Freshman Resume - Need Criticism
Author
Hi GDNet,
I'm currently a freshman in my first semester at college, and I'm looking to apply for internships (in game-design).
So far, I've scouted out some internship fairs to see what companies are looking for, but unfortunately I haven't made a resume yet to leave with their representatives.
I've searched the forums and found several threads relating to resume critique, but the threads I've found are tailored more toward people who have already been in college for 2-3+ years.
Specifically, I do not have any industry/work experience--hence why I am looking for an internship.
Here's what I have to work with. The // are comments (of course).
Feedback of any kind is much appreciated. Thank you for reading.
_____
--working on update-
[Edited by - Lisk on November 6, 2009 5:06:45 PM]
Check out the professional writing resources found on the OWL at Purdue website. Lots of very useful information.
That being said, I'll throw in a few tidbits of my own -
Your Objective doesn't read like an objective, it reads like a classified ads headline. What is your career objective?
You list Industry Experience and Work Experience, and have nothing under it. Have you never held a single job? If it isn't industry related then don't put it towards the top and instead focus on your personal project and education, but if you've held some sort of job then you need to relate your team experiences. Working as a game developers means working in a team, so highlight teamwork experiences. Same thing goes with your Personal Project and Education. Highlight teamwork experience.
Your Personal Projects are listed in paragraph form. List the project name and dates worked on it. Include bullets stating team size and your relationship within the team, your specific contributions, languages/tools used, and anything "special" about it. Note I said bullets, not a paragraph.
Did you do any coding for your Warcraft 3 website? If so then list that. If not then you can relate it to game community relations. Showing an active interest in networking and relating with clients is good.
If you created a board game then you designed the mechanics, and so did systems design work with it. I would say that yes, this is worth highlighting, but I'm a designer, not a programmer [wink]
That being said, I'll throw in a few tidbits of my own -
Your Objective doesn't read like an objective, it reads like a classified ads headline. What is your career objective?
You list Industry Experience and Work Experience, and have nothing under it. Have you never held a single job? If it isn't industry related then don't put it towards the top and instead focus on your personal project and education, but if you've held some sort of job then you need to relate your team experiences. Working as a game developers means working in a team, so highlight teamwork experiences. Same thing goes with your Personal Project and Education. Highlight teamwork experience.
Your Personal Projects are listed in paragraph form. List the project name and dates worked on it. Include bullets stating team size and your relationship within the team, your specific contributions, languages/tools used, and anything "special" about it. Note I said bullets, not a paragraph.
Did you do any coding for your Warcraft 3 website? If so then list that. If not then you can relate it to game community relations. Showing an active interest in networking and relating with clients is good.
If you created a board game then you designed the mechanics, and so did systems design work with it. I would say that yes, this is worth highlighting, but I'm a designer, not a programmer [wink]
Author
Thanks for the feedback and the link.
What I posted wasn't intended to be in resume wording in the least--it was a laying-out-what-I-have-to-work-with. My mistake for not being clear.
My career objective is to start an independent company that designs/develops games. However, my short-term objectives are to get an internship and to do research, the latter of which I am starting in the spring.
Correct, I have not yet held a job. I will put more emphasis on my personal projects, then, which will include my board game.
How would I go about "focusing" on my education, other than listing the name of my school and major? I could list which classes I've taken and have signed up for in the Spring, but, being a first semester freshman, most of my classes are fairly introductory.
I will post a working resume as soon as I write it.
Quote:Your Personal Projects are listed in paragraph form. List the project name and dates worked on it. Include bullets stating team size and your relationship within the team, your specific contributions, languages/tools used, and anything "special" about it. Note I said bullets, not a paragraph.
What I posted wasn't intended to be in resume wording in the least--it was a laying-out-what-I-have-to-work-with. My mistake for not being clear.
Quote:Your Objective doesn't read like an objective, it reads like a classified ads headline. What is your career objective?
My career objective is to start an independent company that designs/develops games. However, my short-term objectives are to get an internship and to do research, the latter of which I am starting in the spring.
Quote:You list Industry Experience and Work Experience, and have nothing under it. Have you never held a single job? If it isn't industry related then don't put it towards the top and instead focus on your personal project and education...
Correct, I have not yet held a job. I will put more emphasis on my personal projects, then, which will include my board game.
How would I go about "focusing" on my education, other than listing the name of my school and major? I could list which classes I've taken and have signed up for in the Spring, but, being a first semester freshman, most of my classes are fairly introductory.
I will post a working resume as soon as I write it.
Author
Okay, I've finished writing the first draft of my resume.
I couldn't figure out if the forums allowed attachments, so I used Sendspace.
I couldn't figure out if the forums allowed attachments, so I used Sendspace.
I didn't get a chance to read your resume but speaking from experience, if you can afford it pay to have it done professionally. Professional resumes are usually a world of difference and mean a lot to some companies.
Your objective is saying that you want a company to hire you for an internship so that you can get something out of it. When applying to a company you're selling yourself as a would be vital asset to their team. Your original post said something about wanting to get a position as a game designer (which I can tell you right now that finding a designer internship is going to pretty hard), yet your objective says nothing about working as a game designer.
You list three modding projects that all use the same toolset and pretty much have the same bullets. If you did the exact same things between all of the mods then that doesn't really show any breadth of skills. You listed all three as Warcraft 3 mods and then put a bullet under every one saying that you used the Warcraft 3 World Editor. Redundancy is not something you want on a resume. Every bullet should be providing a new piece of information to your target audience (your potential employer).
You are an entry level designer applicant, so your resume should be shrunk to fit one page. I highly recommend you look at that link I provided, as it provides excellent guidelines for formatting a resume ... and cover letter.
You list three modding projects that all use the same toolset and pretty much have the same bullets. If you did the exact same things between all of the mods then that doesn't really show any breadth of skills. You listed all three as Warcraft 3 mods and then put a bullet under every one saying that you used the Warcraft 3 World Editor. Redundancy is not something you want on a resume. Every bullet should be providing a new piece of information to your target audience (your potential employer).
You are an entry level designer applicant, so your resume should be shrunk to fit one page. I highly recommend you look at that link I provided, as it provides excellent guidelines for formatting a resume ... and cover letter.
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