Sigh,
1. So this is something that has been happening a lot in the past month, even by my friends who know I'm telling the truth.
Sure, a lot of people puff up their resume about 15-20%, it's expected.
I don't.
If you see a figure or a result, or a title, it happened, as I put it. or it's a conservative estimate.
My friends are telling me that even them knowing me, and who have been an active part of the organizations I'm listing still find it hard to believe. And if they didn't know me, and were reviewing the document for the 1st time, would think this person is/ might be delusional.
2. The core issue seems to be, that it only really makes sense to those in and around the games industry, any other industry professional has no idea what any of it means, even tho I break it down in conventional business terms, as well as detailed transferable skills. (including a lot of tech companies)
The reaction most people seem to have is not knowing what to make of me or my experience, because it seems in this world, people want single hat specialists, not multi hat generalists.
As a producer, I'm basically an administrative generalist.
But since they don't know what is going on, with my remote experience, they just assume it's all worthless, since they don't understand, and have any frame of reference.Or, they think I have no career focus, which can't be further from the truth.
A while ago, I was told by several people, to remove all my games experience, so I tried that for one version, and it looked so depressing, it made me look like a totally green cookie cutter college student/ grad.
It's better now with remote experience, then it was before 2013, due to what happened with Yahoo, but some older hiring managers (late 30s, to 40s+) are still the same way...
3. I have 5+ years of volunteer project management experience and 3 years of clan management experience (which I did concurrently at school) , and a year and a half of in person work experience. 1 year in management for a nonprofit. (which I did after I graduated college), that is just the broad strokes.
I realized a while back, that I learned way more in my volunteer projects, then all the years of schooling.
Not to mention, all the ways I have proof of it all, they just need to look it up on linkedin or google, or check my references. (Which 99% of people don't bother with while screening resumes in the initial stages, because your meant to do it later, if they pass, initial screenings.)
4. I'm not able to get to some interviews, to actually show them anything.
And when I do make it, they usually steer the conversations around my remote experience, and don't ask any questions about any of it.
Sometimes I bring it up, and they just give me these blank stares with a nice smile on their face, I try my best to explain how I'm not playing games but it's clear a lot still don't get it.
5. All my volunteer experience is way more impressive and had way more an impact, then any of my in person paid gigs, and if I emphasize that too much, it puts me in the big leagues, with those who have been paid for it all, which I usually lose out to. But having so much supervisory experience by my mid 20s makes me look overqualified, and in some cases looked down on, if I go and take an entry level conventional job, that is meant to be for people in my cohort. (or others ~2 years out of college.)
6. Most of my volunteer experience is not for conventional feel good causes, I notice how people react to others who have say a few months with an identifiable cause, vs. how they react to me, with years of volunteer gamedev.
7. Furthermore, from all I've learned about modding and indie, it's incredibly rare to find people who have been working on a single project for so long, let alone with a large team of 15+
8. The other thing is, I don't "look" like or "act" like, what conventional society and standard business stereotypes would demand and expect for a person with such managerial experience/ success.
Maybe if I was a 6 foot tall handsome looking white extremely extroverted serious type, it would get their attention and respect for what I've accomplished?
The high level of my resume doesn't really match my usual style and personality.
In other words, I'm way more polished and impressive online, than I usually am in person.