Career in game industry:
how to find, start and survive
how to find, start and survive
~
My way in the game development industry was not easy - this field is very narrow and has distinctive features from other tech companies. Often employers don't take risks and take candidates who have already worked in this field.
Here I will talk about the search strategies that exist, how I came to the field, what you need to be prepared for, and how to properly prepare for the transition so that there are no disappointments.
It will be especially helpful to those who are just thinking about transitioning into this field. Search strategies are applicable to different roles and areas not only in the game development sphere.
Here I will talk about the search strategies that exist, how I came to the field, what you need to be prepared for, and how to properly prepare for the transition so that there are no disappointments.
It will be especially helpful to those who are just thinking about transitioning into this field. Search strategies are applicable to different roles and areas not only in the game development sphere.
Preparation
I would recommend, if you are just coming into the field, to find profiles of specialists who already work in the field (linkedin, youtube, twitter), take webinars from specialists, look at job requirements on company websites. The goal is to understand what hard skills and tools are the most important for the position.
Close or reduce the gap in hard skills at your area of specialization and demonstrate your interest in the field for a long time - this can be your own projects, attending profile conferences, courses, participation in hackathons and other activities. If you are new to the gaming industry, it is important to show a genuine interest in the field and what is happening there - to an employer this is better than any big words about how much you love games (but this is important too). For some positions, it's imperative to have a broad background and gaming experience.
Close or reduce the gap in hard skills at your area of specialization and demonstrate your interest in the field for a long time - this can be your own projects, attending profile conferences, courses, participation in hackathons and other activities. If you are new to the gaming industry, it is important to show a genuine interest in the field and what is happening there - to an employer this is better than any big words about how much you love games (but this is important too). For some positions, it's imperative to have a broad background and gaming experience.
CV and portfolio
There are a huge number of articles, webinars, and workshops about putting together a proper resume. I would recommend creating a resume template and adjusting it for each specific job depending on what needs to be emphasized and what is important for a particular position.
A resume should have a good structure and include sections:
You should save CV/portfolio in PDF because it's the best viewing from any device.
I rewrite my resume about once every six months. If you have questions about the resume, you are welcome to ask me.
A resume should have a good structure and include sections:
- Last name and first name + the position for which you are applying
- Contacts
- Email
- Phone
- Website or link to portfolio
- Linkedin link to your page
- City
- Email
- Summary (optional but important)
- You can provide brief information about yourself (it can be a hook, something interesting about you as a specialist, maybe your strength)
- Stack technologies might be important to the employer
- Important links (to github, for example)
- You can provide brief information about yourself (it can be a hook, something interesting about you as a specialist, maybe your strength)
- Work experience - you should provide for each place
- Years, company and your position
- Stack of technologies used
- Responsibilities and accomplishments - use active verbs for this
- Years, company and your position
- Education
- Years and name of university (degree)
- Long term courses related to your position
- Years and name of university (degree)
- Activities - anything that might be important and relevant to the field
- Hackathons
- Volunteer work
- Short term courses related to your position
- Hackathons
- Skills and tools
- Languages and levels
You should save CV/portfolio in PDF because it's the best viewing from any device.
I rewrite my resume about once every six months. If you have questions about the resume, you are welcome to ask me.
Cover letter
A cover letter for the response is a rule of etiquette. It is important to say that you liked the position and that it is interesting for your development. The position suits your skills and it is important to mention that you are ready to talk about the position.
When I was transitioning to the game development sphere from another field, I wrote why I was passionate about games and that I understood the field, its particularities and was ready to develop in it. In general, if the position which is interesting for you is not the same as your current one, I think it's a good way to say why you'd like to change it.
In other cases, a cover letter is optional, but I stick to the strategy of always writing a small cover letter. It makes it stand out from other responses.
It is important to check the cover letter for errors.
When I was transitioning to the game development sphere from another field, I wrote why I was passionate about games and that I understood the field, its particularities and was ready to develop in it. In general, if the position which is interesting for you is not the same as your current one, I think it's a good way to say why you'd like to change it.
In other cases, a cover letter is optional, but I stick to the strategy of always writing a small cover letter. It makes it stand out from other responses.
It is important to check the cover letter for errors.
Find companies and open positions
It sounds obvious, but you can go to the websites of game campaigns in the sections job / career, as well as search on the profile sites. Groups with vacancies can be found on Facebook and on Telegram. Often there are job boards at conferences. LinkedIn has information about job fairs in the field.
Other ideas for searching:
Several sites to start your search:
When I was getting ready for the transition, I gathered a pool of companies interesting for me in my city (at that time remote was not yet very common), I studied the open positions on the site, but if they were not, then I wrote an email to the HR department contacts listed on the site. I attached my CV, wrote about my motivation to work for this particular company and a request to keep my resume in the database in case there were any suitable openings. Often there is a separate 'Speculative Applications' / 'Spontaneous Application' section of the job/career section of the companies website, just for applications without a specific position.
If the position you are applying for is important to you, then you can find the company's hr in linkedin and write to him/her directly (that you have applied for a certain position and that the position is very important to you, that you hope your response will not get lost.. something like that:)
I would recommend applying to different campaigns to gain interview experience - listen to feedback and try again. Unfortunately, it's hard to advise anything here.
If there are no responses to your resume, you should try adjusting your resume in general and for each position, try to restructure it. Also, you can make your cover letter more personal, more capturing.
