I wanted to know what was best for game industry resumes. Ill post my current game resume and would like some thoughts and opinions... --- Robert Thomas Hornbek **** South Foose Road Malibu, CA ***** Home Phone: (***) ***-**** / Cell Phone: (***) ***-**** E-mail – **************@mail.com OBJECTIVES: To be fully involved in the Creative Game Design, including User Interface and Story Development. WORK EXPERIENCE o Melanie Grunder & Steve Oakley Productions 2005-2006 Production Assistant Worked with all aspect of Production: Audio Setup and Operation, Lighting, Camera Operation and Set Design for the short film, “Real Horror TV,” currently in review by MTV Productions. o Technicolor: Creative Services 2004-Presant Creative Advisor Responsible for research and documentation of Gaming Industry for presentation to Senior Management to support creation of new Interactive Media Business Unit. o Novalogic 2005 Quality Assurance Tester for “Delta Force: Black Hawk Down” for XBOX and PS2 o Activision 2004 Quality Assurance Tester for “Tenchu 2” for PS2 o Electronic Boutique of America 2003-2005 Responsible for the tracking and documentation of incoming products, sales transactions and maintaining facilities. o Foose Road Homeowners Association 1994-Present Maintenance of community properties for home owners. (landscape, building maintenance, etc.) o “Ground Zero” Advertising Summer of 2002 An internship program; with responsibilities including the upkeep of the facility, assisting professionals with set development and creative feed back for commercials and advertising. o Malibu High School 1996 – 2000 Community service responsibilities; includes preparation of food services, cashier duties and customer relations. o Trancas Market Summer of 1999 Store personnel; responsible for stocking, maintenance of merchandise, janitorial and customer service. SKILL SET Microsoft Word, Excel, Power Point and Macromedia Flash MX. EDUCATION o Moorpark Community College 2003 - 2006 Major: TV / Communications Production o Malibu High School Graduate Class of 2003 References Available on Request --- All the information is true and up to date. I am currently jobless and would like to work somewhere game related before i have to settle with EB or VONS, haha! Even though my goal states one thing, i am willing to settle with just about any position at this time, should i make that clear etc?

OUCH, but not much of a suprise...

Content...

This is all i have been able to do as of now, basicaly i have to start somwhere. I am not trying to get a job as a Manager, Programmer nore do i have a major skill trait that you or most people would NEED. But even just as a tester or a runner i would imagine this would be more than enough information.

If there is content that is unapropriate for this type of thing then thats what i would like to know.

Format...

Im not so sure what is random about it, if i were to put only the experiance i have had in the industry it would not be much longer than a paragraph. But to show that i have more skills and have done more than just that in my life. I would hope that shows more responsebility and ability that just some testing.

If there is a format in which this information should be better set then this is what i would like to hear, that is why i have posted here.

"Willing to do anything..."

This was a statment made to all of you in part of my question. My goals are direct but not quite a reality yet bassed off my lack of experiance. But when im applying to ANY possition at a game company (janitor even) i would want them to know that i have a goal. The question i am asking all of you is, "should i be more loose on my objectives or not?"

Attitude...

Your comment on my attitude is the only thig that insults me, if this resume does not make it clear then i would like to know and would like to know how to fix that. Because i LOVE entertainment specifically Video Games and that is what i want to do and im going to do. My only regret is that i have NOT been able to be more apart of that industry besides E3, writing design documents in my spare time and the various things stated on my resume.

Lasty i know that my resume "Needs Work" and i need "More Experiance." I would like to see some good resumes and hear what i could do with what i have now. It would be great if i knew how to program, do 3D and traditional art and other high demand skills, but i dont. However there are Directors of Cinematography for cut scenes and writers. I would imagine that my Degree in Film would be just about the closest thing to all of that.

I would also like some more constructive oppinions, thank you very much for any help.

PS: the "---" seperate the resume from my comments in the first post so please note that.

Just found this on the other page...

http://www.gamedev.net/community/forums/topic.asp?topic_id=393907

It has alot of good information if anyone else is looking for it. It has helped me a bit too.

I would still like to hear what people think i should do with what i have personaly, thanks again.

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To be fully involved in the Creative Game Design, including User Interface and Story Development.

