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joaokalva
polycounter lvl 3
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joaokalva polycounter lvl 3
For a long time I've been wondering what I could improve in my CV, but not knowing anyone, I never had feedback from a 3D Artist or professional from the industry.

I'd really appreciate some honest feedback about my CV.
Is it missing information? Am I putting anything more than necessary? Should I go for a traditional CV style? 
I feel like I hit a roadblock and don't know how I could make it better.

I've omitted my email and address for the sake of privacy, but they work fine in the final version.
It's the PDF in the attachments, thank you. 

Replies

  • Taylor Brown
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    Taylor Brown ngon master
    Speaking from limited experience when looking for freelance artists, I don't spend a moment reading a CV or even the body of their email before viewing the art. The portfolio should speak for itself atleast for an artist. Anything else is just fluff most of the time.
  • Eric Chadwick
    What kind of work are you looking for?

    It's best to tailor your resume, adjusting it to each specific job you're applying to. 

    I would suggest removing all the fluff (photo, inspirational summary, graphic design layout, etc.). Hiring managers just want the facts, don't waste their time with embellishments.

    The things we want to know from a resume, in order by importance:
    • What kind of specialization are you best at, and most interested in. (headline)
    • Work experience: what you accomplished, how long you did it, who for, and what job title.
    • Portfolio link.
    • Contact info.
    • Software.
    • Education.
    Resume is a gate, a filter mechanism, we're using it to filter people out. Customize yours with keywords from the job listing.

    As far as your portfolio goes, use Artstation instead of behance. Remove stuff that doesn't fit the particular job you're applying to. Your home page looks like you only made four pieces, don't bury all those cars (if cars are the kind of work you want, put those up front all on the first page and remove everything else).

    I hope this helps.
  • Eric Chadwick
  • joaokalva
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    joaokalva polycounter lvl 3
    This really opened my eyes, I completely agree, I have tons to work still and now I have some kind of direction. Thank you so much, Eric.

    Just another thing I wonder, do you think I should leave experience in video editing and web design from before I started with 3D or that's completely irrelevant (not to mention my two years in piloting school)?  
  • birb
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    birb interpolator
    I don't feel equipped to comment as a 3D artist since I only got studio experience as a 2D one, but I hope that approaching it from a design and usage angle is still helpful.

    Ensure the text is selectable. You want to make the life of the people looking at your CV easier and this includes letting them copy and paste stuff into their notes.

    In addition to dropping the photo there's no need to inform links are clickable if they're styled differently. Remove the hyperlink from the location as it's unnecessary, and it'd be better to not bundle portfolio, social media and location/contact together. Contact and location should be close to the top and to your name, followed by portfolio in priority. Social media is dispensable. If you're really intent on including them curate and reduce the list, and add it as an extra at the bottom.

    Your software proficiency would be easier to ascertain if you kept them separated from skills. Simple lists are faster to scan than comma separated item sequences, so make good use of the extra room you'll get if reworking your CV to organize items into lists. Avoid redundancy like citing software after skill, and avoid prepending experience lists with "professional". This implies everything else was done in an amateur capacity and if you're applying to a junior position, well... no one will expect you to have decades of studio experience under your belt. There's no need to draw attention to it.

    About the language section, this is a bit of a pet peeve of mine I guess, but avoid progression trackers. They're not informative. IE: If I needed to know whether you can speak German 1/5 proficiency tells me nothing at all. Just use the regular spoken/written indicator, and it's better to leave languages you can't hold a conversation in out while you don't get stronger grasp on them.

    An extra tip about language: Be careful with prepositions. Several English prepositions translate to the exactly same Portuguese words, making it easy to slip and pick the wrong one on the way back. You're experienced in (doing something) or with (thing), not for. This is not a cardinal sin or anything, it's just a common pitfall created by our native language.


