Home Stage Manager Resume template
Stage Manager resume template
A clean starting structure with example content grounded in what stage managers actually do day to day, not generic filler. Download and replace the bracketed placeholders with your own details.
Which resume format should you use?
Reverse chronological
You have a steady work history. This is the format almost every recruiter and ATS expects by default.
Functional
You're changing fields or have gaps in your employment. Leads with skills rather than a job-by-job timeline.
Combination
You're early career or have worked consistently but for only a few employers. Blends a skills summary with a shorter chronological history.
This template uses the reverse chronological format: the one most stage managers should default to, since most Australian recruiters and ATS software expect it.
Professional summary
Stage manager with a focus on prompt copy, cue calling and backstage coordination for theatre and live events. Experienced in running rehearsals, managing cast and crew welfare, and keeping performances consistent from preview to closing night. Comfortable working evenings and weekends during production seasons.
Key skills
- Project management
- Operations management
- Event coordination
- QLab
- Stage Write
- Microsoft Office
- Google Workspace
- Dropbox
- Written communication
- Attention to detail
- Problem solving
- Time and deadline management
- People leadership
Experience: example bullet points
- Called cues for a 30-performance season, maintaining consistent timing across lighting, sound and fly cues from preview to closing night.
- Compiled prompt copy for a large-cast production, recording blocking and technical notes that reduced cue-calling errors during technical rehearsals.
- Coordinated backstage crew of 15 across set changes and wardrobe quick-changes, keeping changeover times within the director's schedule.
- Ran rehearsals in consultation with the director, adjusting schedules to accommodate cast availability and venue access.
- Managed cast and crew sign-in, safety inductions and welfare checks across a 12-week rehearsal period.
Education
Typical entry is through a bachelor degree in theatre, performing arts or stage management, though many stage managers also come through a Diploma of Live Production and Technical Services or gain equivalent experience on the job.
Keywords an ATS is likely to scan for
Applicant tracking systems match your resume against terms in the job ad before a person ever sees it. Only include the ones that actually apply to your experience, but if a term below matches something you've done, use the same wording the job ad uses.
- prompt copy
- cue calling
- stage management
- live production
- theatre
- performing arts
- WHS
- work health and safety
- risk assessment
- QLab
- Stage Write
- Microsoft Office
- Google Workspace
- Dropbox
- event coordination
- technical rehearsal
- bump in
- bump out
- production week
- cast and crew welfare
Getting past ATS screening
- Match the specific skills, certifications and terms used in the job ad, not just your own wording for the same thing.
- Keep formatting simple: no tables, text boxes, columns, headers/footers or graphics. Parsers frequently drop content placed in these.
- Submit as .docx or PDF unless the job ad specifies otherwise.
- Use standard section headings (Experience, Education, Skills) rather than creative alternatives.
- List your core skills and technical competencies in their own section so a keyword scan can find them instantly.
This is a starting point, not a guarantee of interviews. Tailor every bullet point to your own real experience and the specific job ad.