Lesson #12:

"Things You Can Do At Home To Sweeten Your Resume"

February, 2002

INTRODUCTION

Fresh out of college, a grad doesn't have much to show on his resume. It's understandably difficult to get professional experience while you're busy studying!

But, even if your resume is kind of thin, you can still sweeten your cover letter and portfolio (I know, I used the word "resume" in the title, but that was done for "sweetening," heh) by listing other things you've done to show your enthusiasm for games.

Here are some suggestions for other things you can do on your own to enhance your desirability as a game industry applicant.

THINGS YOU CAN DO ON YOUR OWN TO PREPARE FOR A GAME CAREER

• Play a lot of games. Why not keep a list while you're at it?

• Discuss their strengths and weaknesses with other gamers on bulletin boards and newsgroups - use complete sentences, punctuation marks, and the shift key. Create a fan site for your favorite games (or for games made by a company where you would like to work).

• Host multi-player games (act as dungeon master or perform other such roles). Some companies even pay (not big buck$, maybe, but $o what? moola i$ moola) their game masters. It isn't easy to go seek something like that but if you're actively vocal on their community forums (and you sound exceptionally intelligent, involved, capable, and interested) it's very possible. This kind of thing looks good on your resume or cover letter.

• Volunteer for beta testing as opportunities present themselves. Those opportunities come along if you are actively involved in online forums about games (for example, sometimes you might see announcements of public betas at http://www.bluesnews.com), or if you are acting as dungeon master, game master, etc. (as mentioned above and in FAQ 5) - so get out there and get busy.

• If you have creative ideas for games, that's great. You should write them down and copyright them. See Lesson #2 and see Lesson #8. Then you should get more game ideas, write those down, copyright those, and repeat.

• Build levels or "mods" for games that come with level-building tools. If you are involved in modding projects, guess what - you have a demo of your work!

• Create your own pencil puzzles, brainteasers, crosswords. Design card games, board games, parlor games, riding-in-the-car games. These make great additions to a portfolio or cover letter.

• Follow your interests! Read, write, research on the internet and at the library. Get out there and do, participate.

• Write and draw...
  
  
  • Write about whatever interests you. Anything that inspires you to work and create. You need to develop habits of working on projects, and finishing them.
    
  • Fan fiction would be a good addition to a design portfolio. It's a lot of work to create stories, even based on characters you didn't create. Fan fiction shows that you can create.
    
  • Draw whatever interests you so you can polish art skills. You can draw using markers, paints, pixels, or polygons. However you want to create your own graphics is fine. Animation would be great too. Still drawings could make up a portfolio (see below) - animations would go well on a demo reel (see below).
    
  • Write game reviews and submit them to magazines, fan publications and websites. If they're rejected, that's okay. Every creative person ought to have some reject letters in their files!

• Books to read -- see Lesson 8.

• Organize game contests in your neighborhood arcade or internet game center (if done well, the arcade owner will enjoy the extra business). Join game clubs... or start your own. Start your own internet game center.

• Attend conventions and trade events if you can. I don't mean only E3 (or ECTS or Milia) but also computer shows, toy trade shows, import shows - comic conventions, sci-fi conventions, and board game events. The purpose for going to these events is just to see the business world (including the business of pop culture) from another perspective. When you are there, look to see what trends you can observe. Many trade events are closed to the public, but if you join organizations you might be able to get in. E3 is closed to anyone under 18.

• Get really good at playing games. Get so good that people will pay to watch you play at "professional gamer" events. Start now by researching "professional gamer" on Google to learn more about what it means to be a professional gamer. Game companies will definitely notice you if you're a champion game player - so that is a unique way to get your foot into the door.

These are just some ideas that occur to me. You're a creative person, think of some more!

OK, so you've done some of the things on that list above. You have written a resume about your college education, and it also lists any jobs you've held during vacations, etc. But a resume isn't everything. You should also write a cover letter. Any good book on resumes also describes cover letters, so read up on what makes a good cover letter. And see my Links page.

A good cover letter that also lists things like, "I hosted WizzerQuest, I beta-tested Lori Craft's Pteradactyl Nightmare, I designed my own board games and I've had my reviews published on GameZot," is not just a good cover letter - now it's a GREAT cover letter!

And what about all the stuff you did that doesn't make it into the cover letter? You might be able to drop those into conversation when you're in an interview.

And bringing a portfolio (or demo reel) of your best work puts your resume on top of the stack for sure.

PORTFOLIOS

IF you have made some presentable writings and drawings, you could collect them into a portfolio. What's a portfolio, you ask? According to Merriam-Webster, a portfolio is:

1. a hinged cover or flexible case for carrying loose papers, pictures, or pamphlets
2. a set of pictures (as drawings or photographs) either bound in book form or loose in a folder

Normally, a portfolio is used by artists or ad writers. An artist would make a collection of his/her sketches, putting the best of them into a flexible binder. An ad writer can tear his/her printed ads out of magazines and collect them into a portfolio. Then the portfolio can be copied and sent off to potential hirers.

