Craft the perfect animator CV this year

Create your best CV for an animator role by illustrating your greatest abilities. Take a Look at our CV samples and seize that job today!

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Table of Contents

  1. What should I highlight in an animator CV?
  2. Structure of an animator CV
  3. Do’s and don’ts for an animator CV
  4. FAQ: Animator CVs

What should I highlight in an animator CV?

To gain the animator position you want, use this document to sculpt a high-quality image of yourself in your CV, exhibiting your best attributes to the hiring manager.

Follow these CV tips to present yourself with style and create the perfect CV. Take a look at an animator CV sample to refine your professional CV for that animator job.

Structure of an animator CV

The standard CV structure includes a header, summary or objective, a skills section, a work history section, and an education section. Despite that, you can still do a lot with layout and presentation. Keep it simple by using these CV samples to guide you. For even more help, you can use this CV builder instead. 

Take a look at the three CV formats when putting your CV together: functional, chronological and combination. The functional format is perfect for presenting your skills, the chronological is best for highlighting your work history and the combination design gives both skills and experiences equal focus.

Header

The header contains all the essential contact information so that the recruiter can get in touch with you about the role directly. Your full name, telephone number, and email address should go here, along with a link to your professional website or online portfolio, like Linkedin.

Professional summary or career objective

The professional summary is where you present an overview of your strengths to the employer. Pinpoint where you gained work experience or knowledge that best displays your suitability for the role. Then create a powerful two-to-three sentence paragraph using action verbs to start every sentence. Put yourself in the recruiter’s position; what do they want to read when picking up an applicant’s CV?

If you have years of experience in animation, you should let the hiring manager know. Alternatively, if you are new to animation as your vocation, you can also use this space to detail your career aspirations. Demonstrate how eager you are to develop your skills in animation and excel at the role using a career objective. A summary is geared more towards job seekers with job experiences they can highlight. Show your expertise in particular animation skills, such as motion capture for cinematic films or compositing.

Skills

The skills section is where you detail skills that match what the job description needs. Use bullet points rather than complete sentences and include both hard skills (technical knowledge and abilities) and soft skills (important intangible traits). You can draw these skills from your education, employment or passion projects. For example:

  • Experience in character design and character animation
  • Proficiency in Adobe Illustrator and Adobe Photoshop
  • Proficient in using 2D animation software, such as After Effects
  • Expertise in creating visual effects (VFX) using 3D animation software, such as Autodesk Maya and 3DS Max
  • Excellent interpersonal and teamwork abilities
  • Efficient at working with tight deadlines

Work history

The work history section is the perfect place to put all the examples and evidence that you are up to the task. This section proves that you really do have the abilities you mentioned in the skills section. Start with your most recent or current role and write about previous positions going back no more than ten years. You should have employers’ names, locations, job titles and dates of employment. Include a few key bullet points for each job, outlining your responsibilities but focusing on your achievements in each position. For example, you could state how you were involved with storyboard creation to bring a concept to life at one company or how you designed animated characters for video games at another.

Education

Feature your top academic credentials and certifications here – for example, a bachelor’s degree in animation or previous qualifications in illustration. List any relevant training you have completed to gain proficiency in specific creative software or technical skills. Animation work is artistic and technical, so any qualifications showcasing these abilities are relevant.

Do’s and don’ts for an animator CV

These tips will steer you in the right direction: 

Do: 

  • Do add links to your CV for any online portfolio with examples of your animation work or personal projects.
  • Do refine your CV to pass applicant tracking systems (ATS) by addressing specific skills and job requirements from the job posting. Businesses often use ATS to shortlist CVs based on how well they match the job description.
  • Do keep your CV straightforward and simple with two font styles maximum, and a limit on text effects.

Don’t:

  • Don’t make your CV too long. It should be one or two pages long with short, punchy phrases rather than verbose sentences, and focus on specific skills and qualifications the job needs.
  • Don’t overcram your CV with too much information. The entirety of your experience will not likely fit comfortably in a CV, so do some pruning and determine which bits matter most.
  • Don’t forget your alignment; make your dates and job titles line up correctly and aim for symmetry.

FAQ: Animator CVs

Q: Is it necessary to include a cover letter for an animator job application?

Yes, applications without cover letters might not get considered, so you must create one for every application. For guidance to help you create your cover letter, look through these cover letter examples.

Q: How can I create an animator CV when I don't have much experience?

Adaptation is key! Your primary work history and qualifications will remain the same, but you can gear your CV to the role you want in animation with a few modifications. One of the ways to do this is with the career objective, which is great for career changers or someone just starting out in this field.

Another way to do this is to draw out the relevant details from your previous employment that match the job description requirements. For example, illustrate your ability to meet tight deadlines from an earlier role. Your background may be in a related field such as graphic design or fine arts, in which case many transferable creative and technical skills are found in these degrees or jobs.

Q: Is there any difference between a CV and a resume?

In the UK, a resume and a CV have the same function. In the U.S., however, a CV is only used in fields like academia or sciences, where employers request a lot more information about your career, and a resume is usually required for general job openings and works similarly to a UK CV.

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