How To Put DnD On A Resume
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Should you include DnD on your resume?
Knowing how to put DnD on a resume will ensure you put your best foot forward in your job application. Include Dungeons and Dragons in your resume if it is a major part of your life. This will show who you really are and make a great conversation topic. It can also help you win points with other geeks during the hiring process.
However, there is a right way and a wrong way to include DnD. As someone who has reviewed thousands of resumes and interviewed hundreds of candidates, and hired many (and also met my wife at a gaming night, and has read The Wheel of Time three times), I will share my perspective with you. Below is an example resume line from r/DnD. This is not the correct way to include D&D on your resume.
Where to place DND on your resume
Your D&D experience should be treated the same way as other hobbies such as:
- Poker
- Board games
- Video games
- Reading interests
- Creativity in writing
- Improv comedy
- Performance of music
Your level of accomplishment and commitment will determine where you place any hobby on your resume. The following sections will help you make your decision about where to place DnD on your resume.
- Interests and Hobbies: at the end of your resume
- Achievements: If you can sum up an impressive, quantifiable outcome about your DnD experience
- Your professional experience if it was part your professional responsibility
In addition, there are three factors that will determine where D&D (or any other hobbies) is included in your resume.
- Your level of experience in DnD
- The job that you are applying for and how DnD is related to the skills needed for job success
DnD will most likely go under hobbies, but you can include it under experience if it is directly related to your job like at a Fantasy bookstore or gaming company.
What phrases to use to describe your position in DnD on a resume
These are some examples of how it looks to include DnD on your resume. For each case, there are analogous non-D&D examples.
| Section / Use when… | Example / Analogue |
| Hobbies: DnD is an everyday part of your daily life | “Dungeon Master at Weekly DnD Group” “Marathon running” |
| Achievements: You have achieved something significant or quantifiable. | “Dungeon master for 500+ D&D sessions and creator of RPG Blog with 100K monthly visitors” “Among the top 2% of 1.5 Million PredictIt users who use it for political betting, with $10K lifetime profits” |
| Skills: Your DnD experience directly transfers to the job that you are applying for. | When applying to a leadership training/facilitation role: “Experience solving creative problems as a Dungeon Master during 200+ D&D role-playing sessions” “10 Years of Improv Comedy, with 1K+ performances and facilitation 100+ improve workshops.” |
| Experience: Your DnD knowledge will be used in your target job | When applying to a writing position at a videogame company: “Facilitated 500+ roles as Dungeon Master and self-published three LitRPG books on Amazon with 10K total sale” Apply to market at a videogame company by creating an eSports instagram profile with 10K followers. |
Situations when DnD should not be included in your resume
DnD is a great hobby. This checklist will help you if you are considering adding the experience to another section of your resume.
- Don’t disguise it. You shouldn’t pretend that you were playing an RPG. Someone will ask you about your line “facilitated weekly creative thought and problem solving session”. Your credibility will be eroded just like someone who listed their poker game in this way: “Organized weekly mathematical risk assessment and decision making training exercise.”
- You can only include the accomplishment if you can quantify the event.
- Do not emphasize DnD if it is not related to your job.
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