|
|
THE ADVANTAGES OF THE THEATRE MAJOR
Consider how many of these advantages and abilities are unique to theatre majors--and that you have far more advantages than majors in most other disciplines.
Articulate self-expression
Many students find that theatre helps them develop the confidence that's essential to expressing themselves clearly, lucidly, and thoughtfully. Acting onstage teaches you how to be comfortable communicating in front of large audiences, and some of your theatre classes will give you additional experience engaging groups in dialogue. Backstage work, especially crew duty during performance runs, will help you understand the strength of clear, precise, and organized communications. Some employers view these skills as essential that they often send management trainees to special workshops. This is where you already create for yourself a built-in advantage.
Creative problem-solving
Most people expect theatre students to demonstrate creativity in specialized disciplines such as acting, design, playwriting or directing, and many companies actively recruit creative thinkers. However, employers are not always aware that theatre experience does help you learn creative problem-solving techniques that are applicable to many jobs. For one example, technical theatre work--building scenery, hanging lights, making props, stage-managing a show, to use a few examples--is an exceptional way to learn how to think and identify problems on the spot, come up with possible solutions quickly, and make snap decisions. The same is true of almost every aspect of theatre. The point here is that your creative ability AND what you've learned about using creative processes to solve problems can be directly applied to virtually any job you have in the future. Most major companies believe that creative problem-solvers are good employees. That might be you. A mentality which sees mediocrity as unacceptable. Theatre students learn that "good enough" isn't enough. It goes beyond "good enough." You learn to do it right. Whatever your theatrical job-tech, performing, research, management-it has to be done right and without excuses. You learn to incorporate pride into doing things to the best of your ability and nothing but the best quality. Employers value that highly.
Motivation and commitment
Being involved in theatre productions and classes demands commitment and motivation, what's known as the proverbial "fire in the belly." These are qualities that college theatre faculty members, and you to an extent, probably already possess. We teach and lead through example that success comes to those who are responsibly committed to the task at hand. Not too many academic disciplines will strongly help you cultivate an ingrained work ethic. Many theatre students learn to transfer that attribute from theatre to their classes and jobs. For employers, positive attitude helps productivity.
Initiative and dedication
Personnel managers call people who approach work with initiative and enterprise "self-starters," people who do what needs to be done without waiting to be asked, without needing to be told. The complexities of a theatrical production demand individuals who are willing to voluntarily undertake any task that needs to be done in order for the production to succeed. In theatre, we're all self-starters. We learn how to take initiative, to move a project from initial concept to finality--and to do it superbly. As you work in theatre, you learn to dedicate yourself to doing your best to create a successful production. There is dedication to that show. There is dedication to your theatre. There is dedication to theatre as an artistic medium. Through empowerment, many theatre students realize that successfully committing oneself to a specific task from start to finish is its own reward. Employers respect and appreciate workers who have learned the intrinsic value of dedication.
Willingness to work cooperatively and the ability to work independently
Your work in theatre companies teaches you how to work effectively with different types of people--often very different personalities. We emphasize and practice ensemble theatre at Gallaudet. Ensemble theatre demands that participants work together cooperatively for the production to success; there is no room for "we" versus "they" behavior; seeking to be the "star" is unrealistic, selfish, and destructive. Your peers will usually let you know when you violate the team spirit of a production. In the theatre world, it's important that each individual supports the others involved. Employers will be pleased to know that you understand how to be a team player. You might be assigned tasks that you must complete without supervision. Crew responsibilities, putting together a flat in the shop, finding a certain prop, working on characterization and experimenting with ASL translation outside of rehearsals. It's left up to you to decide how best to achieve your goal. The ability to work independently is an attractive trait to employers looking to hire.
Time management skills
As a theatre major, you will be expected to learn how to budget your time and prioritize. You need to schedule your days very carefully if you want to keep up your grades while you're busy with rehearsals, work calls, and the other demands of theatre on your time. It cannot be emphasized enough how enormously important solid time management skills are to employers. The ability to learn quickly AND correctly. Theatre students, whether they're memorizing lines or learning the technical aspects of a production, must have the ability to absorb vast amounts of material quickly--and accurately . Your experience in college theatre will show that you have the ability to grasp complex matters in a short period of time, another highly-valued trait to employers. NOTE: Please understand that part of this ability is another significant trait: knowing how to actively listen. If you don't know how to actively listen, you're likely to make some major mistake harmful to the production. Active listening is a skill for any job and an employer will look hard at your listening and comprehension abilities.
Adaptability, flexibility, and the ability to focus under pressure
Theatre students must be adaptable and flexible. You need to be willing to try new ideas, accept new challenges, and have the ability to adapt to constantly changing situations and conditions. In one production you may be a member of the prop crew; in the next perhaps you're in charge of makeup, publicity or the box office; in a third production you might have a leading role. A worker who is versatile and flexible is highly valued to most employers. If you are both, it is proof to them that you are able and willing to learn new things. Theatre work often demands long hours, usually under a lot of pressure and stress. Everyone involved with a production has to be able to maintain a collaborative and enthusiastic attitude in such situations. The ability to keep your composure under these challenging conditions is unquestionably an asset enabling you cope with stress in other parts of your life, including your job.
A healthy self-image, self-confidence, and self-discipline
To work in theatre, you must know who you are and how to project your individuality. But at the same time, it's important to recognize the need to make yourself secondary to the importance of a production. This is a tricky balance that, although difficult to achieve, is a valuable trait which employers prize. Theatre training teaches you confidence in yourself. Your accomplishments in theatre show you that you can handle a variety of jobs, pressures, difficulties and responsibilities. You develop a CAN-DO attitude which any employer will love. Theatre demands that you learn how to control your life. More than other students, you are forced to make choices between keeping up with responsibilities and doing things you'd rather do. You learn to govern yourself. An employer will respect you even more for that ability.
Leadership
As a theatre student, you may be presented with opportunities to assume leadership roles. You may, for example, assist a director or designer and lead other volunteers, serve as a crew chief, or even design or direct a production yourself. In the "safe" environment of Theatre Arts, faculty will help you learn from your mistakes, and you become a better leader for it later on. Leadership training like this can open the possibility for comparable opportunities in a company that hires you. Can you think of any other major that offers this opportunity?
"THIS is Fun!"
You've discovered already that theatre people mystify non-theatre people when we tell them we're having fun. Non-theatre people shake their heads when we tell them that, and they ask how it is possible to have "fun" in a job that keeps us working night after night, sometimes until after midnight, doing something that calls for a grinding rehearsal or brutal work schedule day after day after day, that makes us miss going to a movie or a party. The non-theatre people look at us like we've gone insane, "THAT's fun?" You bet it's fun. We learn how to enjoy what we do. That's a valuable attribute. That approach can be applied to other jobs and has immense value to any employer. Few people choose to set out on a difficult, demanding four-year course of theatre study because it will make them good candidates for employment in other fields. Far more than any other major, theatre is excellent training for virtually any job: the theatre major is usually better-prepared than students who majored in most other fields.
The trick is for you to recognize the advantages you have.
|
|
