4 replies to this topic

[tom_mai78101]

Currently, I am working on an Android project single-handedly. While working on it, a thought popped into my mind. How many projects should I have to make, in a realistic way, so that I may be able to get someone to be impressed with my work?

If I were to write a resume and wanted to add my project onto it, even if it's just one, what should I say about it? Should it be something that's obvious to anyone, something anyone can describe it once they played around with my project, or something that tells others what needs to be improved, what could make it work even more, or what will this project behold upon me?

Thanks in advance, looking forward to reading any feedback.

Edited by tom_mai78101, 22 September 2012 - 02:36 AM.

[cardinal]

Having a single impressive project is much better than having a thousand mediocre projects.

No one is going to be impressed with your work if your work is not impressive, no matter how much work you do. It's better to focus on making each project as good as you can within reason, and make sure you finish your projects.

As for putting work experience and past projects on your resume, you should describe what role/position you held (if applicable), and a brief summary of what you worked on (or at least the most important items). Being concise is best. If you coded and built all the assets for a project, don't list each thing you worked on, simply mention that you were the only developer on the project.

[tom_mai78101]

Understood. Other than just mentioning that I'm the only developer on my project, anything else I should write down about the whole project? How concise should I be in describing the project?

Like, using my project's assets as an instance for example, I drew some of the designs based on simple geometric shapes, and rely on simple game mechanics to maintain a steady game play experience. Based on the excerpt, I feel it's concise enough to give a picture, but it's unable to convince myself that this is how I should describe it, even though it's the actual truth.

I could not manage myself to over-emphasize my work when all the work that was done is easy to describe without giving much thought.

[cardinal]

List a few relevant (to the job being applied for) things you are proud to have worked on (single-handedly developed game X could be a bullet point for instance). Being easy to describe usually means easy to understand, which is good for a resume.

Don't "over-emphasize" your work, just describe what you worked on. i.e.:

Game X (Android)
-Built game X using UnrealEngine 3 (shows experience with unreal)
-Built soft-body physics system to support blob enemies. (shows experience with physics/math)
-Built Scalable AI architecture that makes use of parallel processing to support large number of characters (shows experience with AI, and systems running across multiple cores)


It doesn't need to get more detailed than that on resumes. That's what interviews are for.

Just remember that entry-level positions don't require experience, and without work experience your resume won't be very long (1 page, 2 MAX if you have a TON of good and relevant personal projects).

[tom_mai78101]

Ah, thank goodness! Thanks for everything!