Special Skills

As a dancer or actress, you are always told to have some "special skills" on your resume; professionals in "the biz" make it clear that it doesn't matter what these skills are, but you should have at least three at the bottom of your resume. Special skills can be things like rollerblading, gymnastics, accents, basket weaving, stilt-walking, and so on. The purpose is really just to make you stand out when you go to an audition and let the casting people know that you can bring something unique to their production. However, special skills are becoming a more useful tool for any profession these days; you can make a career on some relatively useless skills. For example, there are people who get hired as "professional organizers," and their job is to organize...professionally...and someone pays them. Also, there is the much sought-after "personal shopper;" I mean I don't know anyone who is or knows of a personal shopper, so the field must be small but still exists. I have seen a professional dog masseuse on TV, along with professional magicians, and food artists (my neighbor was a food artist and did arrangements for Albertson's commercials; she cut up fruit into flower shapes and that kind of stuff). It's pretty amazing the things you can get paid to do in America, or rather, the things that people pay for. At first glance, it seems a tad superficial that someone could make a career out of professional shopping, organizing, or magic, but then again I guess they were able to find an untapped market. So, I'm not sure whether these people are brilliant for fulfilling a need, or just couldn't hack it at a more normal job. Regardless of what it is you do, I think it is commendable to see an opportunity and do something with your skill set. I would still like to know how to break into the personal shopping industry though.



Speaking of special skills...these Chines acrobats are incredible. I'm not sure just how marketable this skill is, but it is unique.