Job Application Checklist

How you approach someone when applying for a job can make a huge difference to how they address your application. If you take the time to personalise your application and make it specific to where you’re applying, you’ll appear genuinely interested in working there and will put yourself ahead of those ‘spamming’ their CVs everywhere, hoping one will stick.

Here’s a checklist to help you make your introduction as effective as possible:

• Address the right person – if you can find out who the recruiter is, always address them by their name.
• Include the studio name – this is something subtle that shows from the start that your application is specific to the studio.
• Include an introduction – let the person know who you are, what you do, what role you are applying for and what skills you have up against it.
• Include a link to your portfolio – recruiters like to see your portfolio on a website, ideally, so if you have your own that’s perfect. If not, sites such as Artstation, CG Society, Deviant Art etc. are fine.
• Include a cover letter – a cover letter is your opportunity to tell the person more specifically why you’re a great match to both the job AND the studio. Culture and passion is a huge part of a studio, so naturally this is one of a recruiter’s priorities. You can tell the person how much you may love the games they make, the location of the studio, etc.

Here is an example of a good application using all of the points above:

Hi,

My name is Joe, a 2D artist by trade, with 5+ years’ experience in the gaming industry. I’ve also done illustrations for close to a dozen storybooks scripted by authors from around the globe.

I came across your vacancy through GamesIndustry.biz and got very excited! My love of video games stems as far back as the Sega Master System era, up to most present day video games. Attached is my Resume, Cover Letter, and below is a link to my portfolio.

An online presentation of my 2D portfolio 

You can also check the range of different art-works I can cover here:

My Art Blog
My Behance portfolio

Kind regards,

Joe Bloggs

joe@blogs.com

+44 1234 5678910