Resume Do's and Don'ts

Resumes are a tricky thing because if you do not have much experience, they don't help you all that much and if you do have a lot of experience you don't really need a resume all the time.

Here's some tips: KEEP IT SIMPLE.
Secondly, see if the employer has a list of things they look for in a resume-if not, work yors as you please.
A resume is just your stats--pretty much just the plain facts about you.
Your "feelings" on things is best left for the cover letter.

Bear in mind that resumes alone do not get someone hired unless the resume is very extensive.
Resumes in the commerical art industry tend to be a tie-breaker between two similarily skilled applicants. Most recruiters I know of seldom even look at them, as its the portfolio that determines the applicant's status.

Always apply for a specific job. Never, NEVER say you'll do "anything".
If you apply for something specific, make sure you can demostrate real abilities in that task ( with portfolio samples) otherwise do NOT apply.
Wait until you can develop your skills to the point where they will be useful.
Animation studios just do not have time to train people how to do this stuff--they want to hire people with already developed skills.

IMO,far too many people treat the job application process as a kind of "hope and a prayer" thing because they are unsure of their skills, and it shouldn't be that way. You can either do the job, or you cannot.
If you cannot, do not waste the mutual time and effort of yourself and the employers.

Be honest. If you've no experience, then do not lie about your work history.
Now that said, consider that "work history" does NOT just mean paying gigs.
That you did or did not get paid to create art for someelse is irrelevant, really.
That you did create artwork for someone else to their specifications and completed said task IS relevant.
Those kinds of jobs are the ones you can "pad" a resume with until you get a lot more paying gigs.
Do you mention they were non-paying? C'mon, its a no brainer..........of course not!
Your financial dealings are NO-ONE else's business but your own. That you did work for somebody else is all that matters.

If a relative asks you to do a drawing--its fair game. If the lady down the street does, put it in. Do some art for a local newspaper or store flyer--but did it for free and unsolicitted........sure, if they used it.
Charity work is always dressy on a resume, at any stage of a career.
That you can rightly claim having done some kind of work for a client or another person is of interest to your prospective employer.
Do not write up a list of dozens of these kinds of "jobs" though--keep it simple and basic. Use this method to establish that you have SOME experience, and as you gain legit paying gigs, gradually weed out the non-paying ones.

Do you put down unrelated jobs? A lot of voices will say yes, and I reluctantly agree, but to a point--but minimize the entries. If its not relevant to your task at hand its just clutter on the document.
A animation studio doesn't care if you worked at Mcdonalds, only if you worked on related cartooning or animation type stuff.

Things like the amount of time you were on the job are not important. Some jobs take longer, some take very little time.

I just put down the year worked, the name of the project--who the client is and what you did on it.

Never state why you are no longer at that job. I remember with a chuckle one colleague that put the words " reason for leaving: FIRED!" beside every job he'd been fired from. Oy vey!

If you have education that's relevant to the job--like animation or film school, put that down. No one cares if you went to high school or not, so if that's all you have just list it as "Educational background provided upon request" and leave it at that.
Hobbies...................no. Leave them off. You'll be paid to work, your hobbies are meaningless.

References.........if there's a mutual someone that you and the employer knows personally--such as someone who suggested you apply at the job--then list them on the resume itself--otherwise I put references available upon request. Legit name-dropping can work in your favour, provided all parties actually know each other.
I do that so that IF the employer is interested in me, it makes them contact me for more info and thus I know they are interested. I hate being in the dark on getting jobs, so that's a little ploy I use.
Of course, try to get references from people that are actually in the biz.
There's a strong trend in human nature to assume. Leaving out certain info or specifics compells people to make assumptions, and if the other resume info makes you look strong, the assumptions are that anything you do not include just isn't important. For those employers that are very cagey, they MIGHT ask you about specifics--but THAT is best left for the interview.
Be candid and honest in those circumstances.

Keep the resume to one or two pages. Regardless of your experience, a two page resume is just easier to read. You can format the material in a lot of different ways to pack in a ton of info into two pages.
Always have a resume on paper hardcopy, do NOT put it on disc, unless the employer request that. Paper is just easier to look at.

Always, always put the thing on clean paper and always include it with your portfolio.

When hiring animators, designers, or cartoonists, we look for people who have completed projects. Do a short-film, a self-published comic, or a nice design project from start-to-finish and you're in. Have a portfolio with a mismash of "experiments" or lessons and you're probably not going to be hired. We don't really need to look at resumes.

What completed projects show is that you're ambitious and can make decisions. It also shows your ability to tells a story. Drawing in different styles is waaaaay less important than storytelling and being able to make the decisions necessary to finish something. You can draw in a new style in a couple of days on the clock...it takes years..maybe a lifetime to be able to tell a compelling story.