Cover Letter

dtschultz

For the record, I am not looking, I'm just curious. Are cover letters different in the game industry than they are in other industries? If so, what kind of info do you include in yours? Do you just describe your skill set and then talk about why you want to work for the company you are applying to?

PixelMasher

well 1st off always start out with "SUP BITCHES!" haha....ok maybe not. I usually include a quick summary of the places i have worked and games I have worked on, what inspires me and why I would love to work at the company I am applying for. each one I write is unique to that company and isnt a copy paste of a generic cover letter. Try to let your personality show through it, I tend to be fairly casual and let my passion for games shine through. sounds cheesy but it works. hope this somewhat helps.

brandoom

Use this as a template when writing yours.

slipsius

Edit: Brandon beat me to it. lol. by seconds....

But, in all seriousness,

first paragraph : what im applying for. thats it

second: Why id be great for the job. what i bring to the table

third: get personal. why you wanna work there. memories from your childhood playing their games and stuff. stuff like that

then, i look forward to your call.

Autocon

LOL that pic is awesome...my favorite color is TOUPE because it rhymes with DOPE! LOL so good.



For every company I applied to when looking for a job I personalized it for each company. Sure they were all realtivly the same but it wasnt something that I just blanketed out to the company I was applying for.


In the end I dont think cover lettters matter too much. From the HR people I know they say they never really read the cover letter (for artists at least). They click the website link and look at your work. That will tell them if they should pass instantly or take a deep look at you as a candidate.

dtschultz

How did you guys find a copy of my cover letter? I do have magic fingers.

Autocon and Slipsius: Yeah, that's basically what I was thinking. Thanks.

ErichWK

I remember when I first started applying for jobs, I had my cover letter be.. very business like and dull. I never heard back from anyone, so I kind of got, fed up and just almost half assed and became more light hearted and made it more of my own personality. . . That's when companies started giving me art tests and interviews. Coincidence? Perhaps. Perhaps not.

PixelMasher

also, be sure to mention you recently bought a new pair of kneepads and are willing to suck over a mile of dick for a fulltime position. half mile for contract work.

brandoom

ErichWK wrote: »

I remember when I first started applying for jobs, I had my cover letter be.. very business like and dull. I never heard back from anyone, so I kind of got, fed up and just almost half assed and became more light hearted and made it more of my own personality. . . That's when companies started giving me art tests and interviews. Coincidence? Perhaps. Perhaps not.

Good point. I did the same thing and that's when I too started getting some replies from companies.

Hamish Bode

To echo what people are saying, be confident and casual. No-one wants to hire someone who appears to be sterile and dull! At least that's the case in this industry anyway, we're not a bunch of accountants. THANK DOG!

Also, be enthusiastic about the company and their products but don't push it so far as to be seen in the "fan-boy" category.

My 2 cents.

Kwramm

you don't just why you want to work with them, you describe what you can do FOR them and how much more AWESOME stuff will run when they hire you with your awesome skill set (see resume for that)!

Remember, everyone wants to work for e.g. Blizzard and writes how awesome yadda yadda they are. Everyone does that. Writing about this does not make you special at all, so keep this part rather short but don't skip it entirely - everyone likes a bit of flattery. But not everyone has the AWESOMENESS you have to help them to make the next Starcraft III. So you want to tell them how you can help them to get the job done better and faster!

Often your resume is just a 1 letter bullet point list - the cover letter gives you the chance to elaborate on certain aspects on that list. It allows you to tie everything together giving the employer a more complete picture of you and how you can help them than just the basic resume.

Think of it about like this: the resume is the facts sheet. The cover letter is the story that gives life to those facts.

dtschultz

Thanks, guys. I was curious about the formality of the letter, because unlike most industries we are extremely informal in many ways, so I was guessing that might be mirrored in the letter as well. Hearing that you guys are on the same page helps.

fill3r

I hope the finger covering up the E-Mail address is the middle one.