This sentence is poorly phrased ("involved in the creative game design?") and ambiguous. The people who work on user interface tend to be different than the people who work on story; the skillsets and responsibilities don't have much overlap.

Also, buzzword capitalization looks childish and unprofessional (to me, at least).

Quote:

Original post by Dasubermechen OBJECTIVES: To be fully involved in the Creative Game Design, including User Interface and Story Development.

Use a job title. In your case it looks like the title of "game designer" or "writer". Maybe more like this: Design and write games: develop gameplay ideas, write scripts, blah blah blah...

Quote:

Even though my goal states one thing, i am willing to settle with just about any position at this time, should i make that clear etc?

Your spelling, grammar, and presentation of such a simple communication don't seem to qualify you for the job.

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Original post by Dasubermechen Production Assistant Worked with all aspect of Production: Audio Setup and Operation, Lighting, Camera Operation and Set Design for the short film, “Real Horror TV,” currently in review by MTV Productions.

Keep it, it is somewhat relevant because it is entertainment. Include more details of what you did specifically.

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Original post by Dasubermechen Creative Advisor Responsible for research and documentation of Gaming Industry for presentation to Senior Management to support creation of new Interactive Media Business Unit.

What specifically did you do? It sounds like you swallowed a buzzword dictionary.

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Original post by Dasubermechen Quality Assurance Tester for “Delta Force: Black Hawk Down” for XBOX and PS2 ... Quality Assurance Tester for “Tenchu 2” for PS2

Good.

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Original post by Dasubermechen 2003-2005 Responsible for the tracking and documentation of incoming products, sales transactions and maintaining facilities.

When I see that, I think "You worked as a sales clerk." If you have additional detail that relates to your intended job, include the detail. Otherwise drop this.

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Original post by Dasubermechen Maintenance of community properties for home owners. (landscape, building maintenance, etc.)

What does this have to do with the job you are applying for?

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Original post by Dasubermechen An internship program; with responsibilities including the upkeep of the facility, assisting professionals with set development and creative feed back for commercials and advertising.

More details.

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Original post by Dasubermechen Community service responsibilities; includes preparation of food services, cashier duties and customer relations.

Drop it. Nobody cares that you worked as a cook.

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Original post by Dasubermechen Store personnel; responsible for stocking, maintenance of merchandise, janitorial and customer service.

Drop it. Nobody cares that you were a janitor.

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Original post by Dasubermechen SKILL SET Microsoft Word, Excel, Power Point and Macromedia Flash MX.

Probably drop it. Include comments about using Flash in your details above, though.

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Original post by Dasubermechen EDUCATION o Moorpark Community College 2003 - 2006 Major: TV / Communications Production

So? What did you do there? What did you love about the courses? Did you do any specific fun projects? Is there anything you are particularly proud of? "Authored three complete TV scripts", or "Wrote and produced a documentary about the exciting life of a tse tse fly." Include stuff that you liked doing and want to do again in the future.

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Original post by Dasubermechen o Malibu High School Graduate Class of 2003

Drop it. HS or GED is assumed with a college education.

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Original post by Dasubermechen References Available on Request

Drop it. If they want them, they'll ask.

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Original post by Dasubermechen 2005-2006 2004-Presant [sic] 2005 2004 2003-2005 1994-Present Summer of 2002 1996 – 2000 Summer of 1999

The dates look bad.
Here's how I interpret those dates:
1994-1996: One regular PT job, starting at age 9!? No way.
1996-1999: Two PT jobs (at age 11)
summer 1999: THREE PT jobs (At age 14? Amazing!)
2000: Two PT jobs (age 15)
2001: One PT job (age 16, I believe that.)
2002: Two PT jobs (age 17, Questionable.)
2003: Two PT jobs (age 18, Believable.)
2004: FOUR PT jobs, plus college (age 19, sounds really bad)
2005: FIVE! PT jobs, plus junior/senior year(?) of college.
2006: THREE PT jobs.
Present: Two PT jobs.

Sorry, I don't buy it. If you really did have that many jobs concurrent with schooling, you better have some evidence of solid work. If your jobs were on-demand tasks, you need to say so in the descriptions. If you have some other good explanations, you better give them. Otherwise you look like a job hopper, a periodic worker, a boomerang employee, someone who only works for mom and dad's ventures and claims credit for them, or some other undesirable.

