What skills should a Choreographer put on a resume?

O*NET rates Instructing, Active Listening, Coordination, Speaking, and Monitoring among the most important skills for this occupation. Name the ones that are genuinely yours and show where you used them. A resume that lists skills you do not have is weaker than one that lists fewer.

What software should a Choreographer list?

Software recorded for this occupation includes Chorel Technology Dance Designer, Credo Interactive DanceForms, Email software, Facebook, and Microsoft Excel. Applicant tracking systems match on the exact product name, so write the tool as the posting writes it rather than describing it in general terms.

What other job titles cover Choreographer work?

O*NET records 11 titles for this occupation, including Dance Director, Dance Maker, Opera Choreographer, and Ballet Director. Searching only your own job title hides most of the openings you could apply to.

What qualifications does a Choreographer need?

In O*NET's survey of people doing this job, 33% reported their level of education as "High School Diploma, or the equivalent". That is what current postholders reported, not a requirement any single employer sets.

Will this resume pass an ATS for a Choreographer role?

No tool outside an employer can tell you how that employer's system is configured, including ours. What you can control is that the resume parses cleanly, names the work in the words the posting uses, and does not claim anything you cannot back up.

Choreographer resume example

A resume for a Choreographer needs to show the work itself: create new dance routines. Day to day that means work like this: direct rehearsals to instruct dancers in dance steps and in techniques to achieve desired effects; advise dancers on standing and moving properly, teaching correct dance techniques to help prevent injuries. Recruiters and applicant tracking systems both read for the tasks and tools this role actually involves, so the strongest resume names them in your own experience rather than describing the job in the abstract. Below are the tasks O*NET records for this occupation, the software and tools it uses, the titles it is advertised under, and the skills worth naming if they are genuinely yours.

Also advertised as

The same job is posted under many titles. Searching only your own job title hides most of the openings you could apply to.

Dance Director
Dance Maker
Opera Choreographer
Ballet Director
Musical Choreographer
Choreography Director
Dance Choreographer
Dance Instructor
Dance Master
Dancing Master
Teaching Choreographer

What this work actually involves

Tasks recorded for this occupation, in O*NET's words. If your experience covers one of these, it belongs on your resume in your own words.

Direct rehearsals to instruct dancers in dance steps and in techniques to achieve desired effects.
Advise dancers on standing and moving properly, teaching correct dance techniques to help prevent injuries.
Teach students, dancers, and other performers about rhythm and interpretive movement.
Record dance movements and their technical aspects, using a technical understanding of the patterns and formations of choreography.
Direct and stage dance presentations for various forms of entertainment.
Choose the music, sound effects, or spoken narrative to accompany a dance.
Experiment with different types of dancers, steps, dances, and placements, testing ideas informally to get feedback from dancers.
Seek influences from other art forms, such as theatre, the visual arts, and architecture.
Develop ideas for creating dances, keeping notes and sketches to record influences.
Coordinate production music with music directors.
Design dances for individual dancers, dance companies, musical theatre, opera, fashion shows, film, television productions, and special events, and for dancers ranging from beginners to professionals.
Audition performers for one or more dance parts.

18 tasks are recorded in total; these are the most central.

Example bullets for this role

Built from this occupation's own tasks. The brackets stay empty on purpose: we will not invent a number for you, and a fabricated metric is the fastest way to lose an interview you had already won.

Direct rehearsals to instruct dancers in dance steps and in techniques to achieve desired effects, for [who or what it served], at [what volume].
Advise dancers on standing and moving properly, teaching correct dance techniques to help prevent injuries, for [who or what it served], at [what volume].
Teach students, dancers, and other performers about rhythm and interpretive movement, for [who or what it served], at [what volume].
Record dance movements and their technical aspects, using a technical understanding of the patterns and formations of choreography, for [who or what it served], at [what volume].

Software used in this role

Recorded for this occupation by O*NET. An applicant tracking system matches the exact product name, so write the tool the way the posting writes it.

