While job-hunting today, I was looking over several game development openings in my area. One thing I noticed though is that all seemed to require a couple years of previous experience in game development, some even requiring you to have already released a title. This makes me wonder, how does one even get in to the field to gain this experience to begin with? I''m sure there are many people, myself included, who qualify for some of these positions in terms of programming skill and experience, and who may have a little game development experience from personal projects, but nothing professional. Are there certain types of jobs or companies which starting people like myself can get their foot in the door, to start gaining this experience for future bigger jobs? How does this work?

Right now, there''s a glut of experienced people going for the same jobs, and employers can be really picky. If you want to really get into the field, consider the indie approach and make & sell your own game.

This problem exists in most employment fields.

Try to get internships.

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Dev teams require experience because they need to be sure they can get the job done. Most do take on in-experienced people as trainee programmers but it likely to be just one trainee per team. That means there are very few job per company that you will actually be qualified for and there will be a lot of competition for those slots.

Dan Marchant
Obscure Productions
Game Development & Design consultant

That''s why on top of the usual formal education, self education (i.e. actually developing software, and learning everything you can) & getting a very good demo are vitally important.

That''s mostly how I got into the games industry, and is how many of the people I know got in rather than through junior or trainee roles.

I''d been programming games & demos and following the industry intently for 12 years before I got my first "in house" games programming job (I''d done some freelance bits 2 years previous and did business stuff in between).


--
Simon O''Connor
3D Game Programmer &
Microsoft DirectX MVP

> {...} require a couple years of previous experience in game development

Ads are a negotiation positions for a job contract and is usually templated by HR. Yes, there are more game programmer than game programming jobs right now, but what companies advertise are 'ultimate' job descriptions. If you can fill 65% of what is required, then by all means apply. It's best if you know who will be your ultimate boss as you can determine more exactly what are the needs for the position. Networking and internships are the best way to enter the industry. Sending an unsollicited resume to HR rarely (if ever) works. HR is there to eliminate you from the huge pile they got, not to promote your candidacy.

Talking about networking, people stick up their nose at it saying that they have no contacts in the industry. BS. Books like "Games Development Gems" and articles on this board and others are full of them; since the authors also publish their email and company info, I bet they are willing to answer a few questions, no? Like "You seem very knowledgeable about this industry. Could you spare a few minutes of your precious time so that I can determine how I can match my skills with the game development industry?"

Go for it!

-cb

[edited by - cbenoi1 on September 7, 2003 8:15:56 PM]

The most valuable piece of advice you''re ever going to get is this:

If you want a job, decide on places where you would like to work. Then do everything you can to find out what they need and become that person. And make SURE they know what you''re doing.

That simple plan works for every field of endeavour i''ve ever worked in, from cab driving to enterprise apps development.

later,
ld

You can surely find entry-level position today without experience. However, you must be willing to relocate to Europe. UK has lots of positions for beginners, so if your demo is better then that of others and your social skills are on par with your programming skills, no problem with getting the job.

I`ve been to ECTS 2 weeks ago in London, and there were few recruitment companies offering jobs for entry-level candidates.
There was even one well-known company from Canada (not that far from USA) looking for programmers - funny is that I was given an opportunity to be a Lead Programmer there although I have no prior experience in real company - I`m an indie, but I have a game finished myself that is almost ready to sell now (I`m still hunting for last bugs).
And that`s another alternative - make a game by yourself and you`ll have no problems with finding a job (assuming you`re not a nerd and can get along with other people well). After I showed my game to people in recruitment companies, I was told clearly that it`s no problem for me to find a job - after all - you`re through a whole game project.

VladR
Avenger game

Back in the day, a frequent path to programming (or, more often, design) was through testing. It''s a heck of a way to pay your dues, but it was a good way to get your foot in the door.

I don''t know if that is still the case. I know many companies are reluctant to hire testers who clearly have their sites set on something else.

Another possibility is to get a couple years of "real world" programming experience - work an entry-level position outside of games, and then when its time to move on look at doing games. This doesn''t happen too often - games traditionally don''t pay as well as the rest of the software engineering industry. But I know I''d be more interested in hiring someone with real professional experience than no experience at all. While the two disciplines are sometimes loathe to admit it, programming games isn''t all that different from programming anything else. Games just generate cooler screenshots.

quote: Original post by Jay Barnson While the two disciplines are sometimes loathe to admit it, programming games isn''t all that different from programming anything else. Games just generate cooler screenshots.

I disagree, game are much more interactive and can immerse players, and when programming games you need speed speed speed!