Interview with Joanna Giordano, Career Coach

As I mentioned before, I'm now offering online workshops on game writing tests and portfolio preparation.  I get my information by talking to industry hirers, recruiters, and human resources.  

To give you a glimpse into the human resources mindset, here's a short interview with Joanna Giordano, your "friend in HR," as she likes to call herself.  

She's also a career coach who can give you candid resume reviews, job search strategy consultations, and resume writing lessons. She specializes in helping people with long career gaps, career pivoters, early career job seekers wondering how to get experience when all jobs require experience, and those with diverse backgrounds who need to tell a story about transferable skills.

Question: Should we be doing anything different to prepare for Zoom interviews than what we would do for in-person or phone? 

Joanna:  You get the advantage of knowing your environment ahead of time, which is good because hopefully you will feel comfortable. Watch your lighting and camera angle. Best to face a window or diffused light. Put the computer (not phone if possible) on some books so the angle is more eye-level. We don’t want to look up your nose. Be sure you are looking at the camera and not a different screen. Pay attention to your background! 

Question: What can you do about gaps in work experience or lack of credits? Some people have worked on games that have never shipped.

Joanna:  Focus on spinning facts in a positive light. Even if your have not shipped or scored a credit, you still worked, learned, delivered something most likely. Gaps can be zoomed out artfully by giving a season or year instead of exact date or month. Your experiences can go out of order if it serves to highlight the most relevant experience to be top most instead of the most recent. Include experience that was not paid if it is relevant or serves to help fill in. Volunteering, studying, etc. If you have nothing, then start immediately and add to your resume immediately. 

Question: In your opinion, what are things that need to be addressed and taken away immediately? 

Joanna: No photos, addresses, tiny fonts, block text, second pages. 

Bio: Joanna has worked for over 10 years in corporate HR in recruiting and talent acquisition operations. She has seen thousands of resumes and has unique knowledge about both the human and machine side of the selection process. She believes if you’re going to play the game, you should know the rules. Her webinars have drawn hundreds from an international audience. The mission is to make this common knowledge more accessible to alleviate the frustration felt by job seekers. No one likes writing a resume, but it remains a necessary evil for the foreseeable future. Applying is not a black hole, it’s a black box.

If you'd like to get help from Joanna Giordano, you can find her on LinkedIn.