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Please Critique My Resume!
SkyGheNe
Registered User regular
Registered User regular
Hey all,
I'm job hunting lately and am looking for a technical writing, public relations, or community manager position in the gaming industry. I am also looking for jobs in my immediate area (connecticut) as soon as I graduate if I am unable to get one in the gaming industry (many of the jobs require years of experience, which I don't have, but would be willing to develop around here). Here are the two resumes I use depending on whether or not I apply to a gaming company or a non-gaming company:
Gaming: http://www.gg2weightloss.com/2/
Non-gaming: http://www.gg2weightloss.com/1
The only difference is in the objective statement and organization. Should I cut a particular position? Change the way I word things? Any advice is appreciated - I'm looking around gamasutra, gamejobs.com, careerbuilder, and monster.com and finding companies I might enjoy working for instead of just a "post and run" approach, is there a more time efficient method I could be using?
Also, I have a portfolio of academic/creative writing that shows what I am capable of (along with copies of original marked documents and the corresponding paper, in the case of analyzing rhetoric) - should this be submitted? Or only when requested?
I'm job hunting lately and am looking for a technical writing, public relations, or community manager position in the gaming industry. I am also looking for jobs in my immediate area (connecticut) as soon as I graduate if I am unable to get one in the gaming industry (many of the jobs require years of experience, which I don't have, but would be willing to develop around here). Here are the two resumes I use depending on whether or not I apply to a gaming company or a non-gaming company:
Gaming: http://www.gg2weightloss.com/2/
Non-gaming: http://www.gg2weightloss.com/1
The only difference is in the objective statement and organization. Should I cut a particular position? Change the way I word things? Any advice is appreciated - I'm looking around gamasutra, gamejobs.com, careerbuilder, and monster.com and finding companies I might enjoy working for instead of just a "post and run" approach, is there a more time efficient method I could be using?
Also, I have a portfolio of academic/creative writing that shows what I am capable of (along with copies of original marked documents and the corresponding paper, in the case of analyzing rhetoric) - should this be submitted? Or only when requested?
SkyGheNe on
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First off, the objective- You need to write in a more "you" styled tone. They don't give a shit about helping YOU out IE: allowing you to apply your skills. You need more of a point to make your skills apply to the positions they need. More like "putting skills to work to make your company better" but in a more elegant way that fits your personality. Oh and dont' try to jack them off with "faced paced growing company" You don't need to try to suck up to them in the resume. That is done in the interview and the REST OF YOUR CAREER.
Next Section- You have a comma after the first month, but lack them in other places. Consistency is key. You also should probably list it chronologically. If you can, provide numbers to PROVE the claims you make. You talk about improving efficiency, but do you have a number to make it more tangible and impressive to corporate people?
Aside from that, and I may have missed a bunch of spelling or something, it seems pretty good.
Edit: As far as your portfolio goes, send your best piece of work as a separate file and make sure they know that is what is attached and not just junk. If they want more, they can ask for more. If you get an interview, read up on the company and what it is really about and bring your full portfolio.
BUT
If these are unsolicited applications, you really need to make them more appealing. That text is too small and it seems like there is quite a bit of it.
If you are applying for writing, you can focus more on your portfolio which will be the more important part. If you are going to focus on managing or customer service, you need to focus on your real world experience.
And finally, it may be unwise to post full name, address, phone number, email, and places of work on a public forum.
First thing, bullet points should be organized in order of importance. Under your second job, planning and organizing server events isn't as important as the last bullet point, i.e. defusing disputes, drafting public statements, etc. Consider this in mind and change the order of the others as necessary.
Second thing, you seem to have too many bullet points per job. Try condensing it a little. More than three bullet points is overkill in my opinion, but that's just an opinion.
Things you have produced (videos, research, tutoring programs, etc.) should be mentioned first.
1- Third bullet point of first job, change to "produced a documentary..."
2- Second bullet point of second job, change to "planned and organized server events..."
3- Third bullet point of second job. A little vague. "served as a customer service and community representative". What does it mean? I don't know. You already talk about the nature of the job in the other bullet points so this seems a little unnecessary. Consider removing.
4- Third job, you have three "developed" bullet points. Try condensing them into one.
5- Last bullet point of third job, consider revising it into "conducted market research for tactical decision-making purposes" or something. Right now it reads as "i looked at what the other guy is doing and copied it". Not exactly fancy.
