CV/Portfolio Review

lluc21

Hi everyone! So I've been sending quite a few CV's all around and I'm getting very mixed and intermittent responses, so I think it's time to ask for feedback because either the portfolio needs a cleanup or there is something wrong in the CV that is not working in my favor.

By mixed and intermittent responses I mean one month I can be having interviews in AAA studios and even successful tests, but the next month send over 30 applications and hear nothing back, even from places that I know are looking for artists like crazy.

Any advice or tips regarding what should or shouldn't be in the CV would be greatly appreciated. Same for the portfolio:

Lucas Soler CV22.pdf

https://www.artstation.com/lucassoler

Fabi_G

Hi! Regarding the CV, I would say what you can do (skills), is more interesting than in what specific software.

Some notes (nitpicky and colored by my taste 😝) on your CVs appearance: Overall I would keep it more simple/ functional with less graphic design experiments. Stick with a 2 rows layout, left headline, right text. Writing name once should be enough. Social icons are quite big and provide challenge with spacing (probably CV is an appendage to portfolio, so needs less attention). Use consistent colors (reserved for links? Else introduce color for headlines) The horizontal lines (to divide the blocks?) are a bit confusing (especially the short lines above headlines, I would drop those. Also the first one is redundant), make everything look bit crowded. A rough overpaint:

Again just my 2 cents! Much success 🤞

lluc21

Thank you so much for pointing those things out Fabian, I've been looking at the same thing for years so I got accostumed to the "design" if you can call it that lol.

What do you mean with the skills vs software thing? Do you think it should be more in the lines of: I can do realistic low-poly, stylized, hard surface, texturing...? I would have to let the recruiter know that I can use some specific software, right? like, let's say, I have experience with Marvelous Designer, Marmoset and so on...?

Fabi_G

Heyo! Regarding "skills vs software", I believe skills are more specific than software knowledge and therefore can target a job profile in more detail. E.g. if you were to apply for a weapon artist position, the skill hardsurface modeling directly relates to the job.

In the end you could have both categories, skills and software.

poopipe

The CV itself seems largely fine - it says what you've done, where you studied and you've not given yourself a mark out of 10 for your various software/skills (I find that hilarious and so does everyone else) Dont' tell people you're a generalist though - nobody wants a generalist.

If there's a problem its I think it's that your portfolio needs to be full of work that reflects your ability. Some portfolio reviewers will look past the weaker stuff and some won't , this might explain inconsistency in repsonses.

Also there might be an issue with what you're applying for - there's really no solid environment work in there so you're going to get a pretty much immediate dismissal from most env art jobs.

Your hardsurface work seems decent - some of the cars look well executed in particular - but you could do with pushing your rendering/materials and presentation harder if you want to trade on that . The images are just a bit boring tbh. and as a result could just not catch anyone's eye as they're scanning through a big list of applicants.

lluc21

https://polycount.com/discussion/comment/2773094#Comment_2773094

Thanks! I was not aware of the generalist thing, I will make sure to revise that as I thought it would be a good thing lol.

Doing eye-catchy renders of cars is something I quite struggle on. If I overdo it (by placing the car in a detailed environment, inside unreal and so on) I feel like i'm not really showcasing the model, but of course at the moment the presentation is way too bland and boring. I will try to revisit that and see what I can save from what I have by adjusting the presentation a bit.

Fair enough on the lack of environments. I have a couple WIP environments on the eternal WIP folder, so I will try to prioritize those if it is what will help the most. Hopefully it gives the portfolio a bit more depth and "eyecatchy-ness"

lluc21

Hey everyone! I'm still in the job market looking for my next role and I am starting to get very frustrated not being able to land interviews and getting rejection after rejection for months. Any insights and help will be incredibly helpful.

I redesigned the CV and did two variations because I was told that ATS software was not reading the "orange" CV well (because of columns and weird formatting...), and I would love to hear insights about it from other people.
Any pointers regarding anything will be very welcome (be it colors, content, formatting... whatever catches your eye really...)

I'm also working on my portfolio at the moment https://artstation.com/lucassoler. I'm working on a proper environment because the portfolio is lacking a lot in that area and I feel like I'm not suited enough for a Vehicle/Hard Surface/Weapon Artist role, and nobody looks for Prop Artists anymore, atleast in Europe...

Alemja

On the CL resume, I would make your Artstation/Behance/Linkedin links the URL that you can also click on. Generally try to think about what would happen if your resume is printed out, as that still happens. I'm also not sure if recruiting software will pick up on the URL links if they just say "artstation" or whatever. What you have on the orange resume works for links.

I would also give yourself some grace in your job search, the industry is going through a lot of layoffs and slowing in hiring due to the pandemic bubble effectively bursting. It is going to be harder to find jobs in general and it may not have much to do with your skill, but luck and factors outside of your control.

Something that could help is doing a little bit of tailoring of your resume to the job you are applying for, try using similar words in the job description in your resume. For example if they say "We're looking for someone who is interested in a fast-paced environment and is highly adaptable to the project's needs" You find a way to use "Fast-paced" and "Quickly Adaptable" somewhere in your resume. It takes a little more work to make copies of your resume and tailor it this way, but I personally have had a lot more success with jobs when I do that.

I think overall your portfolio is pretty good, and there is a market for people who do a lot of hard surface work. Working on an environment to flesh yourself out might not be the worst thing in the world if you can do it well. However remember that things are a little slow right now in general, it will probably get better in time, but we don't know when that will be.

lluc21

Hey, thank you for your feedback Alexandra! On one side it is encouraging that the reason for not getting hired is the slowness in hiring in general, but it is also discouraging because it is out of my control and there isn't much I can do about that hahaha.
Well, the only thing in my control right now is to work on myself and have maybe a broader skillset, or at least show more variety in the portfolio to be able to apply to more positions (Mainly Env artist positions...) So I will keep doing that