Resume 101

There are a few basic rules when putting together a resume.  I highly recommend Googling other articles/posts/etc about how to put together a great resume so you have a few perspectives on best practices. Take all things I say with a grain of salt.

Let's get started~!

Why I recommend using a traditional format:

Similarly to cover letters, I recommend keeping things pretty traditional for the sake of predictability for the reader. According to a variety of surveys and sources, a hiring manager or recruiter only spends an average of 6-10 seconds looking at your resume. That means it's REALLY important to be efficient, clear, and concise with the most important information that you need to include! The reader needs to immediately find what they're looking for.

The other reason that I recommend keeping things predictable is that you want to avoid leaving things open to interpretation. Funky graphics or confusing descriptions can be interpreted in SO many different ways, and you never know how the viewer is going to take them. You can read the room. Your resume can't. So get the core message across, keep things clean and straightforward.

 In case you haven't read my Cover Letter 101 post, here's an important relevant paragraph: 

When you are applying against hundreds or thousands of other artists, you want as many factors in your favor as possible. Even the tiny ones. They add up! When you write a funny or "artsy" cover letter, you're leaving a lot of up to interpretation. Sure, the reader might love it and there's a slim chance it'll work in your favor. But a lot of folks will toss that funny cover letter away because they really just want to know why you're qualified for the job and that's it.

On top of this, remember: your resume and your cover letter are not the place to stand out, especially when applying to junior jobs... 

The way to stand out is to have badass art. No time spent on your skills is wasted. Stay focused on improving and making awesome work in order to really grab their attention.

Content

What you absolutely MUST include:

• Your name (what I'll call you when referring to you, NOT screen names)
• The URL to your portfolio/website (make sure it's short and easy to type manually)
• Your contact information (an email address that isn't "coolsexguy69@gmail . com")
• An experience section
• A list of proficiencies

What you *might* want to include:

• An education section (in the art world, experience/portfolio is more important than a degree)
• Your social media (if they're professional and SFW.  More on this in the FAQ.) 
• Community involvement (this REALLY helps to bolster resumes of students/hobbyists/folks that don't have a lot of studio experience. More on this in the FAQ.)

What you do NOT want to include:

• Filler software to make your proficiencies list seem longer (yes, I will assume you know how to use Slack, Windows, and Microsoft Word)
• Doxxable information especially if you post your resume online (your home address,  your phone number)

Layout

Do's:

• Use a very simple font. Just stick to your Arials and Helveticas and whatnots. Keep it high contrast- no light grays on white, please!
• Keep it to one page. Never go over one page.
• Use bulletpoint lists for any descriptions.
• Use reverse chronological formatting. Oldest points at the bottom, most recent/current points at the top!

Don'ts:

• Put a photo of yourself on it. No images!
• Go smaller than 10 pt font. 
• Write a bio. That's what your cover letter and the "about" section on your website are for.
• Use paragraphs. Descriptions should be bulleted lists. Nothing on your resume should require a period.
• Use a logo/branding that you're not using anywhere else. I don't really recommend using a logo unless you're *literally* a graphic designer. When you *do* use any sort of graphics, use it on every element of your application- the header of your portfolio, your business cards, your resume, etc. It ties everything together.
• Use skill bars/ratings. Just don't use them!!! More under FAQ.

FAQ:

I have no professional experience... what can I do to fill out my resume if I've never worked in a studio?

This is THE question. But- I have potential answers!

Anything that demonstrates you are collaborative, proactive, engaged in your community and/or industry, growth-focused, and/or resourceful can be a great point on your resume. When getting into games, my "community involvement" section was bigger than my "experience" section.

Here are some things you can do to boost a slim resume:

• Volunteering locally or at events in the industry. Help out with local cons or apply to be a (paid) Conference Associate at GDC! Apply to summer teaching/mentoring jobs with orgs that teach kids!
• Personal/student games. Describe this like you would describe any non-student project. Don't downplay your contributions or brag about how you individually did all the work. Show me that you know how to use version control and *also* function as a calm, collaborative, supportive team player.
• Game jams! Please don't burn out over game jams- this happens a lot- but you can participate in slower, smaller game jams on itch.io or in-person with others.
• Taking workshops. Educational programs don't need to be accredited to be put on a resume! Weekend warrior workshops, maybe notable online programs, workshops at local colleges/art centers, etc.
• Participating in challenges/contests. Artstation Challenges, Art War, making a game and submitting it to contests, local art contests in different medias, etc. This can be a bit of a shot in the dark, but if you're able to land an award or two, that can be a nice little boost.
• Starting a regular event, student org, etc. Make a biweekly or monthly event in which folks can hang out, work on art, show their game, etc. Start a student org for art students to provide critique on each others' work. Plan a game jam for twice each semester with other students. Get involved in student government. Get people together and contribute to the community.

You can include day jobs to round it out, but I recommend using no more than one or two on your resume. Try to keep things as relevant as possible.

Should I include social media on my resume?

I do not ever recommend putting any social media on your resume of which you would not want to explain the posts to your interviewer. Assume they will always check whatever is on your resume, as well as anything else they can find. I know of situations in which the interviewer literally had printed out some of the candidate's tweets to ask them what they meant. Always be aware of the impression you send out to the world, especially alongside your professional work and in public channels.

Social media sends a first impression about what is important to you and how you communicate with others in a public place. It CAN help- we work in a very social culture-focused industry- but make sure that it's working for instead of against you.

When in doubt, it's okay to choose to just not include your social media links.

Why shouldn't I use skill bars/ratings/pie graphs/fun graphics?

A variety of reasons. Although I am not a recruiter, I've talked about this specifically on social media with fellow professionals that I know backing me up.

