TranslationHello!
Not sure if this is the right way to do this but I'm looking to move direction in terms of my career.
I just really want to get into the game development field and therefore I'm very open in terms of whatever position is available.
The reason for this post is mostly meant for some feedback on if I have what it takes with my experience and otherwise what I can improve to get a higher chance of working in this field.
I have +8 years of experience in graphic design (UI/UX). +3 years in marketing, as well as 1 year as marketing in a corporation, mostly doing ads, contact with influencers as well as maintaining campaigns. Around 5 years in GameMaker (GML) but I personally doubt I'd be able to compete on the programming part but very confident in design and marketing. I'm currently 22 years old, should I take an education in a relevant field or would it be possible for me to become an active role in a game dev studio with the current experience I have?
As stated before I don't have a specific role I want to work as, just being apart of a team working on an exciting project is enough for me, and I'm sure I could learn a lot. But mostly PR and marketing would probably fit me.
I don't want this to seem as a CV. Any suggestions would be appreciated!
Looking for job (2D Artist, Marketing, QA)
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sapphireinteractive
- Level 1 - Speck of dust
- Posts: 14
- Joined: 05 Dec 2020, 13:08
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Christoffer
- Level 4 - Newbie
- Posts: 43
- Joined: 14 Feb 2017, 18:32
- Location: Aarhus
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Re: Looking for job (2D Artist, Marketing, QA)
Hi,
It doesn't say where you are located, but perhaps you can check if your profile would fit any of the openings listed on the Interactive Denmark Job Board: https://interactivedenmark.dk/job-board/
In regards to improving your chance of working in the field, you can always apply and find out if you are a fit — if they reject you, ask them what they are searching for or how you could improve your profile or skills.
It doesn't say where you are located, but perhaps you can check if your profile would fit any of the openings listed on the Interactive Denmark Job Board: https://interactivedenmark.dk/job-board/
In regards to improving your chance of working in the field, you can always apply and find out if you are a fit — if they reject you, ask them what they are searching for or how you could improve your profile or skills.
Re: Looking for job (2D Artist, Marketing, QA)
In general big studios are always looking for specialized staff who is expert in whatever they are doing, whereas smaller studios seem to be more keen on staff who has a more 'jack of many trades but master of none' mentality. However as the studio grow they all seem to look for more specialized people.
This makes a lot of sense because big studios usually develop large projects and that costs a lot of money, so they are very interested in expertise to make sure the project wont collapse at any point because they failed doing something essential or the staff is not working efficient enough because they either have been mismanaged or the staff simply isn't good enough in what they do. In smaller studios everybody seem to all learn as they go and many mistakes are being made but because the projects have a much smaller scope they can quickly change their approach when needed.
With your background you would clearly be most suited for smaller studios but if you find an area you are very keen on doing you might want to build a portfolio based on that and apply for an internship for a year or so at a bigger studio. It's always easier to get a job at a small studio and you would benefit a lot from working for a large studio as they use a lot of middleware tools and have a very different mindset that simply cannot be taught anywhere else. It's always beneficial to know how large projects should be planned and coordinated because a lot of smaller studios will eventually become larger and will need to automate and plan their projects differently as they grow.
I started studying Games Design at a university in the UK and I really liked it but at the same time I could see the massive benefit in programming and I just eventually started to spend most of my spare time with programming. Most of the time I did not know what I was doing. I lacked mainly in 3D math so I dropped out and started to study Games Programming instead and I loved it.
I was lucky that my university taught me linear algebra in my first year. However, I was not a natural born programmer by any means as I simply never had a strong analytical mind. I worked very differently, I just simply smashed through it by spending the time that was required until I had solved it. Many of my colleagues could read pages of code like a compiler and could in no time pin point an issue. I needed a lot more time and often relied heavily on debugging tools to help me find the issues which was a huge weakness as I would often struggle with code tests for interviews. In the other hand, I had other skills that my colleagues lacked and we would often learn to use each others skills and get along very well.
I still often feel and think like an artist and miss being able to just focus on 3D modelling, texturing and animation so I will practice my artistic skills in my side projects. Anyway, what I am trying to say is that it can be very hard to find something you are good at. I always want to do everything but the truth is that there is good and bad sides to everything. You really need to try it out for yourself and you will most likely find a handful of things you like to do.