If you're an aspiring game designer, you can create a portfolio with samples of your writings and drawings, photographs of your original table games, flyers or newspaper clippings or photos from game events you organized - anything that shows off your creativity and desirability as a job candidate. Just the best stuff, though. A portfolio should fit into a 1/2" flexible 3-ring binder (it shouldn't be too thick; you only have a few minutes to show it off). Protect the paper by encasing it in "sheet protectors" (available at office supply stores). And make copies of your portfolio, so you can leave one with a hiring manager (or mail it away) and perhaps never get it back. If you make a design portfolio with game concepts in it, it might be a good idea to also put your stuff on the internet somewhere. Go get a free Geocities page or something. Game companies can't view "unsolicited submissions," and if your stuff is public knowledge, maybe that makes it look less like a submission. [Added March 22, and revised Aug. 6, 2003]

Organize your portfolio with your most striking stuff in the front. If you have stuff that needs a lot of explanation, either put it in the back or leave it out. In an interview, the interviewer may open the binder, look at the first few things, then close it (possibly to look over the rest later or not at all). So you need to make the best possible impression with the first things, right up front.

Make sure your name, address, and phone number are on the portfolio - preferably on the outside front cover.

Don't put complete designs into your design portfolio - game companies almost always have strict prohibitions against receiving game concept "submissions" without signed agreements in place, and they might perceive your portfolio as a stealth submission. There shouldn't be more than about 20 sheets in a portfolio.

So that's what a portfolio is, and how it's used. If you can't make a spectacular portfolio, don't make a portfolio at all. It's okay to show up without a portfolio (unless you're a graphic artist and you don't have a portfolio on CD) - but if you can, then do it!

Also read Patrick Curry's Thoughts On Creating the Ultimate Game Design Portfolio.

DEMO REELS & CDs

IF you have created animations, music, audio pieces, or programs, collect those on a CD or videotape (you could also make a graphic portfolio in CD form). If you have created music, that could go on CD or audio cassette. Every interviewer has easy access to a CD player, a VCR, and a cassette player (don't bring demos on Zip disks, 8-tracks, Syquests, or reel-to-reel tapes!!). But, as with the portfolio, make a copy. And be prepared to leave the copy behind. If this interviewer doesn't give you a job, s/he may pass your portfolio or CD or tape along to someone else who will.

And, as with the portfolio, you won't have a lot of time to show off a tape or CD. So keep them short.

Videotapes

Should be at least 2 minutes. No more than 4 minutes long. Ya gotta wow'em in the first 30 seconds. VHS format (not 8mm - not Beta - not 1/2" - just plain old vanilla VHS).

While your tape is playing, the interviewer still has the tape sleeve in his/her hand. So put a label on the sleeve (not on the tape itself) describing what each snippet is, and what your contribution to the piece was.

I've heard of people showing footage from a film they worked on, when their contribution doesn't even show up on the tape itself - if your job was Assistant to the Director (running for coffee), then don't show a scene of a snake fighting a scorpion - if you animated the snake and/or the scorpion, OK. Only show footage you participated in. I also met an artist once whose demo reel was of a whale swimming. The interviewer asked him, "this is beautiful film footage, but why are you showing it to me? What did you do on this piece?" The artist tried to explain that it wasn't film - it was CG, and he'd created everything (the water, the whale, the choreography, the camera movements...).

Make sure your name, address, and phone number are on the labels - both on the sleeve and on the tape itself.

Cassette tapes (music)

Should have 3 or 4 pieces embodying different moods or worlds. Should be applicable to games (should not sound like movie music). Each piece must be short, with silence to delineate the breaks between them. Make sure you have a label on the sleeve or case describing each piece (for example, "Sci-Fi battle - Sword & Sorcery adventure - FPS action"). I assume you composed and performed. If you didn't do both, then specify which you did. If you're just a member of the band and your instrument is the washboard, then maybe a demo reel isn't your best bet.

Make sure your name, address, and phone number are on the labels - both on the sleeve and on the tape itself.

Cassette tapes (spoken)

If you've written or directed radio plays in college, or if you've done standup comedy, or you do voiceovers, I suppose you could make a demo reel of those (normally we only get voice tapes from voice actors, but what the hey). Anything to show your creativity, right? Keep it short and punchy (3 minutes max). Make sure you put a label on the sleeve or case, describing what each piece is and what you did.

Make sure your name, address, and phone number are on the labels - both on the sleeve and on the tape itself.

CDs (demo programs)

IF you have programmed a demo program, make sure that the program is absolutely foolproof, bug-free, and dead simple to run directly from the CD. Do not require the user to have any DLLs installed. Do not require DirectX or DirectPlay or QuickTime or RealPlayer. You cannot anticipate what operating system the user will have. The demo must be entirely self-contained. You don't want to have to explain if the interviewer can't get it to run on his computer. Better yet, just bring the demo in a laptop. Then give the interviewer a copy of the CD. Of course you're not going to leave your laptop. Oh - and make sure the laptop's battery is fully charged.

Include the source code on the CD as well. If you're interviewing for a programmer job, they want to see if you write clean code. Include a printout of a page or two of sample code.

