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Resume critique request

ivarhill
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ivarhill polycounter lvl 3
I have been working on a resume for my application as an intern to a number of Swedish game developers. It's my first venture into the industry, so I'd appreciate any feedback people might give.

It can be found through the link at the top of my portfolio:
http://www.ivarhill.com

On a similar note, I have also written a generic cover letter I thought I would use as a fundament for writing specific ones for my actual applications. It can be seen here:

Cover letter

I'd be happy for any feedback here as well. As I don't have any formal work experience I thought I would focus this cover letter on my personal passion for the medium rather than talk about what I have worked on (which is seen in the resume, anyway), but I am not sure if this is the best approach here.

I will be mainly directing my applications at smaller developers, if that is of any value to know.
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  • beefaroni
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    beefaroni sublime tool
    I feel like I just saw this in Pimping and Previews :D

    Anyways, much more presentable and accessible now. It took 1/4 of the time to view all of your work. :thumbup:

    My main critique is with that first drop pod. With the EXTREME depth of field, it looks like it is a miniature or something. If you're going for that, great, if not, you may want to change it.

    Edit: A few things to add. It takes too many clicks to view a series of work. I'm going to upload something in 2 min..
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  • ivarhill
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    ivarhill polycounter lvl 3
    Thank you! (even though this was asking about the resume specifically ;))

    Regarding the drop pod, anyway, I am definitely going for a miniature look since it is based on the actual Warhammer miniature. :)
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  • beefaroni
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    beefaroni sublime tool
    Okay I think this is much better. Made in like a few mins so it needs polish but you get the idea. When the user first comes to your page, the work is LARGER. In addition, they only need to click ONCE to see a full project, not 4 times like you have now.

    Seriously, you may think its stupid, but the fewest amount of clicks possible is best.

    6efEGmH.png
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  • ivarhill
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    ivarhill polycounter lvl 3
    Yeah, you're right, I should do it like that - should have a polished version up of that today :)
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  • ivarhill
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    ivarhill polycounter lvl 3
    Updated my portfolio to be more clear!

    In either case, does anyone have any feedback on the actual resume/cover letter? It'd definitely be very helpful to hear from experienced people. :)
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  • beefaroni
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    beefaroni sublime tool
    Dude nice work with those changes. It looks great!! Easy to navigate, everything is right up front.

    Wish I could help with the cover letter part though. Hopefully someone else chimes in.
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  • PyrZern
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    PyrZern polycounter lvl 12
    ivarhill wrote: »
    In either case, does anyone have any feedback on the actual resume/cover letter? It'd definitely be very helpful to hear from experienced people. :)

    I'm not sure man. The cover letter seems a bit too fluff for me though it's not targeted at any specific company or any specific style of arts. It reads as a generic 1 size for all letter. But then again, I'm not a hiring manager or a HR...

    On the resume, you can hotlink the projects to the gallery on your site. ie. Stagecoach, and Aegis. Optional would be LinkedIn link and your city/state Address.

    Really digging the new look.
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  • ivarhill
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    ivarhill polycounter lvl 3
    Thanks for the feedback!

    I agree the cover letter is a bit generic, I will customize it for each company I'll send it to.

    As for the resume, that is a good idea - as you may have seen, I have already done that for my email and website. Might add an address too, yeah, could hardly hurt.

    Any other vital information I might be missing? I'm definitely very unexperienced writing these kind of things.
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  • Joao Sapiro
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    Joao Sapiro sublime tool
    when i see the folio this is what i think :

    VnV5ETu.jpg

    seriously, a simple small bar with your contact and resume link is more than enough.
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  • ivarhill
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    ivarhill polycounter lvl 3
    EDIT: Still wanting to approach the feedback, I redesigned the header on all pages a bit so that is more space efficient while preserving the airy feel of the site. It should be updated at www.ivarhill.com now :)
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  • Meloncov
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    Meloncov greentooth
    On your resume, I'd leave off "References are available on request" (it used to be traditional, but it's fallen out of favor because it's kinda self evident. Of course you'll provide references if asked for) and your high school (you're in college, so it's presumed you graduated high school).

    I'd include a sentence or two on the specifics of what exactly you did on the projects you list, beyond just the job title.

    Finally, "transalvanian" should be capitalized.


