Looking for some feedack
polycounter lvl 11
I normally haven't had a tough time finding work, but for some reason all I've been getting for months now has been "we love your work, but we went with someone else" type responses. I can't figure out if it's something I'm not doing right, or bad timing, or what. So I thought I'd start this thread, and see if anyone could give me some feedback on my resume, cover letter, and portfolio. At this point, anything will be helpful. Thank you.
My resume:
http://www.scribd.com/doc/160301051/Jeremy-Smith-Resume
My cover letter (I always customize the cover letter for the studio I'm applying to, so this does not represent the full cover letter I would send.):
http://www.scribd.com/doc/160303357/Cover-Letter
My portfolio:
http://replicasgallery.blogspot.com
Again, any suggestions would be helpful.
My resume:
http://www.scribd.com/doc/160301051/Jeremy-Smith-Resume
My cover letter (I always customize the cover letter for the studio I'm applying to, so this does not represent the full cover letter I would send.):
http://www.scribd.com/doc/160303357/Cover-Letter
My portfolio:
http://replicasgallery.blogspot.com
Again, any suggestions would be helpful.
Replies
Cover letter
- Formatting is horrible (I assume you are already aware of this, and that it's just a working draft)
- A bit too short and rushed, I feel like the whole cover letter could be incorporated into the body of the email
- I would like to see a presentation of yourself in the beginning, just in case someone who hasn't read your email reads your cover letter
- No header with contact information etc. which I find extremely important.
All in all I feel the cover letter is a bit unprofessional and incoherent.
Resume
The resume is much better and much more professional. However, the are a few nitpicks I would have changed.
- Your "Objective" feels unnecessarily complex. I would change it to something like: "To obtain a mid-level position as a character artist, and to grow as an artist and creator".
-I would summarize your "Skills" as just "3DS Max, Zbrush, Mudbox, Photoshop." This isn't super important, but I always like to shave off as much text as possible, so it'll be easier to read, and your portfolio will do all the talking in the "Skills" department anyway.
- "Awards" feels completely unnecessary, since you don't bring up what kind of awards they are or what you got them for.
- Your "Interests" I find kind of off-putting, since you pretty much could summarize them as just "Work", which isn't the kind of guy I would hire personally. There has got to be something else that makes you tick that you can add to that list, even the kind-of-obvious generic ones, like "Watching movies, reading books and playing with my dog", would make good additions in my opinion.
The rest of the resume I don't really have any crits on, it's simple enough to understand what projects you have worked on and what you did during those projects.
So, there you have a couple of crits, and this is just my personal opinion, so take all of this with a grain of salt. I apologize if any of this came of a bit harsh.
Good luck with the job-hunting!
You might benefit from finding another way to format it so that you can keep the content more organized and show off your best pieces.
in fact, mikhga's(previous post) portfolio is a great example. There are thumbnails with pictures large enough to be impressed by - and which lead to images that show more of that project. You're not currently showing any triangle counts, or texture flats, or multiple angles in most cases.
A complete lack of standardized formatting for your images makes it look less like a portfolio and a lot more like a personal "look what i've been working on" blog - which is fine to have, but I don't think it should be your first introduction to potential employers - it looks very amateur and you're clearly not. I strongly urge you to make a template with your name, website and contact information stamped on it and use it to frame every image you want in your portfolio. This has the added benefit of getting you recognition even if the images find themselves floating around some random tumblr or something.
resume's and cover letters are not my strong point so i won't speak on those.
Think about the context of your content, a portfolio basically says "pay me to make this for you". How many game studios hire 3d artists to make iphone covers.
Sorting your folio should get things moving :thumbup:
I hear the comments on the blog format, and will try to find another solution for my portfolio. I know nothing about getting a site to work, but I'm sure there's plenty of resources out there to help with that. Also, I hear the content feedback as well.
You've given me a lot to think about and fix here, which is exactly what I was looking for. Now I'll be off to make some changes.
In regards to your portfolio, I think it will look good once you remove the non-game related pieces and switch to a format with larger images on the main page. It probably wouldn't hurt to have an organized breakdown of each model (wire/textures/sculpt/finished model) to add more continuity.
I think your cover letter needs a greeting tailored to whomever you're applying, and some grammar fixes. The overall message is good information to include, it just needs to sound more professional. I'd find a template online and scale back the formal attitude a bit to slightly more casual game industry standards.
Imagine a job interview - the first questions are often "tell us about yourself" and "why do you want to work for us"? Now answer those in a short paragraph and there's most of your cover letter.
About the objective: remove that stuff. Of course you want to grow! I wouldn't even hire anybody who doesn't want to. Wanting to grow isn't an extra, in this industry it is a MUST! There shouldn't be any need to especially mention this. Also lose the mid-level job. This makes me think right away that you have no ambition. Besides it's usually your folio that casts you into a position, not your "I wanna be this'n'that" line in the resume (even worse, when this line doesn't match up the level of your artwork). Just put "Character Artist" below your name. That's easier to see and works for all kinds of positions - so don't narrow yourself too much, unless you can afford waiting for that awesome perfect job where you do exactly what you want.
Probably no need to mention "deadline pressure" in some of the projects. I mean we're in the games industry, deadline pressure is usually a given
With some art bully projects you mention Style: what style? realistic, anime, stylized, WoW-ish? If I invite you to an interview, and if I cannot see it from the folio, I will sure bring this up to see if your experience with a certain style fits our own work.
Some projects don't mention the platform of the game. Depending on where you apply it would help the recruiter if they can see if you worked on the same platform they're using.
Also agree on the interests line. Lose it or make it, well, interesting. If you want to keep your interests tailored to the job, what inspires you, what games do you love? anime, fps? fantasy? or do you paint in your free time? or add some interesting sports, if you're into this. Sometimes people bring it up in interviews and it offers a nice way to get to know the applicant as a person and not just as some human resource that's gotta be cast in a position ASAP.