Should my resume note that video game credits are not trustworthy?

October 12, 2011 2:54 PM

job hunt / resume question (creative/tech positions). I worked in the video game industry, and am applying for positions outside that industry. Should I include in my resume a note that video game credits are often inaccurate and checking them does not substitute for contacting an employer if seeking confirmation?

Some of the most impressive stuff on my resume is projects that don't credit me at all. This isn't actually meaningful, but I worry that HR from a non-game-industry won't know this, and might try to verify my claims with a quick google search instead of a drawn-out inquiry to the appropriate company, and erroneously decide I'm inflating my resume.

Do you work in HR? How real is this risk?

If you're involved in hiring and see applicant resumes - might a note (telling you to ignore the credits lists on games I claim that I worked on) make you suspicious?

(I am interested in a designers position (though probably something more technical than graphic design) if that context helps.)

Here is a draft wording: (it would be included in my "references" section)
Note: the video game industry does not have Hollywood-style union standardization of credits, and credit list accuracy varies greatly between companies and projects. Within the industry, video game credits are not considered reliable, and do not substitute for contacting an employer if confirmation of project involvement is sought.

What would be your thoughts on noticing that in someone's resume?

My fear is that most people are aware of Hollywood movie credits, which are meaningful, and would naturally assume that video game credits are similar.

(For example, some companies populate a project's credits list with everyone in the company on the ship date, regardless of whether they never worked on the project, and omitting people who did work on it but are no-longer at the company, other companies list everyone who worked directly on the project, regardless of where they currently work, others omit or include contractors, IT, admin, etc. There is such inconsistency that presence or absence of a credit conveys no information about whether you did or didn't work on that project. Industry workers are generally aware that credits are unreliable and so don't pay them heed.

Were you aware of this?

Does a note in the resume risk tripping suspicion, or insulting the competence of an HR worker, or other negative reactions?

Is it a smaller risk to not have the note and hope that HR doesn't use google?

posted by anonymous to work & money (7 answers total)

I hire technical/software folks all the time and I would have never thought to check an online credit list for employment history. I wouldn't worry about it. I would not include a note.
posted by bottlebrushtree at 3:01 PM on October 12, 2011 [1 favorite]

I don't know if this helps, but in Hollywood, people routinely do uncredited work. Union contracts may determine credits, but that usually means that the 18 people who actually wrote Transformers get reduced to two or three names. So if by chance you're looking for work in film and TV, people are already familiar with this model and I think explaining it would just confuse them.
posted by thehmsbeagle at 3:12 PM on October 12, 2011 [1 favorite]

HR person: I would never google to check employment history or anything like that. I don't know of anyone that does. This just doesn't come up. Besides, they aren't going to check your employment history until after you've interviewed and they already like you anyway so you have time to explain that if you really feel it necessary (though I don't).

The fact that video games even HAVE credits is something that wouldn't naturally pop into my mind anyway, even though I've played them and seen credit at the end.
posted by magnetsphere at 3:57 PM on October 12, 2011 [1 favorite]

Note: the video game industry does not have Hollywood-style union standardization of credits, and credit list accuracy varies greatly between companies and projects. Within the industry, video game credits are not considered reliable, and do not substitute for contacting an employer if confirmation of project involvement is sought.

On top of what everyone else has said, this is just too wordy and bureaucratic-sounding to put in a resume. There's also the "Don't think of elephants!" problem. You're trying to address the tiny number of people who would have checked the credits, but what you'll really do is make the other 99+% of people go: "Huh, I wonder what would happen if we checked the credits ..."
posted by John Cohen at 4:21 PM on October 12, 2011 [1 favorite]

Instead of discouraging them from googling the credits, I'd just make it super easy for them to follow the path you want them to take -- maybe include a sheet of references including contact people they can call.
posted by selfmedicating at 4:29 PM on October 12, 2011 [1 favorite]

One other thing no one has mentioned: anyone reading this will be able to infer that you checked the credits, and you noticed that you aren't listed. In other words, they could translate it as: "Hey, just so you know, my name definitely doesn't appear anywhere on the credits for these projects!" They could then draw any conclusions from this they wanted — possibly that your role wasn't so important. Now, I'm not saying this would be a huge negative. But it isn't a positive.
posted by John Cohen at 7:27 PM on October 12, 2011

If I came across that note on a resume I was reviewing, I would immediately red-flag it and move on to a different candidate. If I'm not hiring you to write games, I don't care about fanboy-credits stuff, I care about being able to call up HR at xyz-games and get an answer. Bringing up something I would have no reasonable interest in and saying "ignore this thing that I brought up" just doesn't seem very professional.
posted by nomisxid at 8:18 AM on October 13, 2011 [1 favorite]