LEVELLING UP YOUR PROFESSIONAL PROFILE: TOP TIPS

Women in Games is always delighted that our Corporate Ambassadors are willing to provide valuable learnings to our growing community.  Talent Sourcing Director, Lilia Gurova (pictured), at Room 8 Studio, shares advice on optimising your profiles to grow your professional visibility and open doors to job interviews…

Professional profiles are essential tools for showcasing your skills and experience to potential employers. Whether it’s your CV, LinkedIn, or ArtStation, they showcase your skills and experience to potential employers.

When preparing your professional profile, it’s helpful to understand how recruiters review the information. They typically scan the text quickly, paying attention to key points to assess candidates. It takes them a few seconds to make a decision on you, so make sure to be clear and concise in all of your writing.

CVs
For your CV, having a clear structure is essential: start with your name and your applicable role, followed by contact information, career summary, work experience, skills, and education. Pay attention to the design as well: avoid excessive colours and highlighting, as they can be distracting. As for the size, one page is usually enough.

If you’re a technical specialist, your main selling point is your hard skills. Since many positions require specific software proficiency, be sure to highlight your capabilities. However, be honest and only list software you have truly mastered.

When describing your experience, focus on what matters most: your work responsibilities and achievements. Save your hobbies and personal details for later; they can be great icebreakers during the interview, but there’s no need to include them on your CV.

Last but not least, make sure to update your CV on a regular basis, ideally once a year.

Portfolios
Moving on to portfolios. If your portfolio is hosted on a platform, filling out the profile is equally important as showcasing your actual work. Let’s take ArtStation as an example. When creating your headline, avoid witty names like ‘Art Ninja’ or ‘3D Enthusiast’. Instead, choose a straightforward title that clearly showcases your expertise, such as ‘Character Concept Artist’ or ‘3D Artist’.

To give potential employers a better understanding of your background, make sure to fill out the ‘About’ section. Provide a brief summary of your professional experience, areas of expertise, and interests or learning if you are a beginner.

Don’t ignore artwork descriptions. Write down what you did, the stages of the process, the challenges you faced, and how you overcame them. The more details, the better.

Now, you are almost all set. Don’t forget to double-check your contact information, ensure clickable links, and provide the password for your portfolio if it’s private. While these may seem obvious, these little details are often overlooked.

So, go ahead, polish your CV, spruce up your portfolio, and good luck on your job path!