It was great to be back in Austin for another round of GDC Online. The weather was great, the BBQ was scrumptious, the people were excellent company and the sessions overflowed with knowledge. If you were unable to attend - not to worry because as usual the media has done an excellent job writing up summaries of the various lectures that took place over the 4 days the conference was in town. For me, most of the conference was spent out of sessions talking to and meeting with people but I did make sure to catch some of the Game Career Guide seminars - those are always good stuff. Be sure to check out the Facebook photo gallery for a look at both the conference and the 2nd Annual Game Developers Choice Online Awards show.

[size="5"]Main Conference Coverage

Coverage by Gamasutra
Coverage by Kotaku

[size="5"]Game Career Guide Sessions Slides/Tweets

[size="3"]Jim Rivers (Obsidian) - What to Do Right on a Resume, Cover Letter and Website

Download lecture slides

Tweets from @gdevnet

just out of college? Look into functional resumes. The more common chronological resume is best after a few yrs employment

tailor resume to company/position, 1 page, easy download (PDF, doc), SPELL CHECK (have others do it for you 2), web link visible

easy resume download/access is a big key - if resource ppl can't get it easy, they won't even bother *trying*

don't try and "bulk up" to cover lack of experience. No logos. No crazy fonts. Don't send as .JPG or .AI. Address to right company!

contact info - no nicknames or gamertags. Do not use nickname for email either. Have professional voicemail for contact #!

Jim looks at skills more than anything else. List skills (tables are your friend) under objective/title after contact info

put job title in bold only, company largely irrelevant. List recent position first. Include any beta testing if lacking work xp

ok to fanboy in cover letter - be restrained. Research company (history, people, games). Say what you can bring to team

jim's gotten 10pg cover letters. Don't tell your life story k? 1pg. Don't beg or plead. Again make sure address to right company!

cover letter 3 paragraphs - Intro: create interest. Body: why work for company? (kiss ass section) Closing: ask for interview opp

Jim likes cover letters addressed to him - shows research of company. Always wrap up with "thank you for your time"

put your best work on site, don't overload it with *everything*. Clearly ID it as your website (name, title). Visible resume link

putting WIP stuff on site can be iffy, some Directors think it shows you can't complete stuff, even when labeled as WIP

it's worth taking time to ensure what's displayed on your site is related to studio you are applying to as well

again, HR has very little time, tons of resumes. If they have the tiniest trouble finding stuff on ure site, they will just move on

artists date your work so it can be seen if you're active recently and working your skills

don't expect ure *entire* 3-5 min (hopefully no longer) demo reel to be seen. Best work upfront! Don't try & show skill progression

you can't just call yourself a "programmer" anymore. Know what kind of programming you do and list that (AI, tools, graphics, etc)

same for 3D artists - various disciplines, define yours. Show both low & high poly work. Texture management is good to showcase

additionally, I'd recommend putting 'time to complete' on each work. (via @nuclearfossil)

Also, know the difference between a software architect, engineer, and developer. (via @CymonsGames)

note to concept artists! took Jim 5 months to find a good conceptual environment artist. Everyone wants to do character concept

If u have the *work* experience, can go 2pgs as long as it relates RT @theLegACy99 I really need to learn creating a 1-page resume -.-

[size="3"]Lindsey McQueeny (38 Studios) with Jim Rivers - How NOT to Get a Job in the Game Industry

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Tweets from this lecture as well as other tidbits of information spoken by Lindsey and Jim have been annotated to the PDF document of slides

Thanks to Jim and Lindsey for making these slides available!