In the games industry, demos beat a paper CV every time - but you'll also need to impress an employer with your sector knowledge and eye for a good game, say our experts in a recent Q&A
Brian Baglow created and continues to run the games industry blog ScottishGames.net. Brian is a visiting lecturer at Edinburgh Napier University's Screen Academy and the interactive/digital media member of the BAFTA Scotland committee. He is currently head of interactive entertainment at Revolver PR
Have a keen interest in the industry and what comes next: Technology drives everything in the games industry. It's evolving in so many new ways that you constantly have to run to keep up. Consoles come and go. New technologies, new platforms and new devices appear (and vanish) regularly. You need to be nosey. You need to be interested and you need to be open-minded about what happens next. A lot of people in the games world dismissed mobile gaming as a fad, ridiculed the Wii as ridiculously under-powered and are still scoffing at FarmVille, but nobody really knows what the next few years will bring. If that sounds exciting, then you're probably in the right place.
Show you understand what's out there and what makes it good or not: Your portfolio can include remakes of Tetris or Bejeweled, a reimagining of a soundtrack or a review of a classic game - but you have to be able to explain your thinking and why you chose to make, change, amend or update it. It shows you understand the process and can provide evidence to back up your decisions. It's an incredibly important point. So many people who want to get into games are not looking at the games they play (or hate) critically - and looking at why they do or do not work. What would you change about Portal 2, Call Of Duty or BioShock and why?
Small companies value a good all-rounder: Within large studios, roles tend to be quite rigidly defined and structured. You can be a texture artist or AI (artificial intelligence) programmer and never have to leave your comfort zone. However, within smaller companies, I've found that people who can cross disciplines, or at least know the basics of other areas, are more highly valued. You don't need to be a 3D modelling expert to know how to import/export models from Maya, for example. Or if your lead programmer is sick, being able to create a new build or update the website is going to be very useful. If you look at the indie end of the market, there are many people who combine the roles of programmer, producer, designer, audio specialist, level designer, PR guy and sale team, all in one person.
Brian McNicoll is one of the three founding directors of the BAFTA-award winning Dundee-based Dynamo Games. Brian started the business straight from university in June 2003
Testers need to have a sharp eye for detail: Our testers are very dedicated - they play the same game over and over in order to find difficult bugs. As well as dedication, we need people with a sharp eye for games and what makes them fun. We listen to and value all feedback our internal QA (quality assurance) team provide us and this makes our testers feel more involved with the project if their suggestions are considered. The biggest thing is not letting anything slip through the net - our testers try to test every potential eventuality and have a very large attention to detail to make sure anything sloppy is spotted straight away. Testers should not under value themselves in the development process of a game, they are key to what is going out to the end user.
Having a targeted demo is far more impressive than a paper CV: Demos are the key to getting games companies' attention. If you have something tangible they can look at and play with, it is far more impressive than a paper CV. At Dynamo, if we can see that someone has used their own initiative to create a game or demo that plays well and is fun, then they will go straight to the top of our list. I also think candidates need to research which company they would like to work for. They can then tailor their CV submission to that candidate - for example, a company that makes football games is going to take notice if a candidate has developed a football engine prototype. It is half the battle getting staff who can develop for our target platform and have a keen interest in the type of games we produce.
Why not start your own business?: I would also say that another good way to get into the games industry is to go out and start up your own business. There are so many different routes to market now for self-publishing that with a lot of hard work you can get out there and release your own games. Even if your games do not take off, you can have something tangible to show potential employers. I would definitely suggest doing this, especially if you are fresh out of university as you will have little or no responsibilities and it will be far easier to do something like this now than 10 years down the line.
Kim Blake is Blitz Games Studios' senior events and education coordinator. Kim has worked in the UK independent game development industry for 18 years. Her current job includes liaising with higher education institutions and maintaining Blitz's extensive careers advice site, Blitz Academy Online
You need to be a good team player: Making games, unless you are a solo indie developer, is all about working with a number of other people who have different skill sets to you, and possibly very different ways of seeing the world. We want to hire people who get along with other people well, even under pressure, and who can communicate clearly and easily. This is true regardless of what job you're doing in development.
Make it quick and easy for employers to access your demo: Whatever you're showing of your work, you need to make it easy and quick for us (prospective employers) to see your best quality work - don't make us have to download codecs (a computer programme that shrinks large movie files and makes them playable on a computer) or anything special to see it. Working demos are good, but include a video as well, just in case there are issues.
Liam Wong is a 2D Artist at Crytek. He is new to the industry; he graduated last year and has recently finished work on Crysis 2
Make sure you've got plenty of experience working with others: If you're still a student, you should be looking to be working in teams all the time. Most courses will give you modules which allow you to work in teams and in other places you'll have to form your own teams. This will give you lots of examples to show in your portfolio and it will also help you improve as an individual. Things like Dare to be Digital and the Global Game Jam are worth checking out if you're struggling to form a team. Having the experience in creating rapid prototypes in small teams is an area where you can demonstrate that you have what it takes to work under the pressure of tight deadlines.
Mark Eyles is founder of Women in Games - an organisation which works to redress the gender balance in the field. He is also principal lecturer and games course leader at the University of Portsmouth, educational adviser to TIGA and games researcher for the Advanced Games Research Group
You'll need to be skilled to become a concept artist: Game developers do not need large numbers of concept artists, so there is a lot of competition. You would need to demonstrate your ability to design characters, environments and storyboards in many different styles - quickly and to a very high standard. Think about what you might offer that, say, someone who already has years of experience in producing concept art for films and games cannot offer.
Grant Clarke is a lecturer in Computer Games Development within the Institute of Art, Media and Computer Games at the University of Abertay Dundee
Demonstrate your passion for games at the interview to impress employers: A producer at Criterion Games spoke to some of our students at Abertay and when asked about interview advice, he said they wanted to meet candidates that shared their passion for games as well as having the relevant qualifications. He added, if you are going for an interview at a games company, do your homework. Look at the games they've released and what types of games they are known for making prior to interview. Developers want to know if you'll be a good fit in their company on top of having the appropriate skills to do the job you are applying for.
Source: http://careers.guardian.co.uk/careers-in-gaming
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