The Outdated Fax Machine - My Secret Weapon.

Why is this out dated technology my secret weapon? There are several production offices and production companies who still rock a fax machine in the office.  Sending a fax is a guaranteed way of getting a HARDCOPY of your resume (and cover letter) into the office.  Boom, you just saved everyone a step by printing it out for them. I still send a resume via email, but sending a fax too helps to cover more ground. Plus with email submissions, they might get overlooked, deleted, or forwarded to no where.

However, you cannot fax your resume blindly, you have to fill out and submit a coversheet. Fax coversheet templates are available all over the interwebs and even Microsoft Word has a template.  On the fax coversheet, you indicate the department or individual to whom you are submitting your resume.  In my experience, production secretaries and production office staff are the ones who grab documents off the fax machine.  If there is a designated department or individual on the coversheet, it will get delivered.

Now, I know what you’re thinking….you don’t have a fax machine.  All good. You don’t need one!  There are several online electronic faxing services. Just google “sending a fax online” and several companies will come up.  Some companies have free trial periods, some offer online faxing for free – with limitations, and some you pay a monthly subscription.  If you do go the monthly subscription route, split it with a friend or two, and don’t feel obligated to hold onto the subscription if you’re going to be employed for a bit. 

Okay, the next thing you’re thinking…where do I find these fax numbers?  Weekly/Monthly production listings will provide information on productions that are currently in pre-production, production or post production.  With these posts you will find contact information for the attached production companies and the production office address, phone, email, and fax.  Fax numbers can also be could on the top of crew lists, and hiding on the callsheet. 

Happy Faxing, Ya’ll!