This document provides advice and information for students pursuing careers in the video game industry. It discusses the importance of networking, joining professional groups, attending industry events like GDC and E3, creating an online portfolio, and tips for job searching, interviews and being an employee or contractor. Key recommendations include regularly reading industry news, volunteering, maintaining social media profiles, and securing references who can vouch for your work experience and skills.
Abstract
Today's job market is many things. It's demanding. It's competitive. But it shouldn't be scary. Employers get more responses to their job ads than ever, but the scattershot approach most job seekers take makes it easy to stand out from the crowd. Come learn what employers are looking for, but would never mention in their ads. Topics will include resumes, cover letters, and personal branding, from a developer who has hired developers and just completed a successful job search himself.
Bio
Dave Ross has been developing software professionally for 11 years, and currently works as a lead developer strengthening teams to build amazing web sites and applications. He's active in the local tech scene, running a PHP user group and speaking at other groups in the area. In addition, he finds time to develop plugins for Wordpress, a popular open source content management system, and volunteers at a local cat shelter.
Jobhunting and the Absence of Online PrivacyJim Stroud
This presentation explains the importance of your online reputation, how to build it and how to protect it. Use the tips in this presentation to take your job hunting to the next level. And please, do pass it on to others that could use the advice.
Search Engine Optimization (SEO) doesn’t have to be a black art. It’s deceptively simple. Learn the basic and intermediate ways to increase your ranks in Google that the pros use, and you can too.
Abstract
Today's job market is many things. It's demanding. It's competitive. But it shouldn't be scary. Employers get more responses to their job ads than ever, but the scattershot approach most job seekers take makes it easy to stand out from the crowd. Come learn what employers are looking for, but would never mention in their ads. Topics will include resumes, cover letters, and personal branding, from a developer who has hired developers and just completed a successful job search himself.
Bio
Dave Ross has been developing software professionally for 11 years, and currently works as a lead developer strengthening teams to build amazing web sites and applications. He's active in the local tech scene, running a PHP user group and speaking at other groups in the area. In addition, he finds time to develop plugins for Wordpress, a popular open source content management system, and volunteers at a local cat shelter.
Jobhunting and the Absence of Online PrivacyJim Stroud
This presentation explains the importance of your online reputation, how to build it and how to protect it. Use the tips in this presentation to take your job hunting to the next level. And please, do pass it on to others that could use the advice.
Search Engine Optimization (SEO) doesn’t have to be a black art. It’s deceptively simple. Learn the basic and intermediate ways to increase your ranks in Google that the pros use, and you can too.
Abstract: The unquestioned popularity of video games as a pre-eminent source of entertainment has brought with it a renewed focus on the medium from the political and scholarly arenas. Games are an robust economic force, yet research tends to focus on their content as being "good" or "bad" rather than the experiences of the players themselves, which leaves our understanding of the phenomenology of the video game experience incomplete (at best) and inaccurate (at worst). To this end, Dr. Bowman's presentation will briefly review the current state of gaming research before suggesting ways in which scholars can pursue gaming research that compliments rather than replicates what has already been gleaned from more media effects-oriented studies, citing four exemplar studies.
Bio: Nick Bowman (Ph.D., Michigan State University) is an assistant professor in the Department of Communication Studies at West Virginia University where he specializes in digital and social media technology - in particular, the motivations and uses of interactive media for entertainment, relational, informational and persuasive purposes. He has published nearly two dozen research articles in journals such as Computers in Human Behavior, Media Psychology, New Media and Society, and Journal of Communication and currently serves on the editorial board of Media Psychology and Journal of Media Psychology. He is an active member of National Communication Association and International Communication Association, and is an avid gamer of third- and fourth-generation video game consoles.
Human beings are higher primates. We are essentially hairless chimps with egos and speech. Unfortunately we so often buy into our own propaganda thinking we aren't simply slightly more complex mammals. We are hardwired through 300+ million years of evolution to react to our environment and stimuli. Unless you understand that you must sell to the part of the brain that buys and makes decisions and you must appeal to another part to validate the evidence and another part to make sure the sale is approved and won't get sunk by a change of heart, you will always be playing the lottery as a salesperson. How you behave in the sale, as in life, will determine your results. This is a quick and dirty introduction to seller-buyer psychology with some transactional analysis to help you understand how to communicate your sales message effectively to potential buyers and prevent back-outs, cancellations and buyer's remorse.
Abstract: The unquestioned popularity of video games as a pre-eminent source of entertainment has brought with it a renewed focus on the medium from the political and scholarly arenas. Games are an robust economic force, yet research tends to focus on their content as being "good" or "bad" rather than the experiences of the players themselves, which leaves our understanding of the phenomenology of the video game experience incomplete (at best) and inaccurate (at worst). To this end, Dr. Bowman's presentation will briefly review the current state of gaming research before suggesting ways in which scholars can pursue gaming research that compliments rather than replicates what has already been gleaned from more media effects-oriented studies, citing four exemplar studies.