6- Under extracurriculars, you were president of an organization. That should come first. Budget campaign committee should come last (it sounds like the least useful/relevant).
7- "Worked to dispel rumors around games" buh? Seems useless. Consider removing.
8- Your GPA doesn't need to look like 3.675940923. I'd leave it as 3.67, or even 3.6.
9- Titles of sections are too big. Make them smaller. Also, use the same font size within sections. The font is too small in my opinion. Make it the same size as it is within the first two extracurricular activities.
10- Types X words per minute: necessary? You have all that experience, so they probably can tell that you don't type with two fingers.
11- Professional experience: the most recent jobs should come before the others. Beanery Bistro should be second, since you're still working there. Word of Pwnage should be third.
12- The objective is a little too long. Try this: "A public relations position that allows me to apply my skills in event planning, customer service, and content creation for a fast paced company." Yes, you have a lot of skills, but you don't have to mention every single one. Mention the three most relevant ones.
Other than that, it looks solid. I'd consider making it shorter. People generally have the urge to talk about every single detail of their jobs on their resumes. Not a good idea. Don't try to say everything at once. Be brief and clear.
Also, I'd attach the portfolio to the resume. Don't wait for them to ask you for it. Take initiative.
One insight regarding that last sentence, "take initiative"... employers operate on the principle of microcosm = macrocosm, i.e. how you present yourself in the job application and the interview process is an accurate indication of how you will perform on the job. They think:
- you're overly verbose in the resume = you have lots of overhead
- you're late to the interview = you'll be late to work often
etc.
So even the way you apply matters.
YES
Spare them the intangible bullshit like "improve your skills blah blah", but I also don't like "putting skills to work to make your company better." Number one key to a resume: BE SPECIFIC- Generalities and vague statements are usually bullshit, and if not they'll be viewed as such. Protip: If you used the passive voice, you probably shouldn't have
Don't beat around the bush, my objective/mission/whatever statement, for this my first job out of college, was "Seeking an entry level position in [whatever field I'm in ooo secretive] with the opportunity for advancement in the company."
And that's what my objectives were, and that's what I got
As far as what you've done in the past, again, SPECIFICS, none of this "helped this or that group do this or that", be like "worked on [specific task] to achieve [specific goal]". Results are the only things worth mentioning, results that you had a hand in. There's no prize for being a member of a really productive group or business or company unless you can explain why YOU helped contribute to that productiveness. And not things like "friendly people person", besides being vague, it's obvious that you were unless you were fired. Think like that
Length: A college grad probably shouldn't have more than a page for a resume, any longer and you're padding, which makes you look desperate. Make your resume reflect how you (should) be as an employee: Concise, to the point, and efficient
YES. I interview at my company and I've had people coming in with 4 page resumes for a few years of experience. They seem to think they need to list EVERY product they've worked on in detail - that's what the interview is for, to ask specific questions about what you did!
2008, 2012, 2014 D&D "Rare With No Sauce" League Fantasy Football Champion!
To make your CV more applicable to technical writing or related areas it couldn't hurt to talk about any experience you have interviewing with specialists/developers/technical types to produce the finished product - specifically looking at your ability to comprehend and write about technical topics you may not know much about, your ability to manage busy people in delivering information required for whatever you are writing and your ability to add value to the text and not just be a cypher. So what I mean by this latter point is that you will usually get extra points by demonstrating that you can not only be a technical writer, but also add your own flavour, whether that be commerical sense, knowing a community (gamers/inner city/whatever), or whatever you think you can spin that might be relevant to your target organisation.
Also I'm glad you included your extracirricular activities in there personally. It not only shows dedication, but that you're willing to do what you love to do even if it's not during working hours. You're passionate about what you do, and that tells a great deal (especially when someone doesn't have a lot of directly related work experience to show).
Anyways, well done on a first go. And by the way, that 115 WPM is extremely impressive. Can you really go that fast? I thought I was fast at 60.
EDIT: I just realized the one thing that put me off of the resume visually. This could just be my preference (perhaps other can comment on their opinion about it), but the headings seem a little larger to me than is comfortable, and I'm not a fan of their being centered. Now, this could just be me... so let's see if others feel the same way on it. But to me, I think it'd look more comfortable if the headings were left aligned and just 4-6pt smaller in font.
