Develop launches its series of job hunting tips from the industry's top HR and recruiters. Today: Epic on building your CV
Every day in January we're helping job-hunters with advice and tips from the industry's finest HR and recruitment execs on a range of topics.
Today we bring you a guide to crafting the perfect CV, with essential guidance from Epic Games' recruiter and employment expert Tim Johnson.
1. Use spell check.
2. Make sure that your CV is put into a universally accepted format (MS Word, PDF). Please don’t use a text editor to write your CV.
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3. Clearly and concisely list your responsibilities; four or five bullet points are a lot easier to read than a paragraph of text.
4. Include links to work you have created or authored.
5. Make sure you include a link to samples or a portfolio on your resume.
6. Include both your phone number and e-mail address. Sometimes, a hiring manager or recruiter will actually want to call you.
7. Leave the fancy fonts and tables for your portfolio. A lot of companies store resumes in an applicant tracking system, so the more straightforward your resume is, the better. In short, make it easy to read.
8. Include the companies you have worked for along with the title you have held at each company.
9. Make an effort to use industry standard key words to explain your job duties and responsibilities.
10. Use spell check. Yes, I said it twice, but a resume with misspelled words is a really bad way to make a good first impression.
Our daily 'New Year, New Jobs' series of articles are extracted from the forthcoming February issue of Develop magazine, which boasts an essential compendium of advice, tips and tricks on getting a new job and improving your employment prospects. The same issue will bring you all the results from our sweeping games industry Salary Survey. Check back with Develop Online every day this month for more.
To find out more about advertising opportunities in February’s Develop contact Alex.Boucher@intentmedia.co.uk or call him on +44 (0) 1992 535 646.
"2. Make sure that your CV is put into a universally accepted format (MS Word, PDF). Please don’t use a text editor to write your CV.
...
7. Leave the fancy fonts and tables for your portfolio. A lot of companies store resumes in an applicant tracking system, so the more straightforward your resume is, the better. In short, make it easy to read."
Is a MS Word file really a universally accepted format (http://en.nothingisreal.com/wiki/Please_don't_send_me_Microsoft_Word_documents)?
Surely plain text would be a more universal choice, especially when point 7 says not to use any fancy fonts or tables.
I'd have to agree... sort of! Whilst I think its fine to assume a company does use MS Office (because lets face it, they will) its not so true the other way around.
I got sent a job offer from an MS-owned studio once, but to my great shock they sent me an encrypted Word document that I *had* to use MS Word to open... which I didn't have because of all the free alternatives out there. Took a few days for them to finally send me a PDF in the end which I could read and see what the offer was! Came across slightly unprofessional to assume I could open it.
with as much difficulty there is for students to break into the industry, this was a pretty lame article regarding cvs. i could've found this on about.com.
Congratulations that you have managed to produce your C.V without needing any advice from this article. However the sad truth is that many of the C.V's we recruiters receive don’t have the basic level of information and detail that Tim has mentioned above.
If you are looking for any advice on your C.V or applications you have made have you contacted any games companies or agencies and asked them for it? I will be happy to provide feedback if you wish to get intouch.
Thanks
thanks ;)
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Our daily 'New Year, New Jobs' series of articles are extracted from the forthcoming February issue of Develop magazine, which boasts an essential compendium of advice,
I would think anyone at any level of games development who doesn't have a half decent CV would be lucky to be in a job.
I agree with others this is the sort of information you get leaving school. There is nothing here that really stands out as more than basic advice.
worrying that the article starts "with advice and tips from the industry's finest HR and recruitment execs on a range of topics."
