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Even getting yourself noticed for a position in any game developer can be quite tough. It can be quite hard to really communicate your skils, experience and passion in one or two pages of text. But once you've gotten somebody's attention, then you've won half the battle. From there on in, it's all up to you to make the best impression over the phone or face to face.
First, you have to get noticed though, and here are some things that I keep in mind when writing my Resume/CV.
1. There is no such thing as the perfect CV/Resume
This is the first thing that I learned when attending a state run CV writing course before getting into the industry.
Each job you apply for will likely have a different set of requirements for the position. You may have the same general information and formatting for each job that you apply for, but the initial section that details your skills should be custom made for that application.
And this brings me on to the next thing that I learned...
2. The first page of your CV/Resume should be your sales pitch.
The people responsible for selecting who to interview typically receive a lot of applications. They don't have time to scan your work / educational experience to see if you have skills and experience. Which is why I typically have my first page containing the skills that I have that are relevant to the job application.
The idea is to say "Here, I have the skills you're looking for. I'm you're guy/gal" with little or no work on the other persons part. For every requirement they list in the job specification, you list your relevant skill that relates to it there.
And what about your other skills? Well...list them too! You want this prospective employer to know that they're going to get MORE than what thet are asking for. Just make sure you put them after the required skills section.
The headings on the first page of my CV go like this;
- Personal / Contact Info
- Relevant Skills
- Other Skills
I have only ever received compliments on how straight forward this part of my CV is, and how easy it is to see that I have the requires skills for the job.
What if you're missing one or two requirements? Don't sweat it...leave it out because there are very few people out there who will meet EVERY requirement. Just be honest about it so that when that interview comes around, you can explain that you don't know or have no experience but, hey, you're a quick learner, right? You'll tell them that you would like to pick up that skill should they hire you.
3. Don't forget your contact information
I shouldn't really have to say this, but you have no idea how often people forget this.
And a word on e-mail addresses. Personal expression is great, but do you really think an employer will be impressed by sex-lover@mail.com? I'm sure there are some people looking over applications who are free spirits like yourself and will embrace your quirky nature, but let's not chance that.
Have a sensible e-mail address handy for job applications.
4. Spelling should be correct
Again, I shouldn't really have to say this. But I know people who say "I write code all day, what's spelling got to do with it? If they're so uptight, maybe I don't want to work for them."
Spelling is not optional, no matter how you look at it. Make use of your spell-checker, and proof read it until you can recite it from memory. There's nothing more off-puting than somebody who hasn't bothered to check their spelling. Also, get somebody else to proof read your CV or resume as they'll easily pick out errors because they won't get caught up in the content.
After all, if you can't be bothered to ensure the quality of such an important document, what's to say you're not as sloppy/lazy in your day job?
5. Beware of international differences
There's a general rule of thumb in the UK that your CV shouldn't run to more than one page, or two if you simply cannot trim it down. For most graduates, this shouldn't be a problem. Also, in the UK, there is a law about requiring that gender, date of birth, nationanailty, marital status and such like information are not required on an application. So people don't put this stuff in.
But what about other places? My experience of Germany and Austria is that it's quite the opposite. They want to know as much about you as possible, and that includes having a photo of yourself!
So if you're applying for a job in a different country, do a bit of research regarding the sort of formatting and informtation that is the norm there.
In closing...
Remember, you're main aim is to grab the attention of the reader, and then provide additional information that you can expand when they interview you. It's an important document regarldess of your experience or role and you should treat it as such.
Don't skimp on it, and remember; there's no such thing as the perfect CV/resume!
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Ok, so here's the thing. You'd skill set looks to cover a wide range of things which has its plus and minuses. You mention C++ as a skill, but how good are you? How many years of writing C++ code have you had? Do you rate yourself as having solid C++/OOP experience?
The same goes for your 3D Math. How good is it? Can you easily tell me what a quaternion is or how to calculate the rotation between two normals? Do you have great 3d math skills or do you have the basics that you can build on over time?
