Game Designer Resume Example [Tips & Templates for 2023]

Game Designer Resume Example

The resume above is a stellar example of what a game designer’s resume should look like.

Let’s look at what it does right:

• Uses a sleek design. The game designer resume above doesn’t overdo it with bright colors or graphics, keeping everything reader-friendly and professional instead.
• Sticks to the reverse-chronological resume format. This resume format puts the spotlight on your most recent work experience and accomplishments, which makes it a favorite amongst hiring managers worldwide.
• Lists relevant contact details. A spot-on information section should include your full name, professional email address, phone number, and location, as well as links to your portfolio or relevant social media.
• Includes an eye-catching resume summary. The hiring manager reading this game designer resume will go through that resume summary and immediately know the candidate’s top skills and achievements.
• Emphasizes accomplishments over responsibilities. Achievements show the hiring manager you can do more than follow instructions–you can bring results, and that gives them more reasons to hire you.
• Keeps the education section brief. The game designer resume doesn’t go into detail about the candidate’s full education history. Since hiring managers care more about your work experience and skills, just listing your highest degree is enough.
• Leverages optional sections. If there’s leftover space on your resume, there are optional sections you can use to add even more value to your resume. Things like awards, certifications, language proficiencies, and hobbies can set you apart from other candidates with similar work experience or skills.

10 Steps for the Perfect Game Designer Resume

You saw what a top-tier game designer resume looks like.

Now let’s check out all the levels you need to complete to perfect your resume:

#1. Pick the Right Format

The format you pick for your resume will determine its entire structure, including how you list your work experience and present yourself professionally. 

There are three main resume formats you can choose from:

• Reverse-chronological (also called chronological format, it follows the linear progression of your career so far in reverse chronological order)
• Functional (also called skill-based format, it zooms in on your character’s skill trees)
• Combination (as the name implies, this format is a mix of the former two)

For your game designer resume, we recommend you stick to the reverse-chronological resume format, which is an all-time favorite of hiring managers everywhere.

This resume format puts your most recent work experience and achievements first and lets hiring managers assess you as a candidate at a glance, so it’s the best choice to shine the spotlight on your experience and accomplishments.

Here’s what the reverse-chronological resume format looks like:

#2. Keep a Neat Layout

You’ve got the resume format down, now it’s time to design your resume.

As a game designer, you don’t need to be told that game visuals affect a player’s experience of the game. If they’re too confusing, chaotic, or glitchy, they likely won’t even play it.

The same applies to your resume layout. If the hiring manager sees a document that’s messy or cluttered, they likely won’t want to read it

As such, your goal here is to make your resume visually appealing and inviting to the hiring manager, and that starts by perfecting your resume layout.

Here’s how you can do that:

• Adjust the margins. You should set your resume margins to one inch on all sides. Anything less will make your resume look stretched out and cluttered, but anything over one inch will make it look empty. 
• Choose the right font. The font you choose can determine how professional and reader-friendly your resume looks, so pick wisely. We recommend a resume font that’s professional, but not overused.
• Style it to your liking. You don’t want your resume to be a boring black-and-white document that doesn’t catch the hiring manager’s eye. However, you should also avoid overdoing it with bright colors and graphics–just a splash of color in the header or section titles is usually enough.
• Fit everything on one page. Unless you have more than a decade’s worth of relevant experience, a one-page resume is more than enough. Hiring managers read hundreds of resumes every day, so you want to make sure yours is short and eye-catching.
• Pick the right file format. Your game designer resume should always be saved as a PDF file unless the job advertisement specifically states otherwise. Saving your resume as a PDF file ensures your resume’s layout will stay consistent across any device or operating system the employer might use to open it.

Or Use a Resume Template to Save Time

Creating your game designer resume from scratch can be time-consuming.

You have to tweak the margins, find a good font, get the line spacing right throughout the document, and make sure it never spills over to page two.

Well, you’re in luck, cause there’s a cheat code that lets you skip all that.

Try any of our free, professionally-made resume templates!

Each template is made in collaboration with the best hiring managers and recruiters to make sure your resume meets industry standards and breezes through any ATS.

