Quote:Original post by frob I'm sorry if this message sounds harsh. I'm just trying to prove the point that it doesn't matter how good the web site looks if the resume doesn't land in the "to be interviewed" pile. Many beginners think the portfolio is the most important document, but it isn't. Your resume is the most important document. Without it your portfolio will never be seen.
Agreed. Having been in several hiring/firing roles I agree that the resume is vital because it is the first thing anyone looks at (and often the only thing).
I made major improvements to my resume. I realize now that my generic resume has alot of irrelevant information.
@SpreeTree I cut out alot of the resume content that gave me "character" (community service, hobby) as you pointed out, but I intend to show that through my cover letter, portfolio, and interview. Plus, I have a friend in the company that I want to work for that can vouch for my personality. First and formost, I want my resume to eliminate any doubt that I can do the job right.
Next, I'm going to polish off my Sheep Defender game.
Quote:Original post by Michel_Carroll I cut out alot of the resume content that gave me "character" (community service, hobby) as you pointed out, but I intend to show that through my cover letter
In my opinion, the community service stuff can add to an otherwise sparse resume. But the hobby stuff you can leave out entirely.
It actually says that you have made games, that you have used the languages and tools, and that you have some transferable skills.
There are still some issues.
From your perspective the document is to get you an interview. From an employers perspective the document is to help weed out bad candidates.
You want to give the employer all the information they need, and omit any information that might get it thrown out.
Cut the "relevant skills" section. They are not very useful to employers and tend to hurt your prospects rather than help.
Yours follows the pattern with the expressions "Fluent in", "Familiar with", "Able to use", "Strong in", but this kind of self-assessment is useless. "Familiar With" might mean you read an online tutorial once. "Able to use" could mean you watched a movie of it on YouTube and figure you could push the right buttons. "Fluent" can mean anything from just struggling through syntax all the way to language lawyer. These are typically reasons to throw out an application, not reasons to bring you in.
Your project list is good. Unlike your last version which gave no hint that you can make games, you are now providing detail that you have made two hobby games. I would use the eight lines gained above to add some details about the two games you made. Your web site has some details, just grab the most relevant ones and put them in. You might want to have a collection of details and adjust it to tailor the document to an individual job posting.
I'd move the two school projects down to education, replacing the "learned to think and work" line. That will free up another line, and possibly two, for adding transferable details to your other jobs.
On the workplace experience, I'd still cut the "interacting with clients", since a junior game programmer will primarily have tasks dictated to them instead of discovering the requirements.
The biggest missing detail in experience is your teamwork history. Were you working alone, in a pair, or with five other people?
It looks like you've been out of school for about two years, so you might consider moving your education below work experience. Leaving it in the middle gives the impression that you are a very junior employee with little real-world experience. Moving it to the bottom gives the impression that your schooling is less important than the lessons learned in the workforce. Different jobs have different preferences, so I would adjust it based on the job you are applying for.
It already looks significantly better than the first version. The first would have immediately been tossed. This one makes me think for a moment. If you made it more obvious that you have done two hobby games and cut the "familiar with" comments it would look quite strong.
I'm not going to get into a debate on this as they usually go nowhere. Nor am I going to get into the "who's interviewed more people" argument. But I will follow up with some points.
We work within a creative industry. As with every other creative sector a developers portfolio is the most important document whether they are an entry level developer or an experienced developer*.
Of course the resume is important. It allows those tick box rejects (roles that require X degree, Y years experience or resumes written in crayon) that a HR manager is qualified to do. Yes it should have a link to a portfolio, yes it should mention that games have been developed (again referencing a website or what ever format it takes) to get people to the body of work and you have raised these already which has helped the OP improve it already.
But the resume is there to bring out the facts, not to show passion, interest and detail (if you're restricting it to one page especially). The portfolio (which has been worked on for months) should get the lions share of the attention as soon as it's noted. Not doing this will result in missed opportunities for both the applicant and the company itself.
Anyway, that's me done with this. To the OP - good luck with your applications and if you do get a role then I hope it's what you want and you have fun with it :)
*Depending on the experience the portfolio will take different forms. For an experienced developer it will be a back catalogue, published articles, experience etc that can fall onto a resume. For an entry level developer it's a collection of hobbyist projects.