  • sacboi
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    sacboi high dynamic range
    A few moar insights here, that may shed further light, when configuring a CV/Resume plus Covering Letter:


    I'm also curious as to what type of work you're intent on doing? and similarly too Eric's comment, I'd suggest highlighting the vehicles since you've alluded to an interest in hard surface modeling. Although I'd recommend, possibly thinking about re-working the cyber truck into a fully fledged game asset alongside a detailed workflow breakdown which generally these days are few and far between. In terms of complex objects such as cars/trucks, instead of an otherwise very cool substance designer tessellation technique.   
  • Meloncov
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    Meloncov greentooth
    I'd put the full URL for links, especially for your portfolio. There's a very real chance your CV is gonna get printed out.
  • joaokalva
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    joaokalva polycounter lvl 3
    Currently I'm seeking to be an environment artist, I am working on my portifolio to have three pieces.
    I can't thank you guys enough, so many doubts I had are gone and I guess I could have a grasp on how different this industry is from the other ones and how important it is to focus on one area.

    birb said:
    About the language section, this is a bit of a pet peeve of mine I guess, but avoid progression trackers. They're not informative. IE: If I needed to know whether you can speak German 1/5 proficiency tells me nothing at all. Just use the regular spoken/written indicator, and it's better to leave languages you can't hold a conversation in out while you don't get stronger grasp on them.

    An extra tip about language: Be careful with prepositions. Several English prepositions translate to the exactly same Portuguese words, making it easy to slip and pick the wrong one on the way back. You're experienced in (doing something) or with (thing), not for. This is not a cardinal sin or anything, it's just a common pitfall created by our native language.
    I completely agree, thanks for ponting it all out, that's something I always had some feeling it was indeed useless in the back of my head but never knew what to do with these thoughts, and I'll try to pay some more attention to grammar too.
  • fdfxd2
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    fdfxd2 interpolator
    I'd recommend reading Kieran's article, it's a good article and Kieran should feel good about writing it.
    Don't have much in the way to offer in practical advice but I do know 3 things in graphic design

    1. Link colours are too bright for a font that thin
    2. Generally the font feels too big, ideally you'd want there to be 45-75 characters per line for a paragraph, i'd turn the font size down a notch. or abandon the 2 column layout. Whichever you feel more comfortable doing.

    3. I feel like the way the skills are grouped, does more harm than good. Have them in a nice unordered list

    like this

    3D Modelling
    • 5+ Years of professional experience in Hard Surface 3D Modelling (Blender)
    • Fast-paced
    • Precision Modelling
    • AAA Workflow familiarisation
    • Experience with Unity 3D
    side note: a lot of the applications you send aren't going to be read by clueless HR staff, they usually go to lead artists in my experience. You don't need to go as hard on the buzzwords. Stay cute <3
  • joaokalva
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    joaokalva polycounter lvl 3
    fdfxd2 said:
    I'd recommend reading Kieran's article, it's a good article and Kieran should feel good about writing it.
    Don't have much in the way to offer in practical advice but I do know 3 things in graphic design

    1. Link colours are too bright for a font that thin
    2. Generally the font feels too big, ideally you'd want there to be 45-75 characters per line for a paragraph, i'd turn the font size down a notch. or abandon the 2 column layout. Whichever you feel more comfortable doing.

    3. I feel like the way the skills are grouped, does more harm than good. Have them in a nice unordered list

    like this

    3D Modelling
    • 5+ Years of professional experience in Hard Surface 3D Modelling (Blender)
    • Fast-paced
    • Precision Modelling
    • AAA Workflow familiarisation
    • Experience with Unity 3D
    side note: a lot of the applications you send aren't going to be read by clueless HR staff, they usually go to lead artists in my experience. You don't need to go as hard on the buzzwords. Stay cute <3
    Thank you so much! Great help!
  • NikhilR
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    NikhilR polycounter
    You could also make a linkedin profile, fill in the required fields and print out a resume/CV pdf from linkedin itself.

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