"[color="#1C2837"]I'm honestly a bit at a loss as to what to do to demonstrate my game-design worthiness"

[color="#1C2837"]My understanding was that you'd present a portfolio of games you've designed. If you can't, you would need to make more games.

[color="#1C2837"]"[color="#1C2837"]You have a few years of actual programming job history and links to actual games that you have created. That more than compensates for the University's naming choices."

[color="#1C2837"]Agree strongly.

[color="#1C2837"]"[color="#1C2837"]To satisfy curiosity, here's what I've done on what ..."

[color="#1C2837"]So not a lot of participation in team programming. I might leave it off then.

[color="#1C2837"]"[color="#1C2837"]I think you'd be best served to enter the industry as a programmer, then transition across to design."
[color="#1C2837"]To the OP; I suggested going direct and decided not to recommend transitioning. Frob, however, is the one with the actual experience. I withdraw my comment and trust his opinion.

Ok, I've made a second pass at the resume. Here's the revised version:

http://www.renegadei...ume_revised.pdf

Here are the things I did

1) Changed the formatting.
2) Where applicable, tried to give a bit more information about my role in projects.
3) Moved education to the bottom, changed its layout as suggested.
4) Got rid of the "Objective" statement and replaced it with a "Summary" statement that attempts to describe what sort of person I am.
5) Jiggled the project descriptions some. I cut back on how technologies were applied, I thought about it and don't want to accidentally reveal anything people would rather I not.
6) Removed all references to "Simon". Definitely don't want to infringe on any IP.
7) Did some additional proofreading, but I'm still not done with this yet.
8) Added in placeholders for links to examples of my work. My website is still under construction and not everything is hosted on it, nor have I finished tracking down all the links I need.
9) Added in something to indicate I parted from my previous employer on good terms.

Things I didn't do, and why:
1) I didn't remove the "in progress" section. Things that are going on there are either projects that are nearly finished, and thus I have working demos of, or bigger projects that are in the pipe. I'm not wholly convinced that I should only ever talk about things that are on the shelf as it were, but if I get a lot of people saying "Take it out, hide things you are working on until they're finished", then I will.
2) Haven't fixed the website yet. It's on the list, don't worry, but it can be ignored for the moment for critiquing purposes.
3) I still have my work experience above my independent projects. That was over a year of 9-5 programming work. I know I'm looking for a job in games, but I think the raw volume of programming experience in a professional environment that represents might trump even the games I've made.

Questions:
1) There's one change I made that I want to ask you guys about. When I graduated in 2009, I graduated at the end of the fall semester, not the spring semester. Thus, I have only been out of school for a year and a half instead of 2 years, and the gap between graduation and working was 1 month instead of 7. Is this a good or bad thing to specify, or just something that doesn't really matter at all?
2) MAEnthoven mentioned this:

Lastly, nothing on your resume says "gaming." This is probably the most killer, because it looks like you're a skilled programmer, but not a skilled game programmer.

Which I'm not sure I wholly understand. To me, there's not a whole lot of difference between game programming and "regular" programming. It's programming. Software engineering is software engineering. A quadtree doesn't stop being a quadtree just because it's part of a game. When programming games you do come across many recurring challenges that are semi-unique to games (collision detection, particle simulations, various real-time rendering techniques, etc), but they're solved with software engineering. I'm trying to present myself as a software engineer who makes games.

Am I wrong in taking this approach? If so, how should I alter my resume to make it say, "This is a dude who is all about game programming."?

Further comments are welcome!

I like it much more than before.

The line "Completed all project prior to departure" makes me feel more comfortable. It doesn't say why you left, but it does say that you had a clean exit. It leaves the point open as a discussion topic during an interview, since it could be for anything from a normal RIF to a personal family issue. You will be asked about it during an interview.

I'd cut the block "PhotoBooks/Connect Healthcare" at the end of each project, and possibly just prefix each line with a different bullet or marker. Maybe a dash for each project, or "Project: Universal Video Player" "Project: MyHealth mobile app"


I think I'd also keep the date on graduation. It ties the dates nicely.

You clearly point out a connection to games, especially once you add links to those sites. As mentioned, it's good enough I'd consider putting your name in the applicant pool if you didn't mind moving.

I think its a winner.

I also like the green.

Thanks, frob, you've been a big help. Here's the last revision with your suggestions.

http://www.renegadei...me_revised2.pdf

I think its a winner.

I also like the green.

Thanks. I took a course on typography and was like, "When oh when will I ever use this?" Little did I know!

I would put the education section immediately after the work experience. The important information (you have a bachelor's) must get across.

The "PhotoBooks/Connect HealthCare" heading is the same typeface size and style as the "Project" headings. This makes it harder to see the hierarchy.

[font="Arial"]Software engineer with a cross-discipline background in game design, professional experience building software and independent experience developing games[/quote][/font]
[font="Arial"]Hard to read because it's A, B, A, B.[/font]

[font="Arial"]Second point under Web Specialist is a completely different tense and perspective. All bullet points should be <verb> blah blah ... gave good result ...[/font]

[font="Arial"]First bullet point in Universal Video Player - should flash be Flash?[/font]
[font="Arial"]Second bullet point in Universal Video Player is a completely different tense and perspective.[/font]

[font="Arial"]Only link your personal projects if they are truly worthy of being showcased. Otherwise leave out the link and keep the items as potential talking points.[/font]

[font="Arial"]

[/font][font="Arial"]Examples can be found on the app store[/quote][/font]

[font="Arial"]App Store is a proper noun?[/font]


[font="Arial"]Overall a decent resume and you have enough experience listed to give you a good shot at landing an interview for an entry-level position+.[/font]

[color=#1C2837][font=Arial][size=2][color=#000000][font=arial, verdana, tahoma, sans-serif][size=2][color=#1C2837][font=Arial][size=2]What if it was like "Software engineer with web, app and game programming experience and a cross-discipline background" ?[/font][/font][/font]

[color="#1C2837"][font="Arial"][color="#000000"][font="arial, verdana, tahoma, sans-serif"][color="#1C2837"][font="Arial"]What if it was like "Software engineer with web, app and game programming experience and a cross-discipline background" ?[/font][/font][/font]

How about "Software engineer with professional experience in web, iOS app and Flash development, independent game development experience and a cross-discipline game design background."?

[color=#1C2837][size=2]Reduce "iOS app" to just "iOS" and I think it's good.