Make sure your name, address, and phone number are on the labels - both on the sleeve and on the CD itself, and on any printouts.

If you are learning programming and are interested in the PlayStation 2, you might want to look into getting the Linux-based PS2 tools from Sony. http://www.jp.playstation.com/linux/ (hope you can read Japanese). The Linux kit is no longer available in North America, unfortunately. Search the internet and go on newsgroups to learn more, or to stay on top of the situation as it changes.

CDs (music) - see comments for cassette tapes above.

Website

If you've created your own website, either to show off your portfolio, your animations, or your demo program, that's great, but do NOT expect an interviewer to navigate to your site and check it out during the interview. Your website needs to have a short, easy-to-type URL, and it needs to be EASY (intuitive) to navigate. And do not expect the interviewer to have the latest Shackwove or Flush plug-in installed. The interviewer will not appreciate having to go download a plug-in, restart the computer, type in a URL, navigate to the demo, etc. etc. etc.

If you have a website to show off, put it all on a CD. Better yet, bring it on a laptop with all the plug-ins already installed so you can show it working. (And make sure the battery is fully charged.) Then give the interviewer a copy of the CD. Of course you're not going to leave your laptop.

From the bulletin board...

>Name = Victor Dosev
>Email = silmaril[at)mail.bg
>Age-Ed-Occ = 18, last year of High School
>Date = 08.01.2006
>Comments = Greeting,
>First of all, as this is my very first post here let me thank you for the site, the lessons and all that precious advices. I am very grateful for finding out this site - this is the most completed source of information about game design I've ever seen.. I wish I could return the favour to you, some day. Well.. - thank you:)
>
>I have a quick question about the portfolio of a candidate for a game design job.
>I know that after a month Ubisoft are setting up a new division - here in my country(Bulgaria), in my city. And I know that there is going to be a job for a game designer.
>I have been told that I should send my CV, along with a portfolio. And here I am confused. What should this portfolio look like? We are talking about game design, so I presume it should be a sample of a Design Document, right? I have to think of a concept for a whole game, including all it's features. And I have to describe it into well-organized document. Ok. My questions is, how much detailed this design document should be? I have seen some examples for a design document. But they were all for already finished games, and so they are the complete documentation for the game, as it is at the end of the development process. I have no idea how a deisgn document should look like in the begining where it is used just as a portfolio.
>Can you give me some sort of definition of how to make the portfolio? Since it should be just an example of what I am capable of. The company does not need a concept on which they will start working on, I know I am going to work on their own project.
>
>Thank you in advance.
>Please, correct me if I have misunderstood something.
>
>Respectfully yours: Victor Dosev

Hello Victor,
I wrote about portfolios in FAQ 12 and I think you should also look at FAQs 3 and 14.

Your portfolio should include different things, depending on what you've created. You do not need to create a GDD - in fact, they might refuse to look at a GDD without a submission agreement!

Here is a partial list of the kind of things a game design portfolio might include:

• Original stories you wrote.
• Original drawings you created.
• Original animations you created.
• Flyers for game events you organized.
• Printed materials from game events you participated in, if you won or placed.
• Newspaper articles that were written about your game activities, or any other newsworthy thing you did.
• Screen shots of mods you worked on (and include the mod itself).
• Reviews you've written of games.
• Articles you've written about any topic (not school assignments). Nonfiction, fiction, technical, analysis...
• And yes, if you've created some game concepts, include short portions of those to show how you write game descriptions.

  This is just an example of the sort of things you can put in a portfolio - these things show what you're capable of.

  However, if you are still in high school, your chances of getting hired are not very good. Not only that, but you should really go to college or uni. anyway, and get a degree.

  All the best to you, and good luck!
  Tom Sloper (湯姆スローパー)
  
  Las Vegas, Nevada, USA
  January 8, 2006

CONCLUSION

I am not saying that you MUST bring a portfolio, CD, or demo reel to a game industry job interview. In fact, it might even be unusual to do so (depending on what you've created versus what kind of job you're applying for). Artist portfolios are a must if you're an artist seeking an artist position. Animator demo reels are a must if you're an animator seeking an animation position. But there isn't a concomitant standard practice for game designers. So what I'm saying is, if your creations enhance your desirability as a candidate, then "bring'em if ya got'em." As discussed ad nauseam in Lesson 4, you might want to contact the interviewer in advance. Inquire about bringing samples of your game design work to the interview, especially if there's a chance that you might run afoul of the company's "no submissions" policy. Maybe the interviewer would want you to send the sample prior to your coming for the interview - each company has different policies and preferences. [Modified Aug. 6, 2003, thanks to a nudge from Jason Gorski.]

So there you have it. There are a lot of things you can do at home to sweeten your resume. Some of them belong in the cover letter. Some of them are best mentioned during the interview. And some of them can contribute to a portfolio or demo reel.

I hope this lesson has been helpful. If you have suggestions for improvements to this lesson, please email me.

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Last updated Jan. 9, 2006. Changes are logged at www.sloperama.com/advice/log.html.

© 2002, 2004, 2006 Tom Sloper. All rights reserved. May not be re-published without written permission of the author.