Cover Letters

A cover letter is used as an introduction with a CV to help tell the employer about the individual and persuade them to hired them.

I looked at some examples from http://www.dayjob.com

This Cover letter from Karen Cunningham (example name) talks a lot on how she is enthusiastic about getting the job and talks on how she has the right skills for the job, she has spoken about her last job and how it has given her experience relative to the job she is applying for.
She has also bullet pointed her strengths in a clear separate format which is the most eye catching feature among the rest of the text.












Another example here under the name of Michael Robinson, he tells the reader that he is confident in not only getting the job but that he can become a top performer of the place he is applying for persuading the employer that this person can prove to be very useful and that he is employable.














I've also found some bad examples of cover letters that will show what I must avoid writing when applying for work.
http://www.kent.ac.uk/careers/cv/goodbadcovlet.htm

Dear Sir or Madman
I am about to complete my English and American Literature degree at the University of Kent, with a prospective result of a 2:1. As a literature student, I have a strong love of books of all types and see work in a bookshop as a career area which would be a good starting point for a career in publishing which is my eventual career aim.
I have good experience of retail, having worked as a shelf stacker for Sainsburies. I have studied modules in Shakespeare, War Poets, Dickens and Creative Writing all of which I feel give me valuable knowledge. My interests include reading, playing computer games and stamp collecting and I am currently reading Robbie Williams' thought-provoking autobiography.

One of the main and worse mistakes showed in this Cover letter is a spelling mistake, especially when applying for a job involving books.

He tells the employer that book selling is only his idea as a starting point to go into publishing, while this may be true for many others in this context it should not be admitted on a cover letter as the employer will think this person is not dedicated to the job.

Repetition is also shown in this Cover letter, which is wasted words as it only tells the employer what they may already know.

Making a CV

I looked through various good and bad CVs to help show me what my CV should look like when I plan to look for work with the experience I aim to get out of this course.

Here are two good CVs

 Notice some of the key features of how it makes a "good" CV by the bigger font for the name so it stands out to the one reading it. Keeping a brief personal statement if needed that states revelant skills you have for the job you are applying for.
When writing down education only the latest course/place of study has been listed showin.

Here are two bad CVs

One of the notable bad points here is that "Curriculum Vitae" which is completely unnecessary as the reader will know what the letter is about when they read it.

The e-mail address used can be considered inappropriate to the employee, it's could be flexible however depending on the company applying for.

http://www.kent.ac.uk/careers/cv/goodbadCV.htm

Desired Job role

Looking through the job roles on Blitz Academy there are various roles that I aim to expand my experience on, my most desired role on the list is being a 3D Modeller and already has been for a while as that is where my passion lies. There are many other roles on the list that also appeal to me in the game industry such as being a Texture Artist as I enjoy texturing/mapping models, an Animator as I'm interested in adding motion to characters and models and an Audio Designer as I am interested in making and adding audio for games.

Roles of interest
> 3D Modeller
> Texture Artist
> 3D Animator
> Games Audio Designer

Bethesda

I've looked through game company's websites that have produced some of my favourite games such as The Elder Scrolls and Fallout from Bethesda Game Studios and Portal 1 & 2 from Valve.

From Bethesda I have found one job post for a Character Designer which would be one place I would apply for when I get the experience, the majority of the requirements are skills I already planned to expand on such as

"Excellent modeling and texturing skills. Experience with 3D Studio Max and Photoshop.Animation experience a plus. Zbrush experience a plus".

It however also asks for"Excellent fine art skills (sketch work and/or 3D concept work)." Which I currently lack in so it would mean I need to promptly work on my drawing skills if I wanted to apply this job role.

Crytek
The game developer of one of my favourite PC games Crysis is another workplace I would love to try and reach for, Crytek have companies in various countries with one being in Nottingham as a UK option, there is currently only one job available in Nottingham as a Lead Artist which I would be interesting if I am able to develop leadership skills.

The job roles "Must Have" requirements lists everything I aim to get out of my BA such as Knowledge on Photoshop, Zbrush and 3Ds Max, to be able to work with Game Engines and to have a pro-active work attidude.

01/10/2013
Valve Job Listing

http://www.valvesoftware.com/jobs/job_postings.html

Bethesda Job Listing
http://jobs.zenimax.com/requisitions/view/71

http://www.blitzgamesstudios.com/blitz_academy/job_roles

Crytek Job Listing
http://www.crytek.com/career/offers/overview/nottingham/art-animation/art-lead3d-content

Jessie Shell, Shell Games
FZDSCHOOL