There's a difference between a CV and a resume. The CV should be more detailed and are normally longer. Or rather it gets weird, it's like, here in the US a CV and a resume are two distinct things, and the CV can easily be tens of pages and is more commonly seen applying for academic fields. CV and resume are interchangeable elsewhere I think, it's something like that. Still, just because you've seen 2 page resumes often doesn't mean they're good or should've been that long
Fun fact: I just learned should've isn't a legit word
The only reason why I am hesitant to remove world of pwnage from the list is because I helped them write a 50 page e-book that at one point sold for 50 dollars a pop and we would usually make around four sales a day. Then on top of it, I offered private lessons to users across the world in my spare time, developed those video lessons (I did a total of five, each an hour long) which I worked hard to outline, narrate, get footage for, and then edit. We saw our profits double after the lessons were put out.
I also put together a quick and dirty "commercial" that I put up on youtube to get the word out, as well as talked to various websites in the competitive scene in order to establish ourselves with the community. At one point the team that played for the website made play offs but got knocked out in the first round to a team that went on to win the tournament. Now, ordinarily we wouldn't have been moved up to a higher competitive bracket, but I wrote a five page proposal to the tournament administrators talking about the team, our history, the competitive scene in general, how we thought it needs to grow, and that we believe we provide the characteristics necessary to make the competitive gaming scene successful. In the end, they moved the team up to the second highest bracket...essentially semi pro.
On top of that, we had a lot of negative criticism, as you could imagine, from people who felt we had no business writing a guide in the first place. Instead of getting involved in the typical flame war, I would write articles, respond directly to questions, and remain professional (which is difficult over the net, I have to admit). I would also contact relevant organizations to talk about how we might expose the guide and site so that people were more educated about it (think gotfrag, caleague, cs nation, etc).
Initially our funds were low - everything we were doing was funded out of our own pockets. Since most of us didn't have advanced photoshop experience, we would hold contests for those who would develop banners, various images for the site, and would award the winners. This was a nice way of circumventing large development costs.
I also made up surveys using free software to get an idea of what the community wanted. We would hold "events" that would make the server community unique and held it up to higher standards. We would usually have various themes depending on the event, but prizes would be also offered for those who won that evening.
I don't know...When I think of some of the things I am proud of, it would definitely be the work I did on that website. Putting together the videos, planning them, and writing the articles for the main site are something that took me months of time and helped me learn about how to handle people over the net.
I understand that it may not be applicable to more mainstream jobs, but for the gaming industry it feels like it matches so well with many of the community management positions that are being offered at redstorm, insomniac games, and a few others. I mean, yes, in one aspect I was a moderator, but it went beyond that in a lot of ways to the management of a team (getting personal information, organizing when they could all meet and practice, etc) to really spreading the word of the site using the net, and really trying to dismantle misconceptions and negative hype about our group. Eventually I was able to get a lot of credible teams to support us and it helped, but this was after a lot of networking. Setting up IRC channels, learning various software, and doing research were all huge components of doing the job right. I feel like a lot of communities settle for less...like a "let's build it and they will come" sort of attitude, but I wanted this to grow and be something more than just a website or basic community. What was the point of doing something unless it was going to be the very best? That's what I had in mind when it came to developing that guide and the sort of relations I had with customers.
Am I just being irrational here? Or maybe I didn't convey all of these clearly enough? I don't know. It just seemed like so much work to just not include.
But as I said, I'll do a few test resumes to see what you guys think taking into account all of the suggestions made here. I'm going to really try and cut down on some of the information and as someone said, place three bullet points under each job.
Ahh! See, I didn't know that from the resume itself. You've GOT to mention that. That's not something to leave unsaid on the resume. Given that new information, I'd definitely put it on the resume... but take out all the other stuff that makes it look like you were a forum moderator, and put in pretty much exactly what you just said above (more formally, of course) Talk about the profits doubling, etc... that is EXACTLY what your employer will want to know. In fact, if you have financial figures like that for ANY of your other jobs/activities, put them in the resume too. That's really, really important.
That's the thing. Definitely put it in, but put in all the stuff you said above. You want them to know that you were doing it as a business - and you helped them to succeed in doing so. The current manifestation of the entry doesn't convey that sense of business/raw profit usefulness that your role actually *was* to that company/group. That's a fantastic thing to put in the resume, as long as you actually mention those kinds of contributions.