Other ideas for searching:
- Passive search: post resumes on platforms and profile sites
- Find out through acquaintances in the industry
- Seek internships/courses at gaming companies
- Participate in hackathons -> expand your network
Several sites to start your search:
- linkedIn.com > Jobs
- dice.com
- indeed.com
- glassdoor.com
- monster.com
When I was getting ready for the transition, I gathered a pool of companies interesting for me in my city (at that time remote was not yet very common), I studied the open positions on the site, but if they were not, then I wrote an email to the HR department contacts listed on the site. I attached my CV, wrote about my motivation to work for this particular company and a request to keep my resume in the database in case there were any suitable openings. Often there is a separate 'Speculative Applications' / 'Spontaneous Application' section of the job/career section of the companies website, just for applications without a specific position.
If the position you are applying for is important to you, then you can find the company's hr in linkedin and write to him/her directly (that you have applied for a certain position and that the position is very important to you, that you hope your response will not get lost.. something like that:)
I would recommend applying to different campaigns to gain interview experience - listen to feedback and try again. Unfortunately, it's hard to advise anything here.
If there are no responses to your resume, you should try adjusting your resume in general and for each position, try to restructure it. Also, you can make your cover letter more personal, more capturing.
Interview
Before the interview it is important to find out about the company from public sources, to see the company's projects.
Prepare a brief but informative introduction about yourself (usually the first question in any interview). I start with my education and then briefly talk about my career milestones. Practice your presentation.
It is important to work on mistakes after each interview, maybe to correct the portfolio and resume, to find answers to questions you didn't know. It is better to keep statistics of interviews - the date of the interview, a list of the main questions that caused difficulties.
The interview is an iterative stage, there may be many rejections, but this is not a reason to despair and give up. Step by step you will come to the cherished offer.
As a rule, the whole stage from the response to the job to the offer there are several intermediate stages of selection:
In a separate post, I'll talk about the specifics of the game development industry and what soft skills you need to develop to be in demand. And also what to pay attention to when choosing a company and a project.
Prepare a brief but informative introduction about yourself (usually the first question in any interview). I start with my education and then briefly talk about my career milestones. Practice your presentation.
It is important to work on mistakes after each interview, maybe to correct the portfolio and resume, to find answers to questions you didn't know. It is better to keep statistics of interviews - the date of the interview, a list of the main questions that caused difficulties.
The interview is an iterative stage, there may be many rejections, but this is not a reason to despair and give up. Step by step you will come to the cherished offer.
As a rule, the whole stage from the response to the job to the offer there are several intermediate stages of selection:
- A short conversation with the recruiter - expectations for the position, how active and why you're looking for work and other general questions
- Technical interview
- Behavioral interview
- The result (the offer)
In a separate post, I'll talk about the specifics of the game development industry and what soft skills you need to develop to be in demand. And also what to pay attention to when choosing a company and a project.
Probationary time
As a rule, every company has a probationary time. Immerse yourself in the context - learn as much as you can about the project, your colleagues, and the process.
In most companies there are certain stages of adaptation and clear deadlines when certain skills should be mastered and certain areas of responsibility should be taken over. But if you're working on a small project that doesn't have this, you need to be able to find information on your own. Explore the context. The depth of your immersion and the speed of your learning depend largely on you and your actions, on your own motivation.
I would recommend doing the first tasks as perfectly as you can. No one is expecting you to be super fast at this stage, but the way you complete tasks says a lot about your work.
During the first weeks it is absolutely normal to train on simple tasks and ask questions - I would recommend not to distract your colleagues on every question, but to write them down and ask them in a batch - maybe if you do not ask a question right away, you will eventually find the answer yourself.
Record mistakes. When I started my career as a programmer, I made a lot of mistakes (I always forgot about the array size), but I wrote them out so that next time I wouldn't make them again.
In most companies there are certain stages of adaptation and clear deadlines when certain skills should be mastered and certain areas of responsibility should be taken over. But if you're working on a small project that doesn't have this, you need to be able to find information on your own. Explore the context. The depth of your immersion and the speed of your learning depend largely on you and your actions, on your own motivation.
I would recommend doing the first tasks as perfectly as you can. No one is expecting you to be super fast at this stage, but the way you complete tasks says a lot about your work.
During the first weeks it is absolutely normal to train on simple tasks and ask questions - I would recommend not to distract your colleagues on every question, but to write them down and ask them in a batch - maybe if you do not ask a question right away, you will eventually find the answer yourself.
Record mistakes. When I started my career as a programmer, I made a lot of mistakes (I always forgot about the array size), but I wrote them out so that next time I wouldn't make them again.
Junior -> middle
In your first years in the industry, I recommend focusing on hard skills and the most essential soft skills. It is this combination that will allow you to stand out in the field, gain credibility, and grow to middle. Continue to work on activities and your own development, get specialized training, expand your network, communicate with colleagues.
Middle -> senior
Continue to learn, take more long-term responsibility, train others, make complex decisions and be able to justify them.
After senior level
Senior level professionals can usually develop in 2 directions:
- Into technical leadership
- Into management and project/product management
Gaming industry is an interesting sphere with interesting challenges which definitely will not let you get bored. But you have to be prepared for a fair amount of routine that is present in any field. I think one of the most important skills I notice in many people in this field is to be open-minded - open to new things and ideas.
My first company was Wargaming. I already had a senior grade and even a little management experience, but I left for a junior position to start over. I was never embarrassed by such transitions because every field has its own requirements, plus I had no doubt that with time my previous experience would help me in a new field.
If you need specific links, groups, recommendations, my advice or some inspiration, please send me a message personally.
My first company was Wargaming. I already had a senior grade and even a little management experience, but I left for a junior position to start over. I was never embarrassed by such transitions because every field has its own requirements, plus I had no doubt that with time my previous experience would help me in a new field.
If you need specific links, groups, recommendations, my advice or some inspiration, please send me a message personally.