Hiya,

Any suggestions very welcome

At what point do you leave your GCSE and A Level qualifications out of your CV? I've just finished my BSc and am starting a masters course towards the end of the year. On the one hand, I don't feel earlier qualifications are particularly relevant any more and I need the page space - but on the other, I wouldn't want prospective gamedev employers to wonder what I've done with my time..

For anyone across the water from the UK, GCSEs are equivalent to 'high school' grades and A levels are 'APs' (or so I'm told).

Many thanks!

At what point do you leave your GCSE and A Level qualifications out of your CV?

When you have at least two to three years of professional paid experience in your CV.
http://www.igda.org/games-game-october-2006

As that article somewhat describes it is a function of utility. It also varies widely by location.


What you are expected to include varies by location. I was recently shocked by the requirements in one particular family-traditional area within the US where employers actually required information about three generations and their contribution to their community. It was a native community and obviously they weren't a technology hub, rather more of a tribal situation where the town leaders and employers would have been called village elders not long ago.

In some places on the globe employers expect your full employment and educational history, omitting nothing. This is more common in central Europe.

A few places demand personal information that is protected by law in other places such as marital status, number of children, and your health history.

In many places employers care only about the latest round of relevant work and about the presence or absence of a degree. This is common in most of the US and is spreading to major hubs.

Exactly what your employer wants to see will depend mostly on your location on the globe. For me I only care about the last five or so years of your employment and the name of your university program.

Depends if it's a CV or resume (or portfolio). I'm guessing you're American, a dialect where the two words seem to be synonyms for some reason (meaning my advice might be way off for your region), but a CV typically has a full educational and work history, whereas a resume only has the important bits relevant to the applied job. I keep my resume to a single page only, so I only have room for the most important qualifications. I think I only listed pre-tertiary qualifications on my very first resume, or maybe the first two. These were very quickly replaced with job titles and work experience notes.

Your high-school grades really aren't relevant in the workplace, so they don't really belong on a resume (only on a CV) - I'd only include them if you're having trouble filling paper with any other details and feel bad about having half a blank page.

I supplement the 1-page resume with a portfolio and cover letter that fills in the blanks, such as what my hobby project was in 1999...

Thought I'd replied to this already! Thanks for your advice, it's appreciated.

Tom - I have experience in IT, but no professional experience with games. I assume you mean games experience specifically, so I'll condense my earlier qualifications a little but leave them on there. Thanks!

Depends if it's a CV or resume (or portfolio). I'm guessing you're American...

I supplement the 1-page resume with a portfolio and cover letter that fills in the blanks, such as what my hobby project was in 1999...

British, so it's a CV That's a good point about the resumé/CV differences, and also the cover letter.

Thanks again