I've read over a lot of your 'getting a job in the industry' posts and they have been incredibly helpful. I was wondering about resume content, specifically Projects to include and the level of quality. I have participated in a few LudumDare Jams, should I include those games as projects along with my other more serious/larger projects. Is it better to include only the most polished projects? Does including Game Jam projects show a passion for development? or a disregard for polish and detail?
When it comes to showcasing relevant experience on a resume or CV, it is never a binary “yes” or “no” but always a sliding scale from “not relevant” to “very relevant”. Game jam work can be relevant, but how relevant depends on the job opening, your role in the game jam, and what you do with the project after the game jam ends.
If a game studio is hiring for a full time position on a team, what’s most relevant on a resume is professional experience on a shipped productdoing something very similar to the role we’re looking to fill. The hiring manager, more than anything, wants to know that the new hire will be able to do the job from start to finish. That ‘finish’ part is extremely relevant - that’s why so many job descriptions require a minimum of one shipped game. The hiring manager needs to know that you can do more than just build a prototype. She needs to believe that the candidate will be able to deliver a complete, finished product to the end user.
As such, game jam projects are a great deal better than nothing. It shows us that you’ve gotten some experience thinking about how to construct a game, how to iterate in development, and that you’re passionate enough to pursue game development on your own. We definitely like and look for such qualities, and having game jam experience on your resume will definitely convey that. However, it doesn’t necessarily help with reassuring us that a candidate is able to finish a game.
Overall, you want to present a resume that makes you look like the ideal candidate, and you have a finite amount of space to do so. You need to put in the most convincing stuff you can, and that means taking a really hard look at what the elements you put onto the resume convey. Sometimes it’s about showing off polished work, but others it’s about working in a relevant role or specific kinds of experience. If you aren’t sure, try placing yourself in the hiring manager’s position. If you were hiring somebody to do X, would this experience help convince you that this candidate is good for the job?