Bio: Nick Bowman (Ph.D., Michigan State University) is an assistant professor in the Department of Communication Studies at West Virginia University where he specializes in digital and social media technology - in particular, the motivations and uses of interactive media for entertainment, relational, informational and persuasive purposes. He has published nearly two dozen research articles in journals such as Computers in Human Behavior, Media Psychology, New Media and Society, and Journal of Communication and currently serves on the editorial board of Media Psychology and Journal of Media Psychology. He is an active member of National Communication Association and International Communication Association, and is an avid gamer of third- and fourth-generation video game consoles.
Human beings are higher primates. We are essentially hairless chimps with egos and speech. Unfortunately we so often buy into our own propaganda thinking we aren't simply slightly more complex mammals. We are hardwired through 300+ million years of evolution to react to our environment and stimuli. Unless you understand that you must sell to the part of the brain that buys and makes decisions and you must appeal to another part to validate the evidence and another part to make sure the sale is approved and won't get sunk by a change of heart, you will always be playing the lottery as a salesperson. How you behave in the sale, as in life, will determine your results. This is a quick and dirty introduction to seller-buyer psychology with some transactional analysis to help you understand how to communicate your sales message effectively to potential buyers and prevent back-outs, cancellations and buyer's remorse.
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Expanded slides from the talk given at the Tech Women London Meetup group https://www.meetup.com/Tech-Women-London/ on 29th August 2017
"Wordy" slides are additions. The blue quote slides were most of the original presentation.
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Mobile games have become increasingly high-stakes over the last few years. Successful games make billions, but most games launch to failure, and few get a second chance from either platforms or players. Most developers test their games in various ways, from individual playtest sessions to geo-locked launches in Canada and Australia. But many games still launch with poor retention, monetization, tech problems, or some combination of the three. What's going wrong?
Kongregate has now put more than 20 games through test markets, learning valuable lessons along the way. This talk from GDC 2016 is a pragmatic guide to creating a test strategy, taking into account budget and schedule along with the benefits and pitfalls of various methods and the psychological traps that teams fall into as they evaluate results. The talk is illustrated by case studies and metrics from Kongregate's portfolio including AdVenture Capitalist, Spellstone, Raid Brigade and more.
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Some questionable language included.
Advice to students about to graduate and looking to get started in the film industry. Guide to creating your resume, how to network and get noticed, making the most of trade shows and film festivals, creating your own internship, and how to survive working deferred on your first films.
This is the 2019 edition of the "How to get a job" aka Career advice. This deck talks about the key things employers are interested in and things you as a student can do to make yourself more employable.
NOTE: These slides are meant as an accompaniment to the talk which provided more context and examples.
We’ve made this post to show you that cool careers do exist… you just have to search for them. Here are 4 awesome and unique jobs that you didn’t know existed.
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For more information, visit-www.vavaclasses.com
2. READ
DAILY
Current events will impact your work one way or another.
Know what they are. Strive to understand the world and use
that understanding to make your games more interesting,
accurate, insightful or challenging. A myopic world view limits
creativity.
3. Networking
Most games jobs are filled based on
recommendations through friends or friends of
friends.
The more people you know in the game industry, the
better chances you have about hearing about job
opportunities.
4. Professional Groups
IGDA/LA
http://legacy.igda.org/la
https://www.facebook.com/groups/231368329464/
Student Membership: $30
Blacks in Gaming
http://blacksingaming.org
https://www.facebook.com/groups/blacksingaming/
Women in Gaming International (WIGI)
http://www.womeningamesinternational.org
5. Additional Networking
LAFS Game Production Facebook group
LAFS Alumni Association
LinkedIn.com
Meetup.com
Eventbrite.com
6. Go to IndieCade!
October 22-25, 2015
Culver City
http://www.indiecade.com
7. Go to GDC!
March 14 - March 18,
2016
Moscone Center, San
Francisco
http://www.gdconf.com
8. Your First GDC
You will be overwhelmed
You will be awkward
You will feel left out
Enjoy the company of the people you’re with
Take it slow
Realize that GDC is a temporary high
12. Other Conferences
LA Games Conference (Los Angeles)
ComicCon (San Diego)
Penny Arcade Expo (PAX) (San Antonio)
Serious Play Conference (Los Angeles)
ACM SIGgraph Conference on Motion In
Games (Los Angeles)
SXSW Gaming Expo (Austin)
14. Advice From An Intern
It’s a small world, after all
Don’t go for a big splash
Fixers, not moaners
Cultivate mentorships
Don’t watch TV during working hours
Open yourself to opportunities
There’s more to life than videogames
16. Social Media Presence
LinkedIn
Face Book
Google Plus
Twitter
Newsletters
Blogging
About.Me
Pinterest
YouTube
Instagram
17. Manage Your Public Profile
Prospective employers will Google you. What will they find?
