What is a Resume?

  • A resume is a 1-2 page summary of your background and qualifications for a job for which you are applying.
  • The purpose of the resume is to get you an interview by selling your credentials.
  • Your resume will probably be looked at briefly, so use visual hierarchy to highlight important information and arrange your information in an easy to follow manner.

 

Preparatory Work

  • Start with a list of things you want in your resume. Really think about accomplishments and skills as well as experience. For experience include not only jobs but also relevant volunteer work, relevant projects, etc. Think of extracurricular activities, organizations to which you belong, extra training you have done, interests, etc.
  • This is a list to help you get started, but you also may think of things as you go. It is just often helpful to have already put some thought into it before starting.

 

Tips

  • Every point on your resume must be specific and true
  • Use Action verbs
  • Use Bullet points, not paragraphs. You want your information to be easily accessible
  • Mention accomplishments, not responsibilities
  • You do not need to follow someone else’s template, rather format your information in a way that shows you in your best light

 

Headings You Should Include

  • Header
  • Objective (vs. summary)
  • Skills
  • Education
  • Accomplishments/Awards
  • Experience
  • Organizations
  • Interests

 

Header

  • Name
  • email address
  • portfolio url
  • possibly your phone number and mailing address
  • Do Not
    • Include unnecessary details
    • Occupy too much space with this information
    • Write resume on your resume
    • Include a photo of yourself

 

Objective

  • 1-2 sentences that states what career you are seeking and what skills and experiences you have that make you ideal for that career. This should be adjusted to each position to which you apply.
  • Keep the employer’s stated requirements for the job in mind while writing this objective. The objective is not about what you want from the company but is about what the company needs
  • Summaries are an alternative to objectives. They state your skills, experiences and goals as they relate to a specific job. This should be tailored to the job and should always be focused on what you can do for the job, not what the job can do for you.
  • Because you are new to the job market/industry your resumes should generally have objectives rather than summaries.
  • DO NOT be vague or generic

Examples

  • Intern as an environment artist in the video game industry.
  • Creative 3D artist seeking internship as a 3D modeler in the game industry.
  • Results oriented college student with a background in 2D and 3D art seeking internship opportunity with *** company
  • Seeking a summer internship with ***company, where my collaboration and problem solving skills, combined with my knowledge of 3D modeling and game engines will allow me to contribute to the team.
  • Game Art and Animation student seeking internship with

 

Skills
~What you have learned from what you have done

You can have multiple Skills headings or include all of them under one.

I suggest short bulleted columns for this information so it is not taking up a large amount of the space on your resume, but also shows off your skills

  • Soft skills: showcase 3-4 of traits that describe you best. These same skills would be good skills to highlight with examples in your cover letter.
    • Hard working
    • Problem solver
    • Creative
    • Leadership
  • Core Skills: skills relevant to the role to which you are applying
    • 2D character design
    • 3D modeling
    • Texturing
    • Animation
  • Software: In hierarchical order of proficiency list the software that you know
    • Maya
    • Photoshop
    • Zbrush

 

Education

State your expected year of graduation from SAU, as well as your major and, if applicable, minor

Example:

BFA Game Art, Animation and Simulation     Southern Arkansas University               2019

 

Accomplishments or Honors and Awards

This is an optional category. Only include this if you have awards or honors to highlight

Things you could include:

  • CAE certificate of acceptance
  • Acceptance into any kind of juried show
  • Published anywhere
  • Contests won
  • Performance scholarships
  • Conference acceptances

 

Experience

  • This is about real hands-on work you have done. This can include jobs, of course, but can also include Projects, Internships, Volunteering, etc.
  • This can be either on a single heading or you can break it into sub headings i.e. Art Experience and Experience
  • Title/project name, role, Company/organization name, 1-2 line description (brief and specific), time period
  • Reverse chronological order.
  • Factual results where possible

Examples

2017         ***Game. Art Lead. SAU Game Studio Workshop

Created the style guide for the game. Guided artists on the team to maintain a consistent style.

2017         ***Game. Concept artist and Animator. Global Game Jam

Developed the art style of the game. Animated all the 2D character sprites

2016         Staff. SAU Game Development Summer Camp

Assisted with Game Project. Guided a team building workshop. Managed campers.

 

Organizations (optional)
This information can also be included under interests rather than having its own section.

Include organizations to which you belong that are relevant to the skills you have listed and the jobs to which you are applying. If you held an office in an organization, include that

  • IGDA
  • Game Development Club
  • National Honors Society (although this might go under accomplishments/honors)

 

Interests (optional)

This category can be helpful in showing how you would fit into certain corporate cultures as well as showing you are a well rounded individual.

  • Choose carefully which interests you highlight. This speaks to your character.
  • Research the company and corporate culture. That could influence the interests you choose to highlight
  • Don’t lie about who you are, but don’t include everything either. I suggest, for instance, that you avoid listing religious or political interests or other controversial hobbies/interests
    • The exception to this is, of course, if you were applying to a job where this would be of benefit to you. So if you were applying for a job as a designer for a political campaign, then stating you are a member of the young * * club on campus would be beneficial
  • You can go into brief detail about your interests, but make is a short bullet point or sentence
    • League of Legends level 30 (looks great for Riot, ok for other video game companies, wouldn’t include it for non-game companies)
    • Volunteer at a children’s summer camp

 

Additional Tips

  • Clean, well organized and easily read should be your goal for the design
  • Have your resume saved in at least a .doc and a .pdf
  • Name your resume with resume and your name
    • rhaeleneLowther_resume
    • Resume_Rhaelene_Lowther
  • Have multiple people read it for clarity
  • Have someone else proofread your resume for grammatical and spelling errors
    • Remember to utilize the writing center on campus
  • This is a living document. You will want to re-address it for each job application.
    • Are there any updates to accomplishments or experience
    • Make needed changes to the objective to meet the new job

 

 

 

Much of the information was gathered from a Resume Guide for Students and Freshers. ~Based on SmartResume an initiative by www.twenty19.com