Seeking Resume Feedback
Hello,
I am an aspiring 3D Environment and Prop Artist. I have been applying to positions for some time now, and I am beginning to think there is something in my resume that is holding me back. I have read lots of advice article on crafting a great resume and have even submitted my resume to some of those "free" resume critique sites. These have left me with more questions than answers. So I am turning to the greatest art community that I know of. Here is a link to my resume. https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B7uaq0RpGfOvTy10TTRHcDNLWFE/edit?usp=sharing
I appreciate any advice I can get whether it's how to better organize it to pass the applicant tracking system or how to better highlight achievements and skills to pass the 30-second test.
Thanks very much everyone.
I am an aspiring 3D Environment and Prop Artist. I have been applying to positions for some time now, and I am beginning to think there is something in my resume that is holding me back. I have read lots of advice article on crafting a great resume and have even submitted my resume to some of those "free" resume critique sites. These have left me with more questions than answers. So I am turning to the greatest art community that I know of. Here is a link to my resume. https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B7uaq0RpGfOvTy10TTRHcDNLWFE/edit?usp=sharing
I appreciate any advice I can get whether it's how to better organize it to pass the applicant tracking system or how to better highlight achievements and skills to pass the 30-second test.
Thanks very much everyone.
Replies
Make it fit on one page unless you're have years and years of experience.
Really Really shorten that profile section-at least if it's on your document resume. I use an objective-others may not. But HR has only so many minutes in the day to see your shit. Make sure it takes them a little time as possible to see you worked where and for how long and what you did.
Your work is so so. I'm cool with the layout, it's similar to mine. A lot of your work is low poly. Get some detailed assets in there. I personally am not a fan of the prototyping scene. I'd remove that. I get you were going for a WOW look and feel but it comes across as half done and sloppy-not to say you didn't work really hard on that. You just missed the mark. The hard surface stuff is pretty good-I'd reorganize your portfolio to sell that hardcore.
Take it from me, it sucks hearing you have to take a project off of your folio. I did that not too long ago. Being self critical is a huge asset and even the bests artists can have problems with it.
Then jump into listing experience.
Then school, and at the end you can have your profile talk. The way i see it, the profile is mostly your cover letter. so always make sure you tailor that one since it will make a big impact and get you some attention. When i look at artists resumes i look for clean information that is easy to pin point and that i can reference easily. Use paragraphs to describe your role if necessary, but i think your breakdown of things done with a sentence of what you did works well.
Your name on the top could prbly be a bigger font so it stands out and try to align the phone, emails and website.
This is how mine looks like, and its a format i've seen around that works.
http://brau3d.com/resume.htm
Like some other people said try to keep it to one page.
you can prbly reduce the profile part so it fits all on one page.
amm.. thats about it for my feedback. Hope it helps.
BTW... 1p is hiring atm. http://1stplayable.catsone.com/careers/
Dunno if you are interested.
To my eyes, the resume reads like a wall of text. The profile can be reformated into bulleted highpoints, but were it me, I would put Industry experience first followed by Creative, then skills, then Profile (which could be retitled into something more fitting.
Dustin's resume has an up to date approach where he lists what he did in a general way. It allows you room to get into more specific stuff when speaking with the client more directly.
Same goes for when you are in fact speaking to the potential employer...that is listening is even more important than talking.
At some point you're going to want to get your portfolio on something other than Blogspot. Have you looked at ArtStation?
Good luck Courtney, it looks like you are well on your way to making a real go of the gaming business.
Also I wouldn't bother telling them how many assets you made for each project, just define the overall genre and leave it at that (environment props, weapons, characters or vehicles etc).
The really important part is your portfolio, and I think it is pretty weak at the moment. The 'Park Project' has promise, but it looks half done. Nothing looks like you really put a lot of effort and time into it (regardless of how much I am sure you did). Spend half an hour fixing up your resume and then spend a month on your portfolio. You have the skills needed, obviously, but with a little more work you could really improve that portfolio.
All this said, both my resume and portfolio are horrible.
EDIT: If you have websites or companies in your resume, LINK TO THEM. It sucks googling for companies, it should be there in your resume.
I've had my resume end up as a sort of talking points for in person interviews. Might help to think about how you would expand on the things listed when face to face with a potential new boss.
I'd recommend losing the soft skills bit (who doesn't claim to be a team player with attention to detail...). Likewise for the profile.. probably fits better in a cover letter/ introductory email. You can also ditch the non industry work experience...just not relevant
All that being said, Folio is really the big deal. (I don't remember any resume i've ever seen, but I remember a lot of portfolios) Make sure your resume highlights your time spent doing professional work in the industry, and put the rest of your effort into portfolio building.
Good luck out there
Presentation is key and I think you can space it out more and reduce it! Otherwise it's not too shabby, I've seen much, much worse!
As for portfolio, I strongly dislike thumbnails with a passion. A single page with hi-res pics for me to just scroll down is the best way in my personal opinion and looks cool!
Might be a nice extra for props, but I wouldn't let it take the place of nice still renders just yet. There isn't really a good standard way of embedding 3D in a webpage AFIK. It's usually best to sacrifice bells and whistles to make sure your webpage will work properly for whoever is viewing it. People browsing from work may be unable to install plugins needed for some web content,or may have certain scripts/etc disabled. I've even had trouble with light-box on some sites.
I am also unaware of anything currently out there that can really show a good 3D scene in a browser. Skills like lighting and composition come into play even more when showing a scene, and ultimately, looking good in a game engine is what matters.
I have some friends and former colleagues who got good results from Carbonmade. I didn't use it personally, but they got decent looking sites up pretty quick with it.