I have a question about the catering form though...What I mean by efficiency is that after drafting the form, we no longer had confusion as to when an order was to be sent out, for whom, etc. Before, we would simply take down information and would run with it, but this would turn into huge mistakes happening.
In order to take care of all of that (along with a slew of other problems including people keeping our catering materials), I developed a "check list" of sorts. It's more organized then that, but it helped people remember to take down the name of the company, their address, phone number, a contact once we arrive at the site, as well as whether they needed serving materials, servers, various drinks, etc. A lot of the time, our employees would offer something we couldn't do or would forget to ask about something entirely, leading to a lot of frustration on our end and the customer's end. I saw the form as a way of streamlining the process so that no matter who took the order, the same information would be relayed to the customer and I.
The problem is, when it comes to numbers, I don't know how I would go about describing that or concisely conveying how much easier it made the entire process.
Ah, understandable, and summarizing such large changes and interesting points into a few short bullet points is indeed a tender art.
There are probably some here who are much more skilled at it than I am, but I'd summarize what you said in the following points (as an example):
As an example. There were other points you mentioned that could be added as well, but hopefully this gets you started. I think I may have been too verbose, there may be others here who can help to condense it further. If your 4 sales a day @ 50$ per book was accurate, you made that company approximately $73,000 per year in revenue... which, something tells me, is probably a dramatic percentage increase in revenue. If the revenue increase was dramatic enough percentage-wise, you could just list that instead of the $73k figure. Let their eyes pop out of their sockets when they read it, and if they question it you can show them the figures.
Hopefully this helps as a starting point. Others may be able to do a much better job than I in actually helping you to summarize it effectively.
That references section looks awkward, I don't think it needs to be its own section. You can just write a normal line, centred, 'References available on request' at the end of the page. That's pretty much implicit anyway, when you put down prior experiences.
In your non-gaming resume, I feel the Beanery job should be first on the list. It seems to match closest to the position you're looking for, no? It just feels more impressive to me, I could be wrong.
Like other people said, I think you have too much detail on each of the jobs. Pick like 2 good bullet points that sum up the best stuff that you did, and add the quantifiable stuff you just mentioned, like you made a 50-page e-book that sold so and so number of copies. Specific and quantifiable is really good. You can leave stuff out of your resume and save it for the interview instead. For me at least, it's more interesting to hear someone talk about what they did at a job than have to read all about it.
Indeed this is true, just make sure to give the most tantalizing/eye-popping info on the resume. If they see that you increased the profits of a company substantially etc... they're going to want to interview you, if for nothing else then to find out more about how/what you did. And that's exactly what you want. So make sure those couple of points for each entry are the most interesting from a company perspective (i.e. profits, effective processes, people skills, and other points that companies value. Profit being the most important, which is why I feel you should point out those revenue figures from the sale of the book as one of your points).
skipping everything I already said, I believe its customary to round your GPA to the nearest hundredth, so go ahead and give yourself that mighty 3.68, they're not gonna fault you that extra 5 thousandths. I googled once when writing mine to decide whether to put my in-major GPA, or cumulative, and I think the idea that I came out with was if your cumulative was like a 3.0 or less and your in major was way better, like a 3.5, maybe both or the in-major was better, but a good cumulative GPA like that obviously would require your in-major GPA to be even better, I'm guessing near a 4.0, so it'd just be extraneous
Also, usually if you've just graduated you put your education first, since that's usually the primary thing you're selling, especially with a good GPA
Put your address, phone number, cell phone number, (professional looking)e-mail address, maybe in a small font beneath your name, well unless you took that out so we don't harass you(AND I WILL RAWWWRR)
If you just put available upon request, I'd just put references at the same font and make a little sentence at the bottom
Stylistically it looks just fine.
My suggestions (and I haven't read the rest of the thread, so this might overlap):
Objective statement: Good up to the part about "a fast paced and growing company". Delete that little addendum.
GPA: Round it to 2 digits (3.7 rather than 3.675)
References: Delete. If a prospective employer requests them, great! You're happy and ready to supply them. Otherwise it's a pointless tag.
Unless you're a PhD or have YEARS of great experience, 1 page.