Creating a Resume

Attributes of a Standout Resume
What to write:
​- One page, one role
- Text is in bullet points
- Minimal color/images to guide the viewer, exclude portraits
- Highlight skills as you mention projects that involved them
- Only include your GPA if you're a new grad and it's impressive
- Include your links to your projects and email address
- Exclude your phone number and address​

​How to write:
- Reference numerically calculated results
- Summarize achievements rather than responsibilities
- Avoid using passive verbs (observed, participated, etc.)

Using Templates
I highly recommend finding an online template as a starting point. Try to find one that catches your eye though good design and color. When searching on Google, specifically search for a template that you can download an edit yourself rather than design in an online editor. Freesumes.com is a great option!

My Resume
Top right is an example of my resume as of November 2020, it uses images to draw attention to big brands (Facebook, Zynga, Stanford, etc.) as well as a minimal color pallet (blue border) to frame the page. My title as well as my graduation date are listed at the top. Skills are tucked away in the corner in addition to some jokes.
​

Quick Tip: The Long One-Page
Resumes should always be one page, but if you’re very close you can actually just make the page taller without folks noticing! Ingenious, right? I can use Microsoft word to extend the page size and, when it’s exported as a PDF, recruiter’s can’t tell that they scrolled the extra inch. Since people rarely print resumes these days it’s pretty hard to get caught with this trick so it’s definitely worth considering.

Quick Tip: Multiple Resumes
If you have multiple skills you may want to be seen as multiple applicants. In practice this might be a person, who is both a designer and engineer. In this case, they should create two resumes; one to focus on their design background and one on their engineering background. Avoid creating a resume that includes wildly different titles (for example, Matthew the artist/designer/engineer/CEO).

Case Study (Before and After): Scott
Below are two versions of my friend Scott's resume. This case study was a difficult challenge because Scott had a wide variety of background experiences, many unrelated to the jobs he was applying for. The key to revising this resume was nailing a specific title "Developer Relations Coordinator" and whittling down the experiences to the relevant examples. Notice how the headline of each experience clearly identifies the project, role, and date. The Profile section was used similar to a cover letter in order to frame his experiences. A bold line down the center helps the resume stand out. This resume could be further improved by making the role descriptions more concise and perhaps squeezing education into the top right if more space is required. Generally I would advocate avoiding a list of skills but it served as a nice space-filler in this case.

Case Study (Before and After): Melissa
Below are two versions of my sister Melissa's resume. The focus of this case study became balancing an appealing visual design with concise text to describe her work experience. I made a particular effort to replace vague statements such as "Generated cash flow" with measured, numerical achievements such as "Increased purchase orders by 10%". Excessive detail was removed where possible and a firm title of "Junior Business Associate" was placed directly beneath her name. This title and an objective section, similar to a cover letter, provide a space for her to briefly contextualize her work experience with respect to whichever position she applies to. 

Deep Dive
In this video, I provide feedback on the resume and portfolio of an aspiring Gameplay Engineer.