Is two people enough for a team?

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7 comments, last by biggermojo 8 years ago

What I mean by that is, me and my friend are starting work on our game. The goal is to use this project on our resumes as well, however, is two people enough to highlight team work skills? Or should I add another person? Would an employer ridicule the idea of 2 people as a legitimate team work?

Thanks

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Would an employer ridicule the idea of 2 people as a legitimate team work?

Nobody is likely to care that much one way or another, really, I wouldn't worry about it. Certainly don't add another person just because you think it would demonstrate some team management or interaction skill better (the only thing it demonstrates to me is that you don't know how to run a team at all, because you're adding people for the sake of adding people).

Would an employer ridicule the idea of 2 people as a legitimate team work?

Nobody is likely to care that much one way or another, really, I wouldn't worry about it. Certainly don't add another person just because you think it would demonstrate some team management or interaction skill better (the only thing it demonstrates to me is that you don't know how to run a team at all, because you're adding people for the sake of adding people).

Many thanks for your advise. On my resume, could I still mention a team of 2 developers? or would it be best not to mention how many people, given how small the team is?

Many thanks for your advise. On my resume, could I still mention a team of 2 developers? or would it be best not to mention how many people, given how small the team is?

Sure, it won't hurt to mention the team size. Generally you should focus on listing things that are interesting, cool or exciting about a project on your resume, but it's pretty easy to mention team size or at least the fact that it was more than just you in there.

me and my friend are starting work on our game. The goal is to use this project on our resumes as well

When it comes to "experience" on a resume, it means paid professional work experience, not stuff you did on your own.

If you have a section of your resume devoted to your hobby project where you and your friends built something, and that something did not end up being a commercial success, what you've got doesn't really count except to show interest in the field.

Now if your side project gets a million downloads and becomes a major success, then things are a little different. Then you are an entrepreneur who successfully started your own business, and the experience looks great. Statistically that is unlikely to happen.

me and my friend are starting work on our game. The goal is to use this project on our resumes as well

When it comes to "experience" on a resume, it means paid professional work experience, not stuff you did on your own.

If you have a section of your resume devoted to your hobby project where you and your friends built something, and that something did not end up being a commercial success, what you've got doesn't really count except to show interest in the field.

Now if your side project gets a million downloads and becomes a major success, then things are a little different. Then you are an entrepreneur who successfully started your own business, and the experience looks great. Statistically that is unlikely to happen.

I don't know if its quite so harsh as that. Hiring for a junior or entry-level position, I would assume most companies would expect to find programs from college coursework or interesting hobby projects under the headline of experience. That's certainly what I'd done with my own resume years ago. I concede that one should aim to eject these "experiences" from one's resume with professional experiences as quickly as they are able after some time in the workforce, though. For myself, having taken some non-games job fresh out of school, it was a few jobs down the line before further expansion of strictly-professional experience was more prudent than to include some of my non-professional, but games-related experience.

In general, prefer professional experiences, but bubble up interesting, relevent non-professional experiences/achievements over uninteresting or irrelevant professional experiences. Within a few years or few jobs, you'll have enough varied professional experiences that you'll only be tempted to include non-professional experiences that are truly stand-out -- if you find that this is not the case after several years or jobs, then you probably have had a problem setting career goals and directing your career trajectory.

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me and my friend are starting work on our game. The goal is to use this project on our resumes as well

When it comes to "experience" on a resume, it means paid professional work experience, not stuff you did on your own.

If you have a section of your resume devoted to your hobby project where you and your friends built something, and that something did not end up being a commercial success, what you've got doesn't really count except to show interest in the field.

Now if your side project gets a million downloads and becomes a major success, then things are a little different. Then you are an entrepreneur who successfully started your own business, and the experience looks great. Statistically that is unlikely to happen.

I don't know if its quite so harsh as that. Hiring for a junior or entry-level position, I would assume most companies would expect to find programs from college coursework or interesting hobby projects under the headline of experience. That's certainly what I'd done with my own resume years ago. I concede that one should aim to eject these "experiences" from one's resume with professional experiences as quickly as they are able after some time in the workforce, though. For myself, having taken some non-games job fresh out of school, it was a few jobs down the line before further expansion of strictly-professional experience was more prudent than to include some of my non-professional, but games-related experience.

In general, prefer professional experiences, but bubble up interesting, relevant non-professional experiences/achievements over uninteresting or irrelevant professional experiences. Within a few years or few jobs, you'll have enough varied professional experiences that you'll only be tempted to include non-professional experiences that are truly stand-out -- if you find that this is not the case after several years or jobs, then you probably have had a problem setting career goals and directing your career trajectory.

Many thanks for your advise.

I understand what you're saying though. I'll definitely favor professional experience over personal projects. My last professional project only lasted 3 months before it was cancelled, I still put it on my resume anyways, because I was responsible for a variety of tasks.

I was able to create two browser games (one of them was ported to the Android) with just a team of two, where I do all the illustrations and animations while the other programs.

But one day, we got ambitious and wanted to try out a Mega Man X style 2D side-scroller with hack and slash combat and realized 2 people weren't enough and that idea was canceled (although there's a playable build of what was left).

It all depends on the size and content of the game.

me and my friend are starting work on our game. The goal is to use this project on our resumes as well

When it comes to "experience" on a resume, it means paid professional work experience, not stuff you did on your own.

If you have a section of your resume devoted to your hobby project where you and your friends built something, and that something did not end up being a commercial success, what you've got doesn't really count except to show interest in the field.

Now if your side project gets a million downloads and becomes a major success, then things are a little different. Then you are an entrepreneur who successfully started your own business, and the experience looks great. Statistically that is unlikely to happen.

I am not "in the industry" (yet), but I've done some research while on my way and I wouldn't agree with your first statement at all. Everything I've read or heard says that having a completed project on your resume is hugely helpful. Most of the big league developers out there want to see start to finish work on AAA titles, but those positions are for new grads anyway. If you want to work your way up to that, you'll start small and there's no expectation that you'll have seen widely successful commercial releases on your own before that. Every single developer I've spoken to or heard/read interviews with has stated that one of the single most important parts of an aspiring game developer's resume should be a completed game, regardless of the size or scope.

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