Carrie Warwick, Junior Character Artist at TT Fusion: CV Building

Our fourth guest lecturer was ex-student Carrie Warwick, Junior Character Artist at TT Fusion. Given that she was in our place only a few years ago, she was able to communicate with us using terms and anecdotes that we could fully understand. It was refreshing to hear how quick she moved into an industry job, making me less worried about the time between graduating and employment.

Carrie told us that we should take part in many activities to start filling up our CV with relevant information as soon as we can to really stand out to future employers, such as competitions (like Ludum Dare) and focus testing (through companies such as VMC). She also recommended volunteering to work stalls and help set up at events such as EGX and Gamescom, as they also give additional relevant experience towards your CV.

A large proportion of Carrie’s talk was on the absolute importance of your CV and portfolio, getting into small but powerful tweaks to your CV like having prominent contact details so that employers immediately know how to get your attention if they like what they see. Another person that agrees with Carrie and her advice on building your CV is Darius Kazemi, Game Developer, who states the importance of a good resume and what it’s actually used for; a resume gets you an interview:

“Remember this: the purpose of a resume is to get you an interview. That's it. That's all it's for. I don't care what is on your resume, if it intrigues me enough for me to want to set up a phone call or an on-site interview, your resume did its job.”

I personally agree with Darius’s statement, but I feel as if he’s trying to say that only your CV will get you an interview and not the power of a strong portfolio. I can understand that a CV is a quick and easy way for an employer to see what activities and experience you have, but ‘pictures tell a thousand words’ and that is really lost out on in CVs.

References:

Kazemi, D. (2009). Writing a Resume for a Game Company. Available: http://www.gamasutra.com/blogs/DariusKazemi/20090428/83855/Writing_a_Resume_for_a_Game_Company.php. Last accessed 10th May 2015.