
56 Resume Writing Tips and Tricks for 2023
You can stop searching—this is the ultimate collection of best resume tips that can help you succeed in 2023. These resume writing tips will help to impress hiring managers.
You work your magic, turning lines on a page, bits on a drive, or modeling clay into seemingly living and breathing characters. Use your animator resume to showcase your talents.
Animation work runs the full gamut, from daily grind to fine art and everything in between—
And often everything at once.
Each animator has walked a unique path to get to where they are and acquired a unique skill set along the way. How can you tell your story? With a vivid animator resume that really impresses.
In this guide you'll find:
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Looking to put your artistic and animation skills to use in another field? Check out some of our other guides:
Want to explore other options? See our selection of resume samples for other jobs.
Scott Phillips
Animator
Personal Info
Phone: 610-217-4590
E-mail: scott.k.phillips@reslab.com
linkedin.com/in/scottk4phillips
www.scottphillipsportfolio.com
Summary
Driven animator with 6+ years’ experience, skilled in character development. Seeking opportunity to produce high quality animation work for SF Studios. At Griffon Lab Studios, animated a total of 20+ hours of interactive learning content and mentored 5 animators throughout a formal six-week program and beyond.
Experience
Character Animator
Griffon Lab Studios, Austin, TX
May 2019–present
Animator
Studio Powerhouse, Austin, TX
February 2016–May 2019
Education
Bachelor of Fine Arts in Animation
Rocky Mountain College of Art + Design, Denver, CO
September 2011–May 2015
Skills
Animation Tools
Awards
Animators use discrete, ordered images to create the illusion of continuity and movement. They are tasked with designing and creating 2D and 3D animation sequences and fine tuning animations. Animators can work in many fields like film, television, or video games.
The purpose of your animator resume is to show you know your way around the relevant physical and digital tools and have the artistic vision and work ethic to succeed.
Now here’s how to write an animator resume they’ll love:
Picture this:
Joseph, hiring manager and gatekeeper for your dream job, is going through his inbox and downloading all the animator resumes that make the first cut.
His “keepers” folder is sorted alphabetically, so it’s easy to see that your animator resume is... not there.
Why?
It just didn’t look like interview material. “First glance” is all it got. So make sure your resume format looks the part. Here’s how:
Treating PDF as the default file format for your resume makes sense unless the company specifically asks for a different file format. They may need a .docx if their ATS (Applicant Tracking System) that can’t deal with PDFs, for instance.
You’re probably no stranger to the so-called elevator pitch—
A resume profile section does the same thing for your animator resume. Have you been creating animations for years? Make your profile take the form of a resume summary. It’ll let you make the most of all that work experience.
Use:
These animator resume examples show how:
Who would you hire?
The first of these animator resume examples impresses in two ways: It mentions only concrete achievements, not general duties, and quantifies everything possible. And it’s focused on what the animator can do for their employer, not what they want to receive from them.
What if you have little or no animation experience?
That’s where a resume objective makes for a better profile. Use it to shift the focus onto relevant achievements from your education, freelancing, personal projects, and non-animator jobs.
Again, the first animator resume sample takes home the award (of a job interview). It’s OK to estimate when quantifying your achievements, just be ready to justify your estimates.
Struggling to put resume profile-shaped marks on the blank page in front of you?
Leave writing your profile until after you’ve got your job descriptions and skills section done. It’ll be easier, and you’ll do a better job.
You don’t tell people how great your animations are—
You show them your portfolio. It’s pretty much the same here:
Fill your work experience resume section with achievements to show them what you’re like as an employee.
How to write a job description for animators:
These animator resume examples show how:
Character Animator
Griffon Lab Studios, Austin, TX
May 2019–present
Character Animator
Griffon Lab Studios
2019–present
Small tweaks, big difference.
Lists of duties are never going to be as effective as even just a few quantified accomplishments.
Don’t have enough animation work history to pull this off?
Lean on relevant achievements from non-animation jobs. And while you’re here—It’s time to gather the skills to put on a resume. But remember, cramming in as many random animator skills as possible is not your ticket to success.
Instead—
Cover everything alluded to in the job ad and stop there. 5-10 skills is plenty.
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Animation might be an art and a craft—
But that doesn’t mean that formal education isn’t important in becoming an animator.
First list your degrees (including majors), schools, and graduation years. Then add bullet points that speak to key animation and soft skills. This animator resume example shows how:
Bachelor of Fine Arts in Animation
Rocky Mountain College of Art + Design, Denver, CO
September 2011–June 2015
Short on paid animator experience?
Expand your education section to include projects, classes, and accomplishments that show animator skills like animation software proficiency and collaboration.
Like a coyote shopping only at Acme—
Most resumes for animator jobs are limited to experience, education, and skills sections. And those that buck this trend often end up with soot in their eyes after choosing the wrong extra sections to include.
So add one or two of these sections:
These two animator resume examples show yes vs no:
Animation Tools
Awards
Hobbies and Interests Awards
Sly cat, meet unexpectedly appearing giant bulldog.
There’s nothing wrong with including hobbies and interests on your animator resume, in fact, they can be among your greatest assets. As long as every single thing you mention in your resume is clearly relevant to the job ad at hand.
One last act to get through:
Does the job ad ask applicants not to include a cover letter? If so, you’re in luck! Otherwise, you still have some work ahead of you. Write a cover letter that elaborates on what makes you eager to join the company and why you’d be the perfect match.
Double your impact with a matching resume and cover letter combo. Use our cover letter generator and make your application documents pop out.
Want to try a different look? There's 21 more. A single click will give your document a total makeover. Pick a cover letter template here.
For an animator resume that gets interviews:
Thanks for reading! Still not confident you can write your best resume for animation? Maybe you have some advice for newbies writing their first animator resume? Leave a comment below!
You can stop searching—this is the ultimate collection of best resume tips that can help you succeed in 2023. These resume writing tips will help to impress hiring managers.
Get ready to rock your student resume game in 2023! We've got the secrets to crafting a resume that'll make employers do a double take.
Check our curated list of the best Google Docs resume templates. Choose the one you like, follow our tips and make a resume you can be proud of.