So I was preparing my CV lately for a graphics position (but not in a game studio).
Mohammad Skafi's CV


Would it resonate with employers at least so that I can come out as a viable option in entering the industry (not as tester, but I won't expect being senior either)?

I believe that sending CV's to a company is a one time trial, that's why I need to know my odds are high so that the chance is not lost eternally.

Your advice is highly appreciated

Your CV seems a bit inverted chronologically. This goes for your examples (e.g. put the math and game engine before the use of them), as well as the main headers. Tyically you first put education, experience and then portfolio. Some googling is probably helpful to see the typical CV format. Also, don't forget to write a normal paper non-hyperlinked/interactive CV. It might be too much to ask some recruiter to check your website, as they probably prefer to sift through a physical pile of resumes when deciding who get the job and if interested can look at the website.

Also, some presentation link didn't work which is a turn-off, but perhaps due to work in progress.

Link fixed now, thanks for the catch.

I will reconsider the arrangement of items, but as it was targeted at some employer, I catered it for their research interests. Perhaps I should be making more versions.
After a second look, I think I better put some introductory text so that it doesn't seem to start so shockingly with material.

I do know however that inverse chronological order is the way to go for experience and education. Research may have been better put at the end for some applications and the way it is now for some others (I hope I am right here).

Quote: Original post by kek_miyu
Your CV seems a bit inverted chronologically. This goes for your examples (e.g. put the math and game engine before the use of them), as well as the main headers. Tyically you first put education, experience and then portfolio. Some googling is probably helpful to see the typical CV format. Also, don't forget to write a normal paper non-hyperlinked/interactive CV. It might be too much to ask some recruiter to check your website, as they probably prefer to sift through a physical pile of resumes when deciding who get the job and if interested can look at the website.

Well, usually CV:s have to have reversed chronology. So the latest stuff comes first. Because that's the most relevant from the employer's point of view, so (s)he can see the most relevant thing first.

What kind of graphics position are you aiming for?
Don't try to tell everything you did. Try to tell the reader of the CV what he wants to know. In case of graphics I'd make sure that I show some realy good graphics. Your blog looks more like a flashcoders blog. That is not wrong but might not have the desired effect. Try to find out what the reader is looking for.

You have 20 seconds to catch the eye of an employer who is looking through a pile of 100 resumes. Now put yourself in the shoes of that employer...

When I went to your website:
a) it was not in the standard resume format
b) the first link I clicked was a .zip file (and I don't have time to open .zip files and wade through them). The second (to xentrics map) didn't work.

I've just round filed your CV (i.e. put it in the garbage) and I'm now on to the next one in the stack.

In my opinion if you are sending this to a company unsolicited I think it has almost zero chance of succeeding.

Sorry to be harsh. Other posters in this thread have given good suggestions.

One more thing. I'm from Canada and when I saw Hariri Canadian University I was like where the heck is that and are they accredited? Maybe qualify it with a location so the reviewer doesn't have to google it like I did (and they probably won't even spend the time to do so).

[Edited by - loom_weaver on July 23, 2010 12:15:37 PM]

I am in no way offended by the replies, in the contrary, I appreciate the time taken to respond.
I still haven't sent the CV link yet, and I know it is out of the standard.
My experience has been a weird one as well: I've started as a Mechanical Engineer in this Hariri Canadian University (in the Middle East/Lebanon/Mechref). I worked in a research department dealing with RFID solutions. That department got a liquidation sentence, and I was offered a position in Web Development.
Starting out with server side web dev using PHP/MySQL/Apache and some client side dev as well (mainly Ajax on top of the usual techs). Then came into the picture a huge project for a client in the arab gulf (emirates), which was mainly an Actionscript project that had a lot of glitter (but was a big architectural challenge that I am proud to have gone through and accomplished..)

A backdrop to my background, I've always loved math, been a member of this forum since before I went to university (since 2002 - I guess I reregistered because I had an embarrassing login name or so), and I've always had a lot to do with graphics, game, physics and math.

While employed it felt like being trapped in a box (and further the employment conditions were extremely harsh, worse yet was the peer pressure (though lots of fun) but kind of made us all do overnight after overnight).

So here I am, changing my situation, hoping to go for a masters degree in computer science or do some paid university level research in computer graphics.

This CV is specifically for that, and the thing that got me going so far with a professor at a major regional university (www.aub.edu.lb) is the demo on the top of this list.

I believe there must be some kind of introduction in the beginning, and some more detail and possibly an eye catcher for each of the projects later listed.

I wish I had some more guidance with the choices I've done over the recent years, as to what I should be focusing on in my studies, the type of job I should be having and so on. This is what I have to work with, and I am trying to make the best of it..

This post turned out to be a gush your life story.. Sorry for anyone who was bothered enough to read through the whole thing and then discover they were annoyed :)

Congrats on getting the position. Tailoring it for the audience makes sense. However, I would like to caution that applying for a job in the industry (especially unsolicited) is a whole different ballgame than a research position imho.

Quote: Original post by arithma
I am in no way offended by the replies, in the contrary, I appreciate the time taken to respond.
I still haven't sent the CV link yet, and I know it is out of the standard.
My experience has been a weird one as well: I've started as a Mechanical Engineer in this Hariri Canadian University (in the Middle East/Lebanon/Mechref). I worked in a research department dealing with RFID solutions. That department got a liquidation sentence, and I was offered a position in Web Development.
Starting out with server side web dev using PHP/MySQL/Apache and some client side dev as well (mainly Ajax on top of the usual techs). Then came into the picture a huge project for a client in the arab gulf (emirates), which was mainly an Actionscript project that had a lot of glitter (but was a big architectural challenge that I am proud to have gone through and accomplished..)orry for anyone who was bothered enough to read through the whole thing and then discover they were annoyed :)

See, this is the kind information that I, if I was a potential employer, would want to know. What is your educational background? What major accomplishments have you done? What initiatives did you take? What skills do you possess? This was not apparent when I originally went to your website.

To create a CV for a job you must present the important information so that the reviewer can determine it in 30 seconds or less.

Best regards.

Quote: Original post by loom_weaver
See, this is the kind information that I, if I was a potential employer, would want to know. What is your educational background? What major accomplishments have you done? What initiatives did you take? What skills do you possess? This was not apparent when I originally went to your website.

To create a CV for a job you must present the important information so that the reviewer can determine it in 30 seconds or less.

This is very true. In my previous employer, I was involved in selecting candidates to call in for interviews. Most of the CVs looked very similar, so I basically scanned them very very quickly for key things such as personal projects, relevant achievements, initiatives etc. Only after one caught my eye, did I take more time to read it and read about experience and education.

Listed technologies were the least important, since listing things like programming languages really doesn't tell me anything. Listing that you're motivated and hard working doesn't really tell me anything either - hell, every resume writing guide says to put stuff like this in, so its pretty much useless.

Education and grades were taken into account, but weren't weighed terribly high, since I know from personal experience that good or bad grades don't necessarily mean much.

Experience weighed in pretty high, though saying you have ten years of C++ experience didn't mean much compared to mentioning projects you worked on and what you did.

Finally, the things that were worth the most was things that show you have initiative and are interested in solving problems, learning new things and can communicate well. These are ultimately what got people interviews.

I was also involved in some of the interviews, but the company has a pretty informal attitude towards interviews (they're more to get to know what kind of person you are, how you would fit into the team and your ability to learn than what you already know).