While it is not possible to completely control your Google
results, you can help yourself by keeping your personal and
professional life separate. Use privacy settings on your
Facebook pages and picture tags by friends, and keep your
Twitter trail professional or make it anonymous.
Never use your personal social network profile as a portfolio:
No‐one wants to trawl through embarrassing nightclub photos of
you while searching for your work.
18. How To Get A Job In The Game
Industry
How to Get a Job in Video Games -
Gaming Jobs - Tips from the Game
Industry (10:34)
19. Read Job Listings Regularly
Who’s hiring
What qualifications are needed
What portfolio pieces / software is
desired
20. Job boards
You can find many jobs through
specialty job search sites.
http://jobs.gamejobs.com
http://creativeheads.net/
http://www.gamasutra.com/jobs/
http://www.indeed.com/
http://www.wiredtalent.com
And, yes, Craigs List
22. Quality Assurance
A completely viable way to get your foot in the
door in a games company.
But be aware that not all companies have a
path to dev from QA.
Ask first.
23. Look Beyond Indie and AAA
AdvertGames
Educational Games
Serious Games
Kid’s Games
Gambling Games
24. Be Open Minded
All games are valid games to work on. You can
learn just as much working on an advergame for
cats as you can on the latest bazillion $ mega‐title.
Each title shipped is one step closer to your
ultimate goal of dream‐game awesomeness.
If an advergame for cats is your dream‐game, then congratulations, you’re going
to achieve your dreams much quicker than most. Also think of the LOLcat
opportunities during user testing! People get PAID for doing this!
25. Recruiters
Digital Artist Management
Premiere Search
Prime Candidate
GameRecruiter.com
Individual agents
26. Recruiters Don’t Get YOU Jobs
They’re paid by companies to fill
open positions
They’re paid by those companies
based on a percentage of your
starting salary
They often hear of job openings that
aren’t listed on job sites
27. When Are Recruiters Useful?
> $55,000 / year
(Producers, but not APs)
When you have specific skills
Code Languages
Art Specialties
Animation Specialties
28. Resume Disclaimer
*The following material is the opinion of the instructor based
on his years of experience as a hiring manager and resume
reader. These opinions may not reflect the stated policy of
LAFS or its professional career counselors.
29. Resume DOs
Permanent e-mail address (Hotmail,
Gmail, Yahoo, etc.)
Reverse chronological order
Describe accomplishments
List skills (software tools,
programming languages, etc.)
Link to your portfolio site
Keep to one page (early career)
30. Gameography
List of every game you’ve worked on
Reverse order (newest first)
List platform(s)
Update always
31. Proofread Your Resume!
Everyone loves creativity by
typo.
“You can customise your
character with scaring.”
“To scare your character, press
DELETE! Trololol!” laugh the
developers at your job
application.
32. Resume DON’Ts
List your hobbies
Include a picture of yourself
Include a career objective (unless
tailored for the job you are applying for)
Include so much detail that you lose the
story
34. Reference List
Minimum of three people who know
you professionally and who will
vouch for you
Bosses better than co-workers
Co-workers are fine
Internship supervisors
Instructors
Keep this list up to date throughout
your career
35. Create a Portfolio Site!
Art
Programming
Design
Gameography w/ pictures / screenshots
.
36. Portfolios
Share your content with potential employers.
That’s how communities work.
Trust me: No‐one is going to steal content from your
mailed portfolio, and good practice belongs to
everyone. Stealing the work of others is the mark of
an amateur. No professional would ever stoop that
low. For shame!
38. Portfolios
But you should aim here if you are nearing the job interview stage.
Especially as your interviewer may not have a degree.
Some of us are waaaaaay older than game degrees, or didn’t want or need a degree to get
where we are today. And that’s OK!
39. Portfolios
If you’re aiming here, that means you don’t know
enough about the industry to get a job later. And
you’re probably just trying to pass.
40. Portfolios
Your portfolio is only as good as the worst piece of
work in it.
If in doubt, leave it out.
If an applicant’s portfolio is bad enough,
developers will save the work to a GALLERIE
ABOMINATI*.
When they need cheering up they will gather
round to look at it and laugh.
Do NOT be that applicant.
41. Portfolios
Be inclusive: Don’t assume the developer reviewing your portfolio is
male.
Or white.
Or straight.
