Breaking Into the Breaking Into the Game IndustryGame Industry

By Ernest Adams

Packaging Yourself as a Professional

Your Resume and Cover Letter Your Portfolio or Demo A Business Card A Professional Website

What you will need:

Networking: It’s not what you know Researching a Company

– The place to start is the company’s website for the most direct look at the company’s products. Visit the “Jobs” or “career” page – most companies have one. Go to the “Contact Us” to find out where the company is located. Also check out the company’s magazine advertisements.

About Recruiters

Recruiters are a great resource for information about the industry, particularly current information like salary ranges and job markets in different parts of the country. Because their whole job is schmoozing they are usually chatty, well informed people, who are happy to give you a little of their time and advice for nothing.

How to Schmooze To schmooze you have to attend the industry

events where developers congregate, particularly the Game Developers’ Conference. (March 5-9 in Moscone Center, SF)

If a company is throwing a party at a conference or trade show, that’s the place to start, because that’s where the largest concentration of its employees will be.

What you are looking for at a party is a company employee who doesn’t seem to have anyone to talk to at the moment: like someone getting food.

Be Real

There is an old saying that “sincerity is the key to success.” If you can fake that you’ve got it made.

Because of its large technical component, game development is about performance not personalities. For the most part, game developers, especially those in the trenches building the content, are honest, sincere, direct people who tell the truth and expect the same of others.

Your Resume and Cover Letter

Great resumes are not lists of facts; rather they are a collection of powerful assertions that convince the employer that you have what it takes to be successful. Prepare your resume as professionally as you can Be truthful.

From Mary-Margaret.com Resume site

Resumes (Continued)

Don’t get cute – The bottom line is that there is no substitute for real content, saying clearly and cleanly what you can bring to the job, Spend your time polishing your portfolio or demo, not ways to make your resume look cool.

Never Lie, but Always Spin – Never, ever tell a lie on a resume Don’t make up jobs you never had: don’t make up degrees you don’t hold. You don’t lie, but you spin: choose to emphasize the things that show you in the best light, and eliminate anything that doesn’t.

More Suggestions about Resumes

Include the tools you know as a separate item. Revise it as appropriate to match the job. Highlight key points with boldface or underlining. Don’t worry about keeping it to one page - This is

nonsense. If you have relevant experience include it. Don’t include irrelevant material

Crafting the Cover Letter Rewrite it for each company you send it to. Don’t be arrogant The reader is a stranger, and formal politeness is

called for. Use real English words. No shortcuts like “u” for

“you” No “d00d-speak.” They probably won’t get it and you want the reader to take you seriously and give you an interview.

Keep it short – Half to three-quarters of a page Spell- and grammar check everything.

Building your Portfolio or Demo

In the game industry they look at your demo or portfolio. I can’t emphasize this enough. You must create a demo or portfolio to break into the industry in a skill-based position. At the MIT Media Lab, Nicholas Negroponte says ‘It’s Demo or Die.”

More about Demos

A self-running demo should show your best work in the first three to five minutes, and have the best material first.

A demo that you present in person shouldn’t be longer than ten minutes, or so.

Be sure it illustrates and supports your message Like your resume, tune your demo for your

audience.

How Do You Find Jobs

Network, network, network Read the industry news Check company websites, frequently. Read job ads in developer magazines and

websites. Read job ads at job websites. Read job ad in newspapers and general

media.

Handling the Interview

Show up on time Bring three or four copies of your resume Smile. Be positive. Sit up straight. Shake

hands and look ‘em straight in the eye. You want to seem cheerful but not flippant, sober but not dull, well-informed but not a know-it-all, confident but not arrogant.

Who will Interview You?

Your prospective boss Someone from Human Resources

Don’t be fooled – They get a vote!Relate story from Alex St. John (Wild Tangent)

Your prospective bosses boss One or more prospective coworkers

Showing Your Demo or Portfolio

Rehearse and practice Anticipate questions Bring your own computer if at all possible. Be sure of your gear – test it thoroughly!! A Rule of Demos is “The more important

the demo is, the more likely it will crash!”