    As for the cover letter, it's pretty good but kinda generic. There's not much in there to differentiate you from everyone else applying for the same position. Instead of talking in the abstract about PC mods you made in high school, tell them specifically what you created. Try to talk about why game art matters to you, instead of just saying that it does.
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  • ivarhill
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    ivarhill polycounter lvl 3
    Thanks for the feedback - I will adjust these things a bit, you bring up some great points.

    Also thank you for the help on the cover letter, great suggestions. :)
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  • ivarhill
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    ivarhill polycounter lvl 3
    Updated versions of both resume and cover letter:

    https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/7821237/Ivar_Hill_Resume_new.pdf

    https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/7821237/Cover%20letter%20Ivar%20Hill_new.pdf
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  • Meloncov
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    Meloncov greentooth
    Definitely better, though you now have a run on sentence at the end of the second paragraph that's a little difficult to read. I'd start a new sentence where you currently have the dash.
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  • ScottHoneycutt
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    ScottHoneycutt polycounter lvl 14
    I don't know how far you are willing to take the typography on the resume, but the leading and spacing between the headings and body copy could use tightening up a bit. There isn't enough spacial contrast between elements vertically and my eye doesn't rest on the page very well. They sort of blur across a grid or red and black so I don't want to read it. The leading is about the relative size of the lines themselves ... tighten them up. Going from project name, to job name, to body copy has even spacing so the head and sub head don't read as such immediately. I would try moving the job name (Lead UI artist) up closer to the project name (Medusa) and adjusting accordingly. Other than that it does look nice. I like the header and info strip below it.

    Is that Helvetica throughout? Is it RGB or CMYK? Also do a Google image search on "graphic design resume" and see a plethora of good ones. Notice on these how you can easily read the hierarchy of importance in the Type.

    http://dzineblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/04/resume/17.jpg

    http://media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/736x/90/2e/db/902edb39381fe761a799a20c93aa6433.jpg

    http://aaronmiller333.files.wordpress.com/2012/10/lucas-armstrong-graphic-designer-resume.jpg (This one's busy but the work experience paragraphs work well)

    http://m1.behance.net/rendition/modules/22415665/disp/32243893804bfe01689c199b6d825416.jpg (here all the elements read well as separate but connected)

    There a lot of ways to create better contrast and hierarchy, but at least improve the spacing issue because I don't want to read it right now. You don't want someone picking it up and pushing to get through it. :)

    Note: I have no game design experience, but I do have some graphic design experience and degree)
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  • ivarhill
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    ivarhill polycounter lvl 3
    Thank you for the feedback, it has been truly valuable! I've taken each of your points in consideration and redesigned the resume as such:

    https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/7821237/Ivar_Hill_Resume_new2.pdf

    Definitely more readable I think :)

    The font is Source Sans Pro, an open source font family by Adobe - I use this font in all my material for consistency - portfolio, letters, resume and so on. The resume's RGB as it's going to be displayed on a screen 99% of the time.
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  • ivarhill
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    ivarhill polycounter lvl 3
    I suppose that does make sense - I did opt for a PDF unless specifically asked otherwise because PDF files practically always work - with DOC/DOCX you get tons of different versions and compability issues.

    But yeah, good point. I don't have an Office license but perhaps I can try to replicate it in an open-source equivalent and save that out as a doc file if someone were to ask for that.
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  • ScottHoneycutt
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    ScottHoneycutt polycounter lvl 14
    That one color change really helped open it up! Much better. In my experience the job you are looking for changes the expectations. As a UI artist it's good to have those design skills showing, whereas someone looking for only 3d work wouldn't need it. In the 2d graphics and graphic design world, you are expected to have a nicely designed resume and sectional website. In 3d only, they expect the info/images bluntly in their face immediately without hassle. But again thats my experience through years of searching, listening, asking and developing ... not hiring. Nice shots on that pod thing by the way :)
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  • ivarhill
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    ivarhill polycounter lvl 3
    Yeah, this is a great point and also a reason I've spent such a long time revising my portfolio over and over now - hopefully now I've struck the balance of simple 3D showcases and carefully designed websites. I definitely want to showcase these skills as well and a nicely designed resume/portfolio is a nice indirect way of doing so :)
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