Making Resumes, Socials and Portfolios Work for You

This article was originally written for www.amirsatvat.com as part of the Early Careers Resource Pack.

The Games Industry is one of the most popular creative industries people want to work in. Consequently, it’s astronomically competitive, with high barriers to entry and can feel downright overwhelming. This is only compounded by the difficulties the industry has faced in the last year or so.

At the time of writing in April 2024, we’re seeing some positive movement, but still layoffs and reduced funding are persisting.

So, it’s important when job seeking that you give yourself every advantage possible. I’ve collated some of my advice typically reserved for video feedback calls or the occasional caffeine fueled LinkedIn post.

As for who I am, I’m Tim Wood, an experienced recruiter and founder of Write Finder Headhunting, as well as a Narrative Designer for a VR title. So, I’m pretty invested in this industry and consequently, very invested in the new people who come to help evolve it.

Hopefully, that includes you!

Focus your portfolio.

Whatever your specialism. Your portfolio should highlight your skills, ability and projects that can evidence why you’re great for that role. Make sure it’s representative of your best and most relevant work. Reviewers often look at hundreds of portfolios a day.

So, imagine you are catering to the worst-case review scenario. Someone could be assessing your work at the end of their day, with possible eye strain and way too much caffeine.

Make sure your portfolio is easy to navigate, and can demonstrate what you can do quickly, easily and in the best light of your skills. It ensures it’s optimized as well as catering to the human element of the selection process.

Do take the time to make sure that any links to your portfolio on social media, CVs/Resumes etc work! I have reviewed many an application only to be hit by the dreaded 404!

Show your working.

A huge part of decision making in hiring for games is whether the hiring manager feels you could adapt to working in their pipeline. So, by demonstrating your own process, from ideation, to overcoming problems, adapting to feedback to the finished article itself will show them how you will likely integrate and work within their system.

For each project in your portfolio, include a brief description that explains your role, the challenges you faced, and the outcomes you achieved. This context helps employers understand your contributions and thought process. It can also help determine what training and guidance you may need, working style and what potential you have for other roles down the line.

This results in a more fully rounded portfolio and will be very helpful for your own self assessment in the months and years to come too.

Transfer your skills.

So, you have some experience in a professional or voluntary setting that isn’t the Games Industry. A lot of it is still relevant. Identify the skills in jobs you are applying for that are

A) valuable in Games and B) that you already have experience in. You might have worked with data analysis, project management or working as a link between teams with varied roles and skillsets.

These are just some things that you could easily evidence from your previous experience and use to demonstrate yourself as a good fit for a Games coded position.

Link up your socials.

One of the first things any team or recruiter will do when trying to find talent, is to open a search online, whether that’s on websites like LinkedIn or on Job Boards.

So, it’s pretty much a requirement to ensure you are discoverable! You might have your own website, or you could have a portfolio combined with a LinkedIn. Whatever your chosen method, make sure your information is easy to read/navigate and that it’s accessible.

This means making sure your contact information is up to date, that hyperlinks work and any work you are showcasing reflects your current abilities. If you have a visual component to your work, ensure it’s viewable on all devices from mobile to PC!

It’s also very helpful to link all your socials together.

For example, if I find you on LinkedIn, make sure your LinkedIn profile is linked to your website/cv/portfolio and vice versa. That way, wherever you are found, everything you want a potential employer to see is automatically linked and easy to find.

Be personal.

You don’t have to hide who you are, neither do you have to hide your hobby/personal projects for fear they are “not work related”. You might be working on your own game on the side, or you could have taken part in a game jam.

Showcase that stuff, it not only demonstrates your interest in the industry, but is an active demonstration of skills and behaviours you will absolutely need to work in the industry.

It shows you are proactive and able to self-direct, learn and grow.

Ask for feedback.

You may want to switch things up sometimes, or perhaps you feel that your portfolio/cv etc isn’t where it could be.

It’s completely okay to seek feedback from people you know, peers or industry professionals if they are open to that.

Typically, people working in the role you want to be in, are a good source of information and connection. Listen to what they say and incorporate the suggestions that resonate and can help you. And you’ll be in a much stronger position.

People are generally very helpful in the industry, but just be mindful of how you ask for favours from people you don’t know. It can pay dividends to network and forge an authentic connection before asking people to work on your behalf!

A great starting point is to ask Recruiters for feedback, especially those in an agency, as our business model revolved around having wide networks of current and aspiring talent in the industry!

Tailor your resume.

The goal of a resume is to get you a conversation. So, by tailoring it toward what recruiters and hiring managers look for is a sure bet to stand apart from your competition.

Only include the relevant experience/skills for the role you’re applying for. For example, if you’re going for a Junior Art role, talk about the art you’ve been involved in, any personal projects/game jams or art aligned roles, rather than focusing on your experiences in irrelevant industries.

You can certainly mention other industries for the soft/additional skills relevant to Games, but if your resume is not answering the questions those hiring want answered, it won’t help you. If you can, back your experiences up with data.

Maybe you completed a landscape concept piece from brief to finish in a certain amount of time. Or you boosted downloads for your game jam through some use of social media.

Whatever your contributions and wins were in your experiences were. Contextualize and demonstrate those, that’s what the assessors find helpful. You might want to also demonstrate your other skills like teamwork, ability to adapt or your wider creativity.

Write concise examples of how you demonstrated these in your experience. A useful acronym to follow here is S.T.A.R, which stands for:

Situation: What was the situation you were in?

Task: What was the action or responsibility you took ownership of?

Action: What did you do to complete this?

Result: What happened as a result?

Providing this deeper analysis of your experience will help hiring teams get the measure of you, and further demonstrate your suitability for the role.

Keep updated.

View your resume and portfolio as living documents. In a way, they will never be finished. Because as you gain new skills, complete more projects, and publish more games.

You have even more to include and evidence on those documents. Try to, at least update your resume and portfolio once a year, not only does this help you remember what you’ve got done each year, but should you find yourself in a position of seeking work again.

You’ll be able to act a lot faster as the work is already done. By keeping updates regular, you’ll save yourself effort and in time notice companies may even proactively reach out to you with an offer you don’t want to refuse.

I should know, I’m the one doing it.

In summary.

By implementing an approach like this to all your points of discoverability, you’re massively increasing your chances of attaining a role in Games and standing apart from your competition.

You’ll have made the lives of those who decide if you get in or not much easier and in the long run, save yourself a ton of effort too.

Remember, it’s a question of when you get a win, not if! Good luck out there.