I'd also say that it's unclear what it is you want to do in the games industry. From this, I can't judge if you want to get into programming or design. Remember what I said about making this section tailored to your job application?
Another tip is, try going through an agency. There's always the issue that you feel like you're hassling companies when you e-mail or call them to ask "hey did you get my application?" But the job of an agency is to do exactly that...be a pain in the backside.
Using these agencies costs you nothing as they earn their money from fees from the employer when they find you a job. I don't know if any in the US, but there are plenty in the UK such as Datascope, Aardvark Swift, Interactive Recruitment and a few more that always deal with developers all over the world.
I suppose it depends which discipline you're in. Artists tend to have a show reel or website of some sort as actually showing the work that they have done is the only indication of their skill. But programmers tend to only need to list the technical ability and then prove in during the interview during some sort of questioning.
But first you need to get noticed, and to get somebody to think about looking at your work. Maybe it's not such a big deal for artists to have the tailer made resume. I can only really write based on my own experiences I'm afraid, so I won;t be able to cover all aspects of applying for a job in the games industry.
Employers that I've spoken to (Leads at companies I've worked at and the places they've worked for, etc.) always still liked seeing portfolios for programmers as well. Just because you're coding, doesn't mean you're not making anything valuable. Your code has to do something right? Code samples can be portfolio work as well. I'm sure I'd be more impressed seeing functionality to measure against, in addition to whatever they get you to do on a programmer test, than just a list of skills.
I'm not saying that code portfolios are a bad thing, just that they're unusual and if you already have a load of published titles, why do you need it? The only time I was asked to show my work was in my first interview, and even then, thanks to some younger brothers they were something I had to slap together over the course of three days.
But if you've been in the industry a certain amount of time, you don't really need them. You have published titles to show off your skills in a more meaningful way.
I still say that without a good CV/resume though, you won't even get past the consideration for an interview stage.
Before you can say you've worked at places and have published titles, demos / code samples / etc. are better than not having them at all. They're replaced by actual games when looking for later jobs, sure.
B N: I don't see anything you've worked on listed. Did you make any mods or small games, Flash or XNA or anything? Showing that you love making games so much that you do it in your own time is a big, big deal. Showing that you can finish something, even something small, is meaningful.
Well in the cover letter and objective statement I let it be known a little more in depth that I am mainly a programmer, but that I could do design work as well. I let it be known that I'm willing to start at any entry level position that matches my skills.
@Bob
Yea, I've finished a small C++ game, 2D shooter. I've also messed around with those 3D engines stated making a few little levels and mods, but nothing that is a fully complete game mod.
I'm currently trying to enter the industry as a programmer as well, and I'm having mild success with cold online applications: 2 responses out of about 10-15 companies over 3 months. There's no need to submit phony resumes to see that they do get read.
Basically, there needs to be a much greater focus on diversifying the workforce in the Western market in order to increase diversity of the consumer market. This focus on diversifying the workforce includes not only educational background but also ethnicity, socioeconomic class, age, and other important areas of social structure.
I don't know, I'd say that someone being good at programming or art is a little bit more important than the softer subjects. It's nice to have a rounded person but I think more often than not the person who can get the job done the best and most timely would win. It should be taken into account a bit more than it is, I'd rather work with someone who is interesting and has insight rather than a machine, but not all-important.
@ B N
I hate skill lists.
Fair enough, you have to list a few things because the HR person has a number of ticky boxes they must fill when looking at your CV for a moment.
But most of the CVs I see tend to add a lot of filler in their skills section. You can use Microsoft Office ...woopdiedoo! 10 year olds can use Office. You can use Visual Studio ...how well? Do you know what all them options and settings do? Game Design...a bit broad to be a skill bullet point.
A big skills list just screams out filler to me. Break it down to the core few that will get you the job and use your experience section to explain where and when you have used certain stuff. That way I'd know if you actually know these things or have just had a bit of a look at it.
I'd love to interview you for an upcoming segment. I tried to locate contact info for you, but none could be found. If you think you'd be interested in this, drop me an email at omaha@soundpodcastpro.com. And thanks for the blog post!