Career Overlap Transition record Edition 1 · ESCO v1.2.1
Table 1Transition record

stage directortotechnical director

A stage director already meets 25% of what the technical director role asks for. The move turns on 7 required skills not yet in the profile.

From stage director
25%
Overlap1
To technical director
3 Skills carried over
7 Required, not held
62 Difficulty2
Career overlap Distant match

25%

Learning distance Substantial retraining

62/ 100

1 Share of the technical director role’s weighted skill requirement already met by the stage director profile. Required skills count in full, supplementary skills at 0.35. Directional: the figure for the reverse move differs. 2 Combines what is missing with how specialised it is, so a gap of general skills scores easier than the same number of narrow ones.

Why

Why this move works

A technical director role treats 2 of its required skills as things a stage director already does. These are the ones it depends on most.

  • adapt designers’ work to the performance venue
  • organise rehearsals

What stands in the way is 7 required skills the profile does not yet cover. Table 3 groups them; Table 4 says which to take first.

Table 2

Table 2 · What you already bring

Of the 3 skills that carry over, these are the ones fewest other occupations ask for. A technical director role needs them, and most people applying for one will not have them already. This is the part of a stage director background worth leading with.

Skill the target role also needs Area
  • already held write technical riders communication, collaboration and creativity
  • already held organise rehearsals management skills
  • already held adapt designers’ work to the performance venue communication, collaboration and creativity

All 3 carried skills, including the 2 the technical director role treats as required.

Table 3

Table 3 · What you would need to learn

The 7 missing skills fall into 4 areas of the ESCO skill hierarchy, numbered below in the order worth working in: the areas carrying the most required skills come first, and inside each one the required skills sit above the supplementary ones.

Skill to acquire Tier
01 communication, collaboration and creativity 4 required
  • required, not held adapt to artists' creative demands required
  • required, not held coordinate with creative departments required
  • required, not held promote health and safety required
  • required, not held negotiate health and safety issues with third parties required
02 arts and humanities 1 required
  • required, not held theatre techniques required
03 information skills 1 required
  • required, not held write risk assessment on performing arts production required
04 management skills 1 required
  • required, not held coordinate technical teams in artistic productions required
Table 4

Table 4 · Where to start

The 3 entries a technical director role is least likely to hire without. The ordering is computed from the skill data, not from what pays.

Each entry opens a course search for that skill. Career Overlap earns nothing from these links.

Appendix

Appendix · The rest of the record

All 3 skills that carry over
Skill Type
  • already held adapt designers’ work to the performance venue skill
  • already held organise rehearsals skill
  • already held write technical riders skill
0 supplementary skills, helpful but not required
Skill to acquire Tier
22 held skills the technical director role does not ask for
Skill Type
  • not needed by the target role acting techniques knowledge
  • not needed by the target role adapt a script skill
  • not needed by the target role analyse a script skill
  • not needed by the target role assemble an artistic team skill
  • not needed by the target role carry out auditions skill
  • not needed by the target role communicate expectations of fight actions skill
  • not needed by the target role cue a performance skill
  • not needed by the target role determine context to present the work skill
  • not needed by the target role develop drama production process skill
  • not needed by the target role direct an artistic team skill
  • not needed by the target role ensure visual quality of the set skill
  • not needed by the target role evaluate art quality skill
  • not needed by the target role find a replacement for stage manager skill
  • not needed by the target role follow time cues skill
  • not needed by the target role identify technical resources for performances skill
  • not needed by the target role maintain blocking notes skill
  • not needed by the target role manage budgets skill
  • not needed by the target role manage prompt book skill
  • not needed by the target role prompt performers skill
  • not needed by the target role read scripts skill
  • not needed by the target role select music for performance skill
  • not needed by the target role work with playwrights skill
1 gaps that are knowledge rather than practice

Knowledge gaps usually close through study. Practical skill gaps usually need something you can point at.

Skill to acquire Tier
  • required, not held theatre techniques required
Index

Other moves recorded from stage director

Full index of moves from stage director

Note

How this record was compiled

Both occupations are taken from ESCO, which lists the skills and knowledge each occupation is expected to have and marks every one required or optional. Nothing here is a prediction about hiring, and nothing here knows that a particular employer wants a particular certificate. Treat Table 3 as a starting point for your own research rather than a syllabus. The full method states what these figures can and cannot tell you.