[Edited by - frob on June 5, 2006 10:11:39 AM]

Dasubermechen,

I do not wish to sound insulting or offensive in this post.

I do not work in the gaming industry, but it has been my experience that most employers wish you to speak and write fluently in their desired language. Considering the fact that your resume is in english, i would assume that you are looking for a position in a primarily english speaking company. I would seriously recommend revising the entire resume for wording, grammar, and punctuation.

Good luck

* Cut out the bottom half of your work experience, and go into detail in the top half. Nobody cares that you were a cashier at Malibu High School.
* I wouldn't bother with the "objectives" section. That's what the cover letter is for.

Job hunting is an elimination process. Plain and simple.

HR clerks will have to sift through hundreds of resumes and will spend no more than a minute to decide to put your resume in a waste basket or not. Then the HR coordinator will go through the resulting pile and try to find 4 or 5 good canditates to propose to the manager. Then the ultimate manager (your boss, eventually) will take 5 minutes to pick 3 people he/she wants to interview. Managers have little time to read an entire resume, so the faster you get to the point the better.

Your task is to land the interview. Everything else is about avoiding the bit bucket. Make it easy for all those people to put you in the right pile at each and every step. Your submission should peel off like an onion. First, your cover letter should be designed to help the HR guys make a positive decision on your application. Second, your resume should be designed to help the manager put you on the interview list.


In the cover letter, state clearly the position you are applying for and put in a two-column table that associates "Your Requirements" with "My Experience" by order of importance. It helps the HR guys in deciding if you should be put in the "NO" or the "MAYBE" pile.


For the resume, take a look at this example: http://www.resume-resource.com/extec1.html ( Clicky ).

The first (very succinct) paragraphs should tell the manager what you are looking for, what you are good at, and why he/she should hire YOU. Period. Everything else is a reference. The best way to organize your work experience is by reverse date order and position. At each item outline what you were responsible for and what were your realizations. Quantify whereever you can. Don't verbose. Just the facts. Ex: "I was responsible for QA on Project X; I logged ~100 bugs over the 3 months period the software was in Beta, 10% of which were hard-to-spot memory leaks and obscure platform-dependent crashes". It's a quick visual proof of what you stated you were good at earlier. Education, personal interests, and affiliations are put at the end. Affiliations are set separately if the position needs it. For example, an ACM or an IEEE membership might be sought at research-level positions.

Hope this helps.

-cb

Thanks a ton everyone this really helps.

My pride is a bit shot but thats ok, thats what i needed to hear.

It sees to me that it needs to be a little more personal than i have it now. Cut all the overly formal "Buzzword" crap and really tell them who i am and about what i have done that i am proud of (like the films and not the janitorial crap haha.)


"The dates look bad.
Here's how I interpret those dates:
1994-1996: One regular PT job, starting at age 9!? No way.
1996-1999: Two PT jobs (at age 11)
summer 1999: THREE PT jobs (At age 14? Amazing!)
2000: Two PT jobs (age 15)
2001: One PT job (age 16, I believe that.)
2002: Two PT jobs (age 17, Questionable.)
2003: Two PT jobs (age 18, Believable.)
2004: FOUR PT jobs, plus college (age 19, sounds really bad)
2005: FIVE! PT jobs, plus junior/senior year(?) of college.
2006: THREE PT jobs.
Present: Two PT jobs.

Sorry, I don't buy it. If you really did have that many jobs concurrent with schooling, you better have some evidence of solid work. If your jobs were on-demand tasks, you need to say so in the descriptions. If you have some other good explanations, you better give them. Otherwise you look like a job hopper, a periodic worker, a boomerang employee, someone who only works for mom and dad's ventures and claims credit for them, or some other undesirable."
Quote by Frob

Sorry i dont know how to quote that properly here, but i think there was a misunderstanding of my age which i need to make clear. From 1994 - Presant was when i moved into the house i am at now. Once i moved in i took part in help build our neighbor hood, i was not cutting lumber at 9 but i was a part of the procces. This is not the right place for this information, nore does a game company want to know what i was doing at 9 anyways, so GREAT point. As for the other overlaping jobs they were on demand and part time.

All in all i have learned to make it much more personal and "Human" in addition to cutting the extra crap.

THANK YOU AGAIN