Chorel Technology Dance Designer
Credo Interactive DanceForms
Email software
Facebook
Microsoft Excel
Microsoft Office software
Microsoft PowerPoint
Microsoft Word
Salesforce software
Salesforce Visualforce
Social media sites
Web browser software
Word processing software
YouTube

Tools and equipment

The physical equipment this occupation is recorded as using. Worth naming when a posting asks for it by name.

Compact disk CD players
Digital stopwatches
Digital video cameras
Digital video disk DVD players
Electronic metronomes
Laptop computers
Multi-speaker stereo systems
Personal computers
Stage lighting systems
Tablet computers

Skills an ATS reads for

Worth naming only if they are genuinely yours. Keyword overlap is one input to a resume's score, not a verdict.

choreograph dances
Chorel Technology Dance Designer
Credo Interactive DanceForms

What this job rates as most important

O*NET rates every skill for importance to this occupation. These are the highest rated, in order.

01Instructing
02Active Listening
03Coordination
04Speaking
05Monitoring
06Learning Strategies
07Social Perceptiveness
08Reading Comprehension
09Critical Thinking
10Time Management

Knowledge areas

The subject knowledge this occupation draws on, rated by importance.

Fine Arts
Education and Training
Administration and Management
Production and Processing
Communications and Media
Design
English Language

What qualifications people in this job have

From O*NET's survey of people doing this work. This is what postholders reported, not a requirement any single employer sets.

33%High School Diploma, or the equivalent
19%Post-Secondary Certificate, awarded for training completed after high school
19%Bachelor's Degree

What level this role is pitched at

O*NET places this occupation in “Medium Preparation Needed”. Most occupations in this zone require training in vocational schools, related on-the-job experience, or an associate's degree.

Previous work-related skill, knowledge, or experience is required for these occupations. For example, an electrician must have completed three or four years of apprenticeship or several years of vocational training, and often must have passed a licensing exam, in order to perform the job.

Common questions

What does a Choreographer do?: Create new dance routines. Day to day that includes work like direct rehearsals to instruct dancers in dance steps and in techniques to achieve desired effects and Advise dancers on standing and moving properly, teaching correct dance techniques to help prevent injuries.
What skills should a Choreographer put on a resume?: O*NET rates Instructing, Active Listening, Coordination, Speaking, and Monitoring among the most important skills for this occupation. Name the ones that are genuinely yours and show where you used them. A resume that lists skills you do not have is weaker than one that lists fewer.
What software should a Choreographer list?: Software recorded for this occupation includes Chorel Technology Dance Designer, Credo Interactive DanceForms, Email software, Facebook, and Microsoft Excel. Applicant tracking systems match on the exact product name, so write the tool as the posting writes it rather than describing it in general terms.
What other job titles cover Choreographer work?: O*NET records 11 titles for this occupation, including Dance Director, Dance Maker, Opera Choreographer, and Ballet Director. Searching only your own job title hides most of the openings you could apply to.
What qualifications does a Choreographer need?: In O*NET's survey of people doing this job, 33% reported their level of education as "High School Diploma, or the equivalent". That is what current postholders reported, not a requirement any single employer sets.
Will this resume pass an ATS for a Choreographer role?: No tool outside an employer can tell you how that employer's system is configured, including ours. What you can control is that the resume parses cleanly, names the work in the words the posting uses, and does not claim anything you cannot back up.

Related roles

Occupations O*NET records as closest to this one, and worth looking at if this search is not moving.

What this page cannot tell you

No tool outside an employer can tell you how that employer’s ATS is configured, including ours.
This page makes no claim about pay, demand or how many people hold this job. O*NET does not publish that here and we will not estimate it.
Keyword overlap is one input to a resume’s score, not a verdict on you. A resume that names skills you do not have is worse than one that names fewer.

If this is the job you are aiming at, the guide to tailoring a resume covers how to aim one posting properly, and building and exporting a resume here is free.

Occupation data from the O*NET 29.1 Database by the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (USDOL/ETA), used under CC BY 4.0. O*NET is a trademark of USDOL/ETA. SpartanResume is not endorsed by USDOL/ETA.