video production degree, Siobhan landed her first job as a training camera operator post-graduation, before moving to a children’s television company where she worked for two years. “It was a fantastic experience but then I saw a job advertised and moved across to London Weekend Television. It was fabulous as it was across all genres, so they did everything from drama and light entertainment to sports and current affairs. It was a really, really good grounding in my career and I stayed there for 10 years.”
Now, Siobhan is freelance with the official title of ‘Floor Manager/First Assistant Director’. She says, “We’re the organisation and the people with all of the knowledge. We pull all of the departments together and have that overview, keeping things on schedule, liaising with directors and producers, briefing all the guests, making sure everything is rehearsed and that everything happens on time.”
She adds: “This industry is all about contacts, so, as a floor manager, you tend to get your work via the director, the producer or the production manager. You rarely see a floor manager job advertised. For example, I do quite a lot of work for BBC Events, who do everything from church services and funerals to commemoration days. Once you’ve managed a few of those, your name’s on a list somewhere, so now I seem to be almost a ‘Head of Funerals and Church Services’ and have worked the likes of the Funeral of HM Queen Elizabeth II and the Platinum Jubilee Concert. You get recommended and that’s how the jobs tend to keep coming.”
Preparing to write your CV:
‘Why do you want to be in TV production and what do you want to do?’ They’re the first questions Siobhan asks people, which she says a lot of the time people can’t answer. “I then drill down and start asking them, ‘What do you watch?’ If you’re not
watching television, then you’re going to go into any interview and be found as a fraud straight away.
“So, my first tip is if you’re only watching Love Island and going to the cinema to watch Marvel movies, you’re not going to get very far. You need to have insight. You need to be watching television as part of your research, even stuff that you don’t
even like. It’s crucial to know what is going on in the industry at the moment, so you can talk knowledgeably about it.
“I think the problem is that everybody is thinking about how they can stand out. You don’t need to stand out. You just need to do a damn good job. I might work with six runners and they’re all tripping over each other to be in your face. I’m looking at the
person who’s just quietly getting on with it and changing the bin bag because that’s the person I want to work with.”
The other thing you can do to prepare is use LinkedIn and the internet, which Siobhan describes as ‘an address book’. “Everybody’s all in one place, and you can see what they’re up to. For example, if you love ‘The Traitors’, it’s made by Studio
Lambert, so find the producer on LinkedIn and follow them. It is a good way of networking.”
The top tips:
So, how do you actually curate the CV that will secure you that all-important foot in the door? According to Siobhan, everyone should create a number of different CVs over a period of time. Once you’ve got your basic CV structure, she says, “Review it at least once a month. Once you’ve got a few credits or you’ve got a few things that you are very interested in, then that third coffee shop you worked at can come off and so forth. Every word on the page has to be relevant. Employers will look at a CV
and if they can’t see what they’re looking for in 10 seconds, they are not going to flip through. It should be one page ideally, but once you’ve got a few credits, you can go over the page to two,” she says.
“I’ve probably got about six or eight CVs, depending on which genre of TV I’m going for. It means that if somebody says, “Send me over a CV,” I can just move the content around for the particular role. Please do not lie on your CV though. Don’t say that you’ve done all these things that you haven’t done. You’ll be found out immediately.
“Also, keep it clear, simple, and straightforward. You don’t need fancy graphics and coloured backgrounds, but it goes without saying that it should be formatted neatly. Make sure everything lines up and spelling and grammar has to be perfect.”
Your CV structure:
“If I’m looking at a CV, it should have your name at the very top, and that sounds obvious, but you’d be amazed how many people don’t do it. Also, put what role it is you’re going for.
“After that, contact details, so your mobile number, where you’re based, your email, and one of the most important things, a driving license. If you have got one, you go to the top of the pile. It’s not necessarily fair, but it is how the majority of people get their first job because they’ve got a driving license. You don’t always need to have your own car, but I would say 80% of the jobs we get through our Facebook runners group ask for a driving license.”
The next thing you need? A short profile about yourself. Siobhan says, “Don’t get Chat GPT to do it. I’m not totally against it. If you struggle with things, get some ideas from it, but I can tell straight away if it is AI and it puts me off. Tell me who you are,
what you’re looking for and a little bit about if you’ve got some industry experience. If you don’t have experience but you’ve got transferable skills from other employment, we’re really keen on that too.
“I was talking to somebody recently. This guy is 24, he doesn’t drive, he has graduated from uni, but he has never had a job. Not a day in a coffee shop, or a paper round and that is quite a red flag to me. If I’ve got two pieces of paper and I’ve
got somebody who’s worked in Costa and Sports Direct or this guy who has got a masters, who am I going to choose? The one who can clearly hold down a job, so you can mention your transferable skills.
“What I like to see next is a skills section and this can be very brief. A big error is that lots of people put skills like teamwork and punctuality and that’s expected as standard. I want to see if you have a first aid certificate or your driving license. Also,
any languages that you can speak because they are really handy, or if you have a DBS check from working with the Scouts for example. I want to see hard qualifications. Put down any computer programmes and editing software you are really familiar with, like Microsoft Office, PowerPoint, Excel and Adobe packages or anything like that, put those down as well. You only need about eight bullet points but it is a good section to have.”
The next section is the all-important ‘experience’ section, which Siobhan says can be the make or break. “This is where I can tell when people are faking experience. Every word on that page has to earn its place, and if it’s something that I don’t need
to know, take it off. If you’ve got any student experience like hospital radio or writing sports reports for your local football team, it shows real initiative. Retail, hospitality, and delivery jobs alongside your studies are great too. I know three people who drove for Morrisons who got their first industry jobs because they could drive those big trucks. Every single job teaches you something every single day, so that’s why we like to see it.
“If you have got some industry experience, you should say the role first. So, for example, ‘Runner, Britain’s Got Talent, ITV Productions,’ and then always give your full dates. What some people do is just put the month so they’ll make it look as
though they’ve done the whole series. If it’s one or two days, put it down. Keep it brief.
“You don’t need to say, ‘As a runner on Britain’s Got Talent, I was assigned the duties of…’ We’ve seen that you’re a runner, so you can say, ‘Assist the producer in setting up the rooms for the interview, crew teas and coffees, met contributors and escorted them to dressing rooms.’ List three or four things that you’ve done and you definitely don’t need to repeat yourself.”
The last section of your CV? Education. She says, “Only put your highest level of qualification. You should only include your A-levels if there was something unusual, like doing a language. If you’ve done a Masters, put in your undergraduate too, but
keep this section brief.”
With that step-by-step guide from the CV guru, Siobhan O’Donnell, it is clear that it’s not about the gimmicks or the fluff. It’s about clarity, relevance and real experience. Whether you’re just starting out or refining your next career move, make sure to use her no-nonsense tips to give your CV the best possible shot at landing you that dream role.