Here’s a preview of how our templates compare to a regular text editor template:

#3. List Your Contact Information

Now that you styled your resume, you can finally start filling up your resume’s contents. 

The first and easiest section to write is the contact information section.

Here are the elements this section should contain:

• Full Name. (E.g. Connor Hughes).
• Professional Title. Match the job title to the position you’re applying for. (E.g. Level designer.)
• Phone Number. If you’re applying for a job abroad, make sure you add a dial code.
• Email Address. Even if you’re an avid gamer, don’t reference that in your email address. You want to list a professional email address on your resume. (E.g. Use hughes.conner@gmail.com, not connorthecoinmaster@hotmail.com)
• Portfolio Link. Game designers have diverse portfolios, and you should give the hiring manager quick access to yours. Just add a link to your website and links to any relevant social media like LinkedIn or GitHub.
• Location. Usually, adding your city and state or country is enough information. If you’re looking to relocate for the job, or you want a remote position, make sure you specify that somewhere in your resume.

Easy, right? 

One thing to keep in mind here is that you need to provide factual information and watch out for any typos. 

After all, the whole point of the contact information section is for the hiring manager to be able to reach you. A misspelled phone number or email address might just keep them from doing that.

#4. Write a Resume Summary or Objective

Hiring managers usually go through hundreds of resumes daily, which means they physically don’t have the time to read each one in detail. 

Studies show that hiring managers spend less than 7 seconds skimming through resumes.

This means that to get the hiring manager to dive deep into your resume, you have to do it from the get-go.

This is where a resume summary or objective comes in. 

Placed at the top of your resume, this three to four-sentence paragraph should provide a captivating snapshot of your professional background.

The more captivating it is, the bigger your odds of getting the hiring manager to give you their undivided attention.

Here’s what each of them should contain:

• Resume summary. Include your years of experience and the most important skills and achievements that can sway a hiring manager.
• Resume objective. If you’re just starting in your game design career, write a resume objective instead. Make sure it includes your passions, career goals, and relevant skills.

Here are two examples:

This resume summary does a great job showing the hiring manager the applicant can bring a lot to the table.

Now let’s see a resume objective example:

#5. Focus on Your Work Experience

You need experience points to level up, and it’s the same when it comes to your game designer resume.

Your work experience is the resume section the hiring manager is most interested in, which means you have to get it right. 

First, let’s look at how you should format this section:

• Use reverse chronological order. Your latest work experience should always be at the top of this section, followed by older roles the further down you go. But don’t go too far back–your part-time job 17 years ago shouldn’t make the cut.
• Add the right job title. Be honest about your job title. If you were a ‘Junior Game Designer’, don’t call yourself a ‘Game Design Lead’.
• Provide company details. The name and location of the company are usually enough but it’s not a household name, you can add a brief one-line description about the company.
• Mention the employment period. Use the mm/yyyy format and apply it consistently throughout your entire game designer resume.
• List responsibilities and achievements. Use bullet points to list your responsibilities and achievements. Five to six bullet points are enough for your most recent position while three to four suffice for older roles.

That’s all there is to how you should structure your resume’s work experience section.

But if you want your game designer know-how to really pop out of the page and get you to stand out from the crowd, there’s more work to do.

Give this section a boost like this:

• Tailor your work experience. Always tailor your work experience section to the position you’re applying for. For example, if you’re applying for a combat mechanics design job, you need to emphasize your experience in gameplay mechanics at your last job if you want to be a relevant candidate, not your narrative design experience.
• Emphasize achievements. Put simply, your achievements can prove to the hiring manager that you can get things done. As such, they weigh much more than your responsibilities. The more achievements a hiring manager sees, the clearer it becomes that you can power up their party. 
• Back everything up with data. Use numbers to make your achievements credible. Timeframe, scale, and results go a long way. (e.g. "Designed game levels for AAA game," doesn’t sound as impressive as "Designed 9 game levels for upcoming AAA game and completed the project two weeks ahead of schedule".)
• Avoid cliches. Saying you were ‘responsible for’ isn't too impressive. Hiring managers have read that a thousand times and it’s not telling them anything new about you. Instead, use powerful verbs that show initiative. (e.g. conceptualized, designed, implemented, led, etc.)