I have tried to work for a lot of companies and studios and I have learned something new every place I have been at. I can work on a project for a client for a certain time but as I get older I also get quickly bored and will need a relatively quick turnaround on projects. I have recently rediscovered my love and passion for games design and with my technical knowledge I can actually write my own code and implement it as I see fit. We are humans and we are by nature curious and often find many things interesting and that is OK. We change over time and develop new passions as we go and that is also OK. So whatever you do just always be aware of your strengths and weaknesses and try to work towards something you really find interesting and could see yourself do for a long time.
No matter what you choose, in order to impress and land a job you do need to be able to convince and accelerate at a job interview. I was not very good at it for many reasons and I failed a lot of them because I was not able to sell myself very well. I did become better at it and would become more confident over time as I started to pick up what I needed to say at the right time but most importantly I built up a portfolio that truly showed my skills. I started to use my spare time projects and that really worked out for me. Sometimes I manged to impress them so much they didn't even want me to do a programming test. I would always throw in my portfolio at the end of the interview like a poke player showing his ace of spade at the end of a game. Also, the more experience you can write on your CV the better.
This makes a lot of sense because big studios usually develop large projects and that costs a lot of money, so they are very interested in expertise to make sure the project wont collapse at any point because they failed doing something essential or the staff is not working efficient enough because they either have been mismanaged or the staff simply isn't good enough in what they do. In smaller studios everybody seem to all learn as they go and many mistakes are being made but because the projects have a much smaller scope they can quickly change their approach when needed.
With your background you would clearly be most suited for smaller studios but if you find an area you are very keen on doing you might want to build a portfolio based on that and apply for an internship for a year or so at a bigger studio. It's always easier to get a job at a small studio and you would benefit a lot from working for a large studio as they use a lot of middleware tools and have a very different mindset that simply cannot be taught anywhere else. It's always beneficial to know how large projects should be planned and coordinated because a lot of smaller studios will eventually become larger and will need to automate and plan their projects differently as they grow.
I started studying Games Design at a university in the UK and I really liked it but at the same time I could see the massive benefit in programming and I just eventually started to spend most of my spare time with programming. Most of the time I did not know what I was doing. I lacked mainly in 3D math so I dropped out and started to study Games Programming instead and I loved it.
I was lucky that my university taught me linear algebra in my first year. However, I was not a natural born programmer by any means as I simply never had a strong analytical mind. I worked very differently, I just simply smashed through it by spending the time that was required until I had solved it. Many of my colleagues could read pages of code like a compiler and could in no time pin point an issue. I needed a lot more time and often relied heavily on debugging tools to help me find the issues which was a huge weakness as I would often struggle with code tests for interviews. In the other hand, I had other skills that my colleagues lacked and we would often learn to use each others skills and get along very well.
I still often feel and think like an artist and miss being able to just focus on 3D modelling, texturing and animation so I will practice my artistic skills in my side projects. Anyway, what I am trying to say is that it can be very hard to find something you are good at. I always want to do everything but the truth is that there is good and bad sides to everything. You really need to try it out for yourself and you will most likely find a handful of things you like to do.
I have tried to work for a lot of companies and studios and I have learned something new every place I have been at. I can work on a project for a client for a certain time but as I get older I also get quickly bored and will need a relatively quick turnaround on projects. I have recently rediscovered my love and passion for games design and with my technical knowledge I can actually write my own code and implement it as I see fit. We are humans and we are by nature curious and often find many things interesting and that is OK. We change over time and develop new passions as we go and that is also OK. So whatever you do just always be aware of your strengths and weaknesses and try to work towards something you really find interesting and could see yourself do for a long time.
No matter what you choose, in order to impress and land a job you do need to be able to convince and accelerate at a job interview. I was not very good at it for many reasons and I failed a lot of them because I was not able to sell myself very well. I did become better at it and would become more confident over time as I started to pick up what I needed to say at the right time but most importantly I built up a portfolio that truly showed my skills. I started to use my spare time projects and that really worked out for me. Sometimes I manged to impress them so much they didn't even want me to do a programming test. I would always throw in my portfolio at the end of the interview like a poke player showing his ace of spade at the end of a game. Also, the more experience you can write on your CV the better.