The First Hurdle - Getting into the Industry

Loving games, playing them and being able to talk about them unfortunately isn't all that's needed to get a job in the games industry. The biggest problem is getting your foot in the door of a company and for my particular course it seems that showing off your talents isn't that simple. I can't make a portfolio of my management abilities by drawing a lot of pictures of having pages of code to present to an employer. What does a manager do to stand out?

For myself, this blog is partly for that reason. Perhaps displaying what I know and feel about the games industry and maybe it couldn't benefit future students in the same situation.

For starters here's part of an article on breaking into the games industry posted in 2007.

"With each passing year the video game industry gains more and more clout among consumers. A few years back in 2001, the industry had a combined total revenue of around 9.8 Billion dollars. By 2006 the total had almost tripled to a combined 27 Billion. As more consumers opt to spend the evening at home playing their consoles and PC games as opposed to going out to the movies, the industry continues to grow. The time and effort needed to create a new, next-gen game is enormous and many people are needed on all aspects of development. From the concept artist to the programmer, working for the video game industry can be a very rewarding, and allow you to do something you really love."
- http://www.jobprofiles.org/library/guidance/break-into-video-games.htm

The industry is in the right state to get into, with the industry still flourishing in the middle of a recession it is a great place to be. Not to say that the industry doesn't have it's problems but the entertainment industry won't stop growing until people are bored of being entertained (not likely to happen).


My attempts of stepping a foot into the door of the industry have so far gone unanswered. Even to get a simple testing job isn't that simple. These are of course dependent on timing, every company doesn't constantly need a surplus of testers. Most problems were the work hours, companies can't accommodate a students timetable, I won't name the companies but at some points it feels like they're looking down their noses at you as a student.
However I have tried to take advantage of opportunities that are presented to me. I'm lucky enough to live in Dundee which has a spectacular gaming industry and events within Dundee are very useful, for example Game in Scotland which is held in one of Dundee's many nightclubs - Fat Sam's. With companies from Dundee setting up stalls where you approach them in a less formal arena. Ask questions, let them know your interested, don't be shy.
I had seen plenty of people who'd put in the effort to come but were still too timid to approach a company. No matter whether your an outward going management type or an introvert programmer, you need to be able to talk to others in the industry.

I guess until i have the experience of how I got into the industry (which I hope won't be long) there's not much I can advise you on. Just try and get the jobs you want, don't be put off by experience required or number of projects completed, chances are if your right for the job it won't matter if you can prove you can do it.

I'm sure I'll help some more later on.