I know art people need portfolios, so do most programmers need their own 'portfolios' too? Most of my programs are scraps right now, and nothing I feel worthy of releasing to the public. Of course I know that you have to show your best, but I don't know what will make the cut. Here's what I have done: -basic engines for GUIs and input. (still a work in progress, I could flesh it out more) -A few simple puzzle games. (I also want to refine these) What I plan to do in the future: -Work more with microcontrollers. First big project would be a large digital wall clock with modular digits. -Use the Sony PSP to communicate with those kids of devices with wi-fi -Some finished homebrew games/programs for PSP I see myself more as an artist than a technical guy, but I like tinkering around with electronics and solving problems. I think what will hurt my chances are that I'll have an art degree and not programming. My experience goes as this: I don't have much formal education in CS. And also know how to code CMS-driven websites (which got me into programming). So what do you suggest?

Hi Chris, you wrote:

>do most programmers need their own 'portfolios' too?

Yes, of course.

>Most of my programs are scraps right now, and nothing I feel worthy of releasing to the public. Of course I know that you have to show your best, but I don't know what will make the cut.

Then you aren't ready yet. You have lots more work to do before you're ready.

>I see myself more as an artist than a technical guy, but I like tinkering around with electronics and solving problems.

Now I'm all confused. Which type of job do you plan to apply for?

>I think what will hurt my chances are that I'll have an art degree and not programming.

If you plan to apply for programming jobs, yes. No [programming] degree and no demo disc would be doubly bad.

>what do you suggest?

I suggest you decide whether you want to apply for art or programming jobs, and prepare a knock-their-socks-off portfolio for the type you choose.

I work at a large game company in North America and have interviewed many people for programming positions. We don't require a "portofolio" or "demos". Even if you have an incredibly impressive demo, it will be an uphill battle to get anyone to look at it.

HR screens a large stack of resumes for relevant experience, skills, and education. They don't have time to look at demos. Most resumes get culled at this step. If your resume isn't strong enough to make the cut, your demo will never get looked at.

The surviving short list of resumes goes to the manager doing the hiring who typically gets input from the lead/senior programmers on the team. If the position requires experience, everyone will be looking for relevant game industry experience, especially for shipped games in the same genre and on the platforms of interest. No demo is needed -- experience speaks for itself.

If it's an entry level position, then we look for a CS degree from a decent university with a strong GPA plus evidence of a passion for game programming, e.g., course projects, hobby programming, and co-op experience. If you have this, you'll probably get an interview. At the interview, if you come across as someone who is easy to work with, reasonably intelligent and capable of delivering results on schedule, you'll probably get the job. You don't need a demo, but you should be able to talk in depth about some programming project that you've worked on. You should also be able to solve some basic programming problems in C++ at a whiteboard. We may ask for a code sample, but usually don't.

So in no case do we require demos. If you can't get hired without a demo, it's unlikely a demo will make the difference. Other game companies may be different, but in general the ability to write a standalone program by yourself with no time constraints says little about your ability to add features and fix bugs in a massive, complex, undocumented code base in a large team environment under intense deadline pressure.

One thing I hope is clear to anyone applying for a game programming position: your resume is the key. It must look professional, be clearly organized, be free of spelling or grammar mistakes, and highlight specific reasons you are qualified for the position.

I have never seen a required portfolio for programmers, either. I have seen suggestions for them, but never a requirement.

Experienced people don't need to send in demos or portfolios, they simply list their credits.

But I have seen a different story than the AP.

Occasionally some entry-level candidates bring demos with them to the interview (or have them on their website), and those get 2-5 minutes of time during the interview if the candidate asks. When it takes two or three clicks to run and the demo appears polished, it is generally a good feather in the candidate's hat. If it takes any work to run the demo or is not polished, it might count significantly against them. Or it might count greatly in their favor if the few things that are polished are the things we are looking for. A good demo is good to have, and a bad demo might (or might not) count against you.

Of course, we still have standard questions and a coding test, but a good demo goes a long way.

So far the general idea I'm getting is that no demo work is needed at the time of the interview, just a solid education and experience.

About these coding tests, are they usually given after the interview, or before the interview to filter out applicants?

To answer tsloper's question, I was trying to balance out my interests. But for the last couple of years, I was coding a lot more than drawing, and my text editor became my main canvas. So right now the programmer jobs appeal to me more.

Interactive media is my strong point. Although I'm from an art background I have done course projects involving C code, microcontrollers and info architecture on the web. Recently I've worked as part of a team building a CMS module for the art department site's new backend code. I'm planning to list some of these projects on my resume. More importantly I will probably focus more on a minor in CS. That should count for something, I hope.

Quote: Original post by Just
So far the general idea I'm getting is that no demo work is needed at the time of the interview, just a solid education and experience.

Your actual experience may vary. And of course the word "experience" is specific. See my October article, "The Experience Experience," on the IGDA website - http://www.igda.org/columns/gamesgame/.

Quote: Original post by Just Chris
So far the general idea I'm getting is that no demo work is needed at the time of the interview, just a solid education and experience.

About these coding tests, are they usually given after the interview, or before the interview to filter out applicants?

To answer tsloper's question, I was trying to balance out my interests. But for the last couple of years, I was coding a lot more than drawing, and my text editor became my main canvas. So right now the programmer jobs appeal to me more.

Interactive media is my strong point. Although I'm from an art background I have done course projects involving C code, microcontrollers and info architecture on the web. Recently I've worked as part of a team building a CMS module for the art department site's new backend code. I'm planning to list some of these projects on my resume. More importantly I will probably focus more on a minor in CS. That should count for something, I hope.

You know it's not only programmer or artist out there. You could shoot for an Art Technical Director for example. Also if you're looking for more of a combination you could try the movie FX industry. Dreamworks for example looks specifically for people that are talented in both realms. I think that in bigger companies you're more likely to find a role that combines the two disciplines.

People who transition from a generic engineering position to a specialized category (i.e., graphics, physics), can also be considered entry level.

While they may have worked on certain game titles, they do not have commericial experience in their to be specialized field.

Thus to convey one's skill, demo is probably the most important after the resume step.

Quote: Original post by Anonymous Poster
I work at a large game company in North America and have interviewed many people for programming positions. We don't require a "portofolio" or "demos". Even if you have an incredibly impressive demo, it will be an uphill battle to get anyone to look at it.