Getting creative with your resume; yes or no?
grand marshal polycounter
When I was younger, some resume advice I read was to stick to black and white, professional structure, no images or colorful designs, unless you were applying for an art role, like graphic design.
So now, I'm wondering, as an artist, should I have a cool resume? Something easy to read yet eye catching? Instead of using Word, maybe using Photoshop to design my resume? A quick google image search of '3D artist resume' brings up some interesting designs.
So now, I'm wondering, as an artist, should I have a cool resume? Something easy to read yet eye catching? Instead of using Word, maybe using Photoshop to design my resume? A quick google image search of '3D artist resume' brings up some interesting designs.
Replies
If you spend a bunch of time making your resume look super sick and stand out from all the other candidates...I still don't give a hot shit. What does your portfolio look like, and what is your work history. That's all I care about.
Even if it comes down to you and another person who is 100% exactly the same skill and experience level, it's going to come down to how the interview goes, not whose resume looks nifty.
I wouldn't spend time on making a fancy looking resume, it just doesn't matter. Take whatever extra time you were going to spend making your resume look cool and use it to polish your portfolio that much more.
Context is king. Think about who is going to be viewing your resume. most likely HR types and Producers. less artistic, more business leaning people. Art leads will look at your portfolio first, and then look at your resume to fill in the gaps and answer any questions they might have before considering bringing you in for an interview.
I have seen those types of resumes all done up like an RPG with stats/xp bars and to be honest, those are super cringe inducing. Lots of industry folk poke fun at them on facebook all the time. Don't try and be king of the nerds, even at a game studio, there is such a thing as taking it too far.
Not only that but it shows a lack of self awareness as to who you are putting your resume together for (hr types, producers, leads). Some geekyness is great, it shows passion, but decking out your resume with random stats bars that don't even convey anything meaningful...(3/7 stars for 3ds max?) like what does that even mean!? It's like your resume becomes a walking meme and brings to mind the equivalent of a neckbeard fedora wearing dude tipping his hat while addressing all women as "m'lady".
your resume should be clean cut and professional, people are going to print it out and bring it into interview rooms for quick reference during an onsite, that's the main purpose of an actual word/pdf resume these days when artstation and linkedin both have sections for relevant work experience.
so yea, clean cut. use self awareness, and don't overthink it. It's a method of communication, your portfolio is what is selling your creative skills and ability. don't waste 5-10 hours doodling up a "creative" resume that will hurt more than help.
overthinking is the pretty much like this
I liked it so much, I wanted to do something similar by making my own Gamecube themed jewlbox, but I put it off when I couldn't go to the job fair.
it's different for everyone but I personally like seeing some of the extra creative stuff. As for how receptive some studios are, I remember 90s Nickelodeon was absolutely chalk full of that stuff. But maybe those kinds of studios just don't exist anymore.
No use in making a xX-s1ck-l0ok1ng-Xx resume and business card and whatever if they're pointing to an empty portfolio btw
As others have said, resumes are not in the interest of the art leads and the managers really do not care for a special gameart-esque design. If you wanna shine, work with professional great looking typography. The American Psycho sequence is a perfect example
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Just keep it simple.
https://cdnb.artstation.com/p/resume_files/attachments/000/003/527/original/Brian_Choi_Resume.pdf?1511826593
Seriously guys, just make a regular ass resume. Black and white. Clean, well spaced, with a readable font. Anything else is dumb/has more chance of hurting than helping you. Dear god, whatever you do, don't use your resume as an excuse to show off your amateur graphic design skills. For every my-little-pony-guy exception, there are 1000 PDF rage closes by exhausted art directors, leads, etc.
If you're a student and you send me a fluffed up resume it tells me one thing: You've been faffing about with the design of your resume when you should be working on your portfolio. It's a bad look.
I married the first girl I dated 2 weeks in. We're approaching our five year anniversary. Surprisingly, she's not a moron either. Smarter than me anyway. My approach was like a tick. Lots of people don't like ticks, but you have to respect the tick. Once it's on you, the only way to get rid of it is with fire.
On topic, yes I was just reiterating what had already said very plainly and very clearly, but with humor (what I call humor, anyway). I'd recommend to always act professional while working in a professional capacity, even if you're surrounded by clowns. You'll do better work that way, and when chaos happens, people will look to you, the unwavering oak, for guidance.
Really as others have said, bin thoughts of generating fluff and convey a sense of professionalism which will only serve to enhance your chances supporting an initial application successfully past the applicable HR gatekeeper/s whereby onward to the next stage in the recruitment process.
My 2 cents.