Let’s look at an example of a great work experience section:

What if I Don’t Have Work Experience?

Work experience is important and if you’re looking for your first gig as a game designer, you might feel lost.

The good news? Hiring managers don’t expect recent graduates or entry-level professionals to have work experience.

So, instead of worrying about your lack of work experience, leverage any of these sections:

• Internships
• Volunteering
• Academic projects
• Personal projects
• Extracurricular activities

For example, if you created an indie game as part of a school project or made mods for your favorite video game, that can definitely prove you have experience in game design.

Here’s an example of what this section can look like:

#6. Create Your Portfolio

Game designer portfolios are a bit different from other creatives.

Unlike artists and photographers, you can’t just provide a gallery of stills or print them out with your application.

Depending on the exact type of game designer position you’re looking for, your portfolio should be as tailored as your resume’s work experience. 

For example, if you’re applying to be an audio designer, that’s more relevant than your character design experience.

But whatever projects you’re looking to showcase, the best portfolio format for a game designer is often video.

Research what the company you’re applying for is known for and choose samples of your work that match their standards and requirements.

You don’t need to show off everything you’ve ever done. It’s better to provide a short portfolio with relevant work than a huge one that doesn’t highlight what they’re looking for.

Once you create a compelling video portfolio, upload it to your personal portfolio website.

Keep in mind the hiring manager is going to look at your portfolio without you, so be sure to add any explanations necessary. This can be what software you used on a given scene from your video and what your exact contributions to group projects were.

Just add a screenshot and a brief text explanation after scenes you want to elaborate on, just like you would in a presentation.

Before you send your portfolio or add the link to your resume and cover letter, make sure it works the same across different browsers and devices. If the hiring manager opens it with Google Chrome, you want it to run just as smoothly as it does on Mozilla.

#7. Keep the Education Section Brief

Chances are, you majored in something related to video game design. And that’s great!

But hiring managers care a lot more about your skills and experience than where you went to university ten years back. So instead of taking up too much space with your education, only stick to the most relevant details in your game designer resume - if you’re not an entry-level professional or recent graduate, that is.

Here’s what to include in your education section:

• Degree Name. Your exact degree and major should come first. (E.g. BA in Game Design)
• University Name. E.g. University of Sussex, England
• Location (optional). You can add the location of your university if it’s less well-known.
• Period attended. If you’re still studying, you can write your expected graduation date.

If you don’t have a university degree, don’t fret – a relevant bachelor’s degree can help but it isn’t necessary to get a job as a game designer. And if you do have a higher education, there’s no need to include your high school education at all.

Here’s how a short and to-the-point education section should look:

#8. List In-Demand Game Designer Soft and Hard Skills

After your work experience, your skills section is a key player in your game designer resume.

Your skills can tell your employer what you can do and how much they’ll have to train you. 

But that doesn’t mean you should list every designer skill in the book on your resume. On the contrary, your skills section should be just as tailored to the job you’re applying for as the rest of your resume.

If, for instance, you’re looking to join a company as their new narrative designer, your script writing skills are more important than your audio design skills.

So here are some tips on how to list your skills and stand out from the crowd:

• Put the spotlight on what the company wants. Go through the job description and highlight any required skills. Then just add the ones that you have in your resume.
• Research in-demand game designer skills. The video game industry has been growing rapidly these past few years, and you need to stay up to date with the latest trends and developments and update your skills along with them.
• Keep your soft and hard skills separate. Hiring managers like finding what they’re looking for right away, so make their lives easier by keeping your soft skills separated from your hard skills.

That’s about it when it comes to listing your skills.

