I am a senior in a Computer Science program that will graduate this May. Along with many of my fellow students, I have begun the job hunt, which got me to thinking. Within the games industry, how soon is too soon for a college graduate to start sending out resumes? I would assume that since most companies needs are particular to a certain time, they wouldn't bother waiting three and a half months for a college graduate. Is this a misconception? Thank you.

I would say you can send resumes when you're 99% sure of your graduation date.

Companies rarely make hiring decisions overnight (3.5 months is, I believe, not outside a standard hiring cycle) and they'll all ask a potential applicant when they're available to start.

Even if they're not willing to wait the worst they can do is say no, and you move on to other companies or apply again when you do graduate.

The only thing that can hurt you is if you say you graduate and will be available in May and then you fail out or need an extra semester at school for some reason or another.

My current job I secured probably a month and a half after I initially sent my resume and cover letter. It can certainly take longer. Like linternet said, just as long as you know for certain when your graduation date it going to be, it shouldn't be an issue at all. I too started applying nearly 3 months before I graduated. It was certainly a huge piece of mind knowing I had a job lined up, especially since I have a family I have to take care of.

I had a job in February locked in for a start date in late June my senior year of college if that tells you anything. It really depends on the employer, but as long as you let them know up front what your availability is, you're usually okay. And if you're not, do you really want to work for a company that waits until the last minute to do anything?

Thanks for the feedback! Now, I have one follow up question. As far as the standard hiring cycle goes, how long should I wait for a response? And how long should I wait without a response before I e-mail/phone them asking the status? Last summer I applied for some internships, but I think since I was just at the right place at the right time I got a response the next day, I have a feeling this is far from typical.

Thank you.

Response times can vary greatly. I initially heard back from my current employer within an hour, because I just happened to catch the guy who reviewed through potentials right as he was about to start doing it, so my timing was perfect. I was still getting responses from companies a few months later after I had already started work. A lot of larger companies will have a central database that all applicants get added to and whenever any of their individual studios are hiring that studio can look through the database.