A summary:

• They take up a ton of valuable space. 
• They don't communicate ANYTHING uniquely important. "I'm pretty good with Photoshop!" Great. I would hope so, you're applying for a 2d art position.
• They signal to me that you're overcompensating.
• They're impossible to interpret. Oh, you have 5/5 stars with Maya? Are you working at a senior artist's level in Maya? Seems like you're overconfident.
• They can highlight your weaknesses instead of your strengths.

Sure, maybe you'll get into an interview with skill bars on your resume and the interviewers will comment on how they like them. But how many recruiters zoomed past your application after seeing or misinterpreting them? How do you know they're sending the intended message? Literally no one will hire you instead of the other applicant because you included a fun graphic on your resume. Just...please...skip them.

How do I make my resume stand out?

By having badass art and a traditional, simple, consistent, spellchecked resume. That's it.

Will recruiters judge me if I just use Microsoft Word to write my resume?

Nope. Extremely basic and extremely consistent and extremely spellchecked is perfect. I'd much rather have that than a resume that looks like it's overcompensating.

Any other important things to keep in mind?

Yes: you absolutely MUST have a downloadable PDF version of your resume on your website. NOT just a .JPG or image file. The recruiters need to be able to Ctrl+F text to find keywords on your resume, and they can't do that with a .PNG or .JPG or whatever. 

How my resume has changed over time:

I use Adobe Illustrator to write my resume. You can also use Photoshop/comparable software, Microsoft Word, Google Docs,  or whatever fits your preferences.

To help visualize different styles of resumes, this is what the evolution of my resume looks like:

 (You can right click + "open image in new tab" to zoom in when on desktop.) 

Student resume: 

• Huge community involvement section to help bolster my experience
• Experience section includes student projects, working in the computer lab, mentoring other students, etc.
• I included proficiencies that I had no idea how to actually do (ZBrush, realistic textures, character modeling) because I was overcompensating. Don't do this.
• The colored font actually prints REALLY lightly on paper so this resume was super hard to read in print. USE HIGH CONTRAST. Stick to black, dark grays, and white.
• The font is also very thin across the top and doesn't scale well.

To-be graduate resume:

• I think this is the best layout out of the three for new grads/hobbyists/students 
• Used a weird logo for some reason? It looks super out of place and amateurish
• Came up with the layout by Googling "cool resumes" and using a free one in Google images as reference (I stand by this method)
• Strengthening the content by participating in a lot of contests/challenges, continuing to be involved locally, still volunteering
• Stopped overcompensating and only included skills that I actually knew how to do 

Professional resume:

• Elegant, but too barebones for new grads
• I get right to the point with my most impressive clients/projects and allow that to carry my application
• Experience/client list is more important than education

***I do not recommend literally just copying the layout of the middle resume because a LOT of people do this when I post it and then recruiters get repeats of this layout. It's offputting. Put a spin on it or come up with something new.***

Whew, okay! Now that we've covered all of that, let's start writing.

The traditional resume format:

Let's break this down into the essentials.

Header

Includes the absolute most important information. Your name, contact information, and the URL to your website. If you're going to break up the information (like I did in the grad and pro resumes, make sure all pieces are extremely easy to find. If you're going to state a title, put it near your name. 

Experience

Arguably more important than education (but I might be biased because I think the educational system is a flaming dumpster fire and any job in game art ~ReQuIrInG~ a degree is unnecessary, avoidable bullshit.) 

All you REALLY need to include for each bulletpoint is your title, the client/subject, and time period. You can also include task descriptions (remember: no paragraphs!!) and project titles here.

In any section that requires a timestamped list (Experience, Education, Community Involvement), make sure to use the EXACT same format for each bullet point in all sections. This is traditional resume formatting 101. Like this:

As you can see, in each section, I keep things REALLY consistent in formatting. This includes punctuation and spacing. These little details make the difference between sloppy and fantastic resumes. If you move things around in one section, adjust everything else to match it.

Education

Include any degrees or certificate programs if applicable here. If you don't have secondary education experience, you can just include your high school information or skip this section. 

You DO NOT need to include your GPA. No one cares about it tbh. Do include minors. I included my time studying Industrial Design because I've found that it's super appealing to recruiters.

Same with experience- make sure to use a really consistent format, especially if you have multiple bulletpoints like I do.

 Community involvement/volunteering/"other" 

THIS is where you can build a resume with no job experience. This is where that shit IS AT for students. If you don't have a local community...

1. Start something! It can just be 5 people showing up with their laptops once a month at a cafe to work on/share their games/art and get feedback. That's literally all it needs to be. 

2. Get involved online! Itch.io game jams, starting a community (with intentional moderation and healthy rules), doing a digital meetup, etc. 

 Skills/proficiencies/software

Like I mentioned before, DO NOT overcompensate here. Just tell me what you can do. Don't pad this section with unnecessary points. This shouldn't take up a huge section of your resume, it should just inform the reader of what roles you're able to fill, especially if the rest of your resume doesn't clearly state it.

One last thing on layouts:

Make sure to use consistent spacing between sections AND make sure there is ample breathing room between the information and the edge of the page.

WHEW. That was a lot of information. 

Let's recap the basics:

Use high contrast fonts.

Use OBSESSIVELY consistent formatting.

Don't include social media that you don't want your grandma to see.

Make sure your name, contact info, and portfolio URL are *super* easy to find.

SPELLCHECK, SPELLCHECK, SPELLCHECK.

When in doubt, err on the side of simplicity.

Thanks everyone! Feel free to leave comments/questions/concerns/anything for the good of the cause below. :)

~

Neglected Lessons is a series of posts focused on content that isn't covered enough in game and art college programs. You can view the rest of the posts here. 

 Job application prep posts: Cover Letters 101 - Game Art Portfolios 101 - Resume 101