Avoid: Porn elves. Undressed or under‐dressed women. Unfeasibly large or gravity defying
breasts (on anyone).Brutalized or dehumanized women with sexual overtones. Any and all
over‐used, limiting and frankly borderline racist stereotypes of criminal men from non- white
racial backgrounds including triads, yakuza, mafia, bloods or crips (especially if they are
also rappers), insurgents and/or terrorists, middle‐class British villains as voiced by Alan
Rickman, working class British villains as voiced by Jason Statham, French mimes as
voiced by no‐one, impoverished Mexican villagers with strong regional accents and
apparent limited access to grooming products, education or any kind of empowerment.
All of the above still applies if the characters are in zombie form.
42. Portfolios
A good rule of thumb for selecting work for
your portfolio is this:
“If someone who didn’t know me saw this
work, would they think I was a serial
killer?”
44. Portfolios
If your demo reel uses an obscure codec
and can’t be viewed by a developer, do
NOT reply the following:
It works fine on my PC
I thought a cutting edge technology
company would have been able to
overcome a minor issue like that
What's a codec?
45. Portfolios
If your work takes
longer to load than it
does to view, you’re
wasting everyone’s
time.
Including your own.
46. Most developers work in shared spaces and
use headphones.
Even Leads & Managers.
Keep the volume on your demoreel
consistent.
And try not to assume that everyone <3s
Skrillex.
Portfolios
47. Contacting An Employer
To: Recruitment @ A Games Studio
CC: Every games studio in the nation
Subject: I love what your company does, and am
a perfect fit for your studio.
ORLY? I feel *so special*
49. Cover Letters
“Dear Sir or Madam,
I’m a recent graduate and am very keen on getting a job
in the games, animation, visual effects, pre‐visualization
or web industries...”
Signed by reject #732
Target each application to that job only:
Cover letter
CV / resume
Showreel
50. Cover Letters
“...im willing to provide my services to improve the animation
industry level”
You do realize this implies you think you’re better with 0 years of
experience than they are with ∞ years?
That’s not just ignorant. It’s downright insulting.
And grammatically wrong, too.
The above remains true even if you were “kidding” and was posted on your
social network site. Because prospective employers can see that too unless
you’ve set your privacy settings accordingly. Well? Have you?
51. Job Interviews
At a job interview, remember that you’re being
interviewed by a professional <insert discipline here>,
not a professional interviewer.
You can distract them from any awkward moments
with shiny work!*
* This does work. “I’ve brought my sketchbooks,
would you like to see them?” is like baubles to
kittens.
52. Interview Questions
“What is your greatest weakness??”
Bad answers:
“I haven’t got any”
“I am a perfectionist”
“You are!”
“Chocolate” *
Good answer:
“From your perspective, I guess it’s the fact that I don’t
have much work experience. But let me tell you about the
projects I have worked on in and outside of college...”
53. Don’t Badmouth Anyone
There is only about 1 degree of separation
between pretty much all game developers,
world wide.
It will come back to bite you. Even **years**
down the line.
54. Interview The Company
You should be interviewing the employer as much as
they are interviewing you.
Learn to tell a good employer from a bad one.
All games companies have good times and bad
times. The trick is to work out the differences
between “Bad times” and “Bad employer”.
This is easier with hindsight.
55. More Interview Tips
Learn about the company first
Dress appropriately
Don’t arrive late or too early. If you are late, call.
Talk about things of interest to the interviewer
Use questions to talk about your strengths and past
accomplishments
Don’t lie
Find out what’s the next step
Write a “thank you” letter (or email) afterwards
58. Employee
Work-for-hire
Social Security & other taxes (“withholding”) paid by employer
Some level of benefits:
○ Health Insurance
○ Retirement Plan
401k
ESOP
○ Profit Sharing
○ Paid Holidays
○ Vacation Days
○ Sick Leave
○ Employee Discounts / Free Games
○ Parking
59. Temporary Employee
Company contracts with Temp
Agency
You are employee of Temp Agency
Temp Agency pays your SS & taxes
Generally no benefits until
assignment becomes long-term
http://www.wiredtalent.com/
http://www.volt.com/
60. Independent Contractor (Vendor)
All terms negotiated up front
Less micromanagement
You must pay your own SS & taxes
There is no shame in freelancing.
As long as you’re working on games, you’re a game
developer. Even if you’re an impoverished freelance,
outsource or indie dev who isn’t exactly living the dream
right now. You’re still one of us and we <3 you.
61. Now What?
Always be thinking about your next
job
Always have your resume up to date
Always have some money saved up
62. Tokenism
The practice or policy of making no more than a token effort
or gesture.
Token effort.
Token changes.
Token comments.
Token QA practice.
Token documentation.
Does NOT belong in game development practice ANY kind.
Do not aim to do the minimal required. Aim to exceed
expectations.
63. Personal Hygiene
Is not a “lifestyle choice” when working in
teams.
Body odor is NOT a viable way of keeping
managers away from your desk*.
* No matter how tempting that can be during crunch.