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

head of workshoptotechnical director

A head of workshop already meets 43% of what the technical director role asks for. The move turns on 5 required skills not yet in the profile.

From head of workshop
43%
Overlap1
To technical director
4 Skills carried over
5 Required, not held
48.7 Difficulty2
Career overlap Partial match

43%

Learning distance Real move, short list to learn

48.7/ 100

1 Share of the technical director role’s weighted skill requirement already met by the head of workshop 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 4 of its required skills as things a head of workshop already does. These are the ones it depends on most.

  • adapt to artists' creative demands
  • negotiate health and safety issues with third parties
  • promote health and safety
  • write risk assessment on performing arts production

What stands in the way is 5 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 4 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 head of workshop background worth leading with.

Skill the target role also needs Area
  • already held negotiate health and safety issues with third parties communication, collaboration and creativity
  • already held write risk assessment on performing arts production information skills
  • already held promote health and safety communication, collaboration and creativity
  • already held adapt to artists' creative demands communication, collaboration and creativity

All 4 carried skills, including the 4 the technical director role treats as required.

Table 3

Table 3 · What you would need to learn

The 6 missing skills fall into 3 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 2 required, 1 supplementary
  • required, not held adapt designers’ work to the performance venue required
  • required, not held coordinate with creative departments required
  • optional, not held write technical riders optional
02 management skills 2 required
  • required, not held coordinate technical teams in artistic productions required
  • required, not held organise rehearsals required
03 arts and humanities 1 required
  • required, not held theatre techniques 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 4 skills that carry over
Skill Type
  • already held adapt to artists' creative demands skill
  • already held negotiate health and safety issues with third parties skill
  • already held promote health and safety skill
  • already held write risk assessment on performing arts production skill
1 supplementary skills, helpful but not required
Skill to acquire Tier
  • optional, not held write technical riders optional
35 held skills the technical director role does not ask for
Skill Type
  • not needed by the target role analyse the need for technical resources skill
  • not needed by the target role archive documentation related to work skill
  • not needed by the target role calculate design costs skill
  • not needed by the target role commission set construction skill
  • not needed by the target role consult with design team skill
  • not needed by the target role develop project schedule skill
  • not needed by the target role document safety actions skill
  • not needed by the target role ensure safety of mobile electrical systems skill
  • not needed by the target role follow safety procedures when working at heights skill
  • not needed by the target role lead a team skill
  • not needed by the target role make set construction drawings skill
  • not needed by the target role manage budgets skill
  • not needed by the target role manage consumables stock skill
  • not needed by the target role manage schedule of tasks skill
  • not needed by the target role manage supplies skill
  • not needed by the target role manage teamwork skill
  • not needed by the target role oversee quality control skill
  • not needed by the target role perform first fire intervention skill
  • not needed by the target role perform quality control of design during a run skill
  • not needed by the target role plan workshop activity skill
  • not needed by the target role prevent fire in a performance environment skill
  • not needed by the target role provide first aid skill
  • not needed by the target role provide technical documentation skill
  • not needed by the target role react to emergency situations in a live performance environment skill
  • not needed by the target role support a designer in the developing process skill
  • not needed by the target role translate artistic concepts to technical designs skill
  • not needed by the target role update budget skill
  • not needed by the target role use personal protection equipment skill
  • not needed by the target role use specialised design software skill
  • not needed by the target role use technical documentation skill
  • not needed by the target role work ergonomically skill
  • not needed by the target role work safely with chemicals skill
  • not needed by the target role work safely with machines skill
  • not needed by the target role work safely with mobile electrical systems under supervision skill
  • not needed by the target role work with respect for own safety 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
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.