And if you want some inspiration to get you started, check out the 43 most in-demand soft and hard skills in the game design industry in 2023:

43 Most In-Demand Game Designer Skills for 2023

12 Game Designer Soft Skills

1. Creativity
2. Teamwork
3. Problem-solving
4. Conflict resolution
5. Communication
6. Organizational skills
7. Leadership
8. Adaptability
9. Interpersonal skills
10. Time management
11. Strategic thinking
12. Attention to detail 

31 Game Designer Hard Skills

1. Storytelling
2. Mindmapping
3. Flowcharting
4. 3D Modeling
5. 3Ds Max
6. Texturing
7. Animation
8. Blueprints
9. Unity
10. Lua
11. Unreal Engine
12. Unreal Script
13. C#
14. Python
15. Programming
16. Optimization and Performance
17. Jira
18. Game Testing
19. Game Engine Architecture
20. Adobe Creative Suite
21. CorelDraw
22. Game Flow
23. User Interface
24. User Experience
25. Level Design
26. Game Mechanics
27. Visual Design
28. Web Design
29. Graphic Design
30. Asset Management
31. Microsoft Excel

#9. Take Advantage of Optional Resume Sections

Do you still have some space on your resume? Fill it up by leveraging optional sections. 

These are not as crucial to your resume as other sections we’ve already mentioned above, but they can definitely help if the hiring manager is on the fence between you and another candidate with similar work experience and skills. 

Here are a few sections you can choose from:

• Awards. Having your work nominated for a Game of the Year award or winning a smaller video game contest is all worth mentioning on your resume.
• Certifications. Technology keeps developing, and different game design software quickly follows. Spending some of your free time learning and developing new skills shows dedication to the craft, and gives a boost to your resume.
• Languages. Game designers often have to lead international teams, so being able to communicate in more than one language is always a plus. In fact, according to MarketSplash, the most common languages spoken by game designers in the US are Spanish and Japanese.
• Hobbies and interests. You might be surprised to find out that some companies actually encourage candidates to share their hobbies and interests on their applications, so you can always use this section to show a bit of your personality.

#10. Include a Cover Letter

Sometimes skipping a sidequest can have terrible consequences in the boss fight.

In this case, the seemingly minor detail that can change your end game is lacking a cover letter.

This means it’s still crucial to write a cover letter for your job application.

According to Forbes, not adding a cover letter is the one mistake too many job applicants make.

A tailored cover letter shows the hiring manager you really are passionate about working for their company, that you dedicated time and energy to perfect your application, and that you’re worth giving a chance.

The problem here is that most people get stuck when it comes to writing a cover letter. How do you sell your skills and experience without coming across as too conceited? 

But don’t worry! We have all the cover letter tips you need to write the perfect accompanying piece to your resume.

Here’s an example of what a great game designer cover letter looks like:

Let’s look at how you should structure your cover letter:

• Include your contact information. Your cover letter’s header should have the same contact details as your resume, including your full name, job title, phone number, and professional email address.
• Address the hiring manager. A bit of research goes a long way when it comes to making a good impression. By finding out the hiring manager’s name or at least information about your department, you show initiative and dedication that make you stand out from other candidates.
• Create a strong opening. The first paragraph of your resume should be short and attention-grabbing. Make sure you mention why you’re writing, and what one of your most impressive skills or qualifications is. paragraph.
• Expand on the details. The body of your cover letter should get into why you’re the right candidate for the job. Include details about your professional background, and any information you didn’t have space to elaborate on in your resume, and be sure to mention how and why you align with the company’s vision and mission statement. You can also name-drop some of your previous employers if they’ve created successful video games.
• End your cover letter the right way. Conclude your cover letter by adding a call to action (e.g. ‘I look forward to speaking with you and discussing how I may contribute to your future work.’). And one of the most common mistakes is not signing your cover letter, so remember to add an appropriate closing line. (e.g. Sincerely,)

Key Takeaways

And that was the full walkthrough on how to make your game designer resume!

Hopefully, now you feel confident about playing the job-hunting game.

• Choose a professional resume template so you don’t have to worry about tweaking the layout.
• Opt-in for the reverse-chronological resume format to highlight your recent work experience first.
• To catch a hiring manager’s attention, always add a resume summary that includes your years of experience, top skills, and achievements.
• Highlight your game design achievements, including things like user downloads and recognitions, so that the hiring manager will immediately see what you can bring to the table.
• Tailor your portfolio and resume skills to match what the employer is looking for.
• Use optional sections to fill in any leftover space on your resume, and make your application stand out from other candidates.