Home › Search results for: portfolio › Page 4

Search results for: portfolio

By Posted in Applying No Comments
Social media icons on paint canisters
Your social media activity paints a colorful picture, but is it appropriate for recruiters and managers?

Last fall, I spoke to a group of students who were about to graduate and apply for jobs in the game industry. We talked about the usual topics – the importance of a strong portfolio, a great resume, and excellent interviewing skills. But then a young woman in the back of the room raised her hand and asked an incredibly insightful question: “When recruiters evaluate my job application, will they also search and investigate me on social media?”

She desperately wanted to know, and for a good reason. When she was in high school, she went through an angry phase and said things all over social media that she later regretted. And now, she was afraid a potential employer might see those terrible old posts, and it would destroy her chances of landing a job.

Unfortunately, she was absolutely right. Read more »

Tagged with: , ,

By Posted in Careers 2 Comments

The below is a free sample from my book, Start Your Video Game Career. Enjoy! – Jason

CHAPTER ONE

Introduction

I’ll never forget the day I got my first video game console. It was a chilly Montana morning. I climbed out of bed and stumbled bleary-eyed to the living room, with plans to watch Saturday morning cartoons in my full-body Spider-Man pajamas. (Did I mention I was six years old?) As I turned toward the television, there it was: a brand-new Atari 2600 home video game system, in all of its beautiful faux-wood and black-plastic glory.

I immediately fell in love. Read more »

Tagged with: , ,

By Posted in Careers, Resume 14 Comments
caption
Understanding the game designer job requirements is the first step to mastery.

Is your goal to become a video game designer, but you don’t know how to get there? Start by understanding the game designer requirements and qualifications that game companies demand.

Every game company has specific requirements you’ll need to meet before they’ll hire you as a game designer. Luckily, you don’t need to ask companies what those are. Instead, simply find an online job posting by any game studio you’d like to work for, and read the game designer job requirements they’ve listed. It’s that easy. Read more »

Tagged with: , ,

By Posted in Careers 1 Comment
This is one of more than 30 interviews with professional game developers. For more, visit Which game job is right for you?.
placeholder
What’s Eliott Lilly’s secret recipe for getting attention and standing out as a concept artist?

Eliott Lilly is a concept artist working as a freelancer in the video game industry, with credits on heavy-hitting franchises including DOOM, F.E.A.R, and Black Ops. It takes hard work and persistence to achieve success as a concept artist, but it also takes dedicated mentorship (Eliott was personally trained by Donato Giancola) — and that’s why he’s paying it forward by mentoring thousands of aspiring concept artists through his books and his website, BigBadWorldOfConceptArt.com.

We spoke with Eliott to learn how new concept artists can start their careers and stand out from the crowd, and build their own success in the big bad world of concept art. Read more »

Tagged with: , , ,

By Posted in Applying, Interviewing No Comments

A few weeks ago, I spoke with a group of students at the Academy of Interactive Entertainment, a game and film school here in Seattle. They were kind enough to make a video and share it with the world, I thought you might like it.

It was super fun, because I did an open Q&A with the students. They’re graduating soon, so they asked about everything: interviewing, resumes, portfolios, and whether good digital hygiene means you should “scrub” your social media before employers find those pics of that thing you kinda wish you hadn’t done last summer. Here’s the video. Read more »

Tagged with: , , , ,

By Posted in Careers 7 Comments
This is one of more than 30 interviews with professional game developers. For more, visit Which game job is right for you?.
Damien Yoccoz, video game translator/localizer at Level Up Translation
Damien Yoccoz: “Speaking two languages doesn’t make you a translator any more than having two hands makes you a pianist.”

Hundreds of new video games are created every year, but unfortunately, most are made by developers who speak a language you don’t. That means unless you learn Japanese, French, Mandarin, and a dozen other languages, you’ll miss out on thousands of awesome game experiences in your lifetime.

That is, unless the developers translate their game into a language you understand, using a painstaking process called localization.

Before the 1990s, if you didn’t speak the language, you simply couldn’t play the game. Some players learned a second language like Japanese, solely so they could play rare unofficial imports. Others took matters into their own hands and made “fan translations” to distribute to other players using dial-in bulletin-board systems (BBS).

Fortunately, game localization has become so affordable that publishers release each game in multiple languages so players around the world can enjoy their creations.

Today I’m speaking with Damien Yoccoz, the founder of Level Up Translation in Basse-Normandie, France. He explains what a translator does, how he got started in the job, and what it takes to succeed as a game localizer. Read more »

Tagged with: , , , ,

By Posted in Careers No Comments
This is one of more than 30 interviews with professional game developers. For more, visit Which game job is right for you?.
Dan White, Video Game Technical Director
Dan White: “You don’t lose respect because you don’t know things; you lose respect because you don’t ask questions.”

For every job in the video game industry, there’s a natural career progression as you gain experience over the years.

For video game programmers (also called engineers) there are typically two options. One path is to become a senior engineer and take on more challenging projects. The other is to become a technical lead, possibly increasing in scope to eventually lead multiple engineering teams and projects.

That second path — the engineering-leadership path — is a job called the Technical Director.

Today we’re speaking with Dan White, a highly-experienced Technical Director in the video game industry. He’s been making games since 1995, and in 1999 he started a game studio that’s still going strong today. We ask him what it takes to become a Technical Director, why management is rewarding, and how you can start your own career in video game engineering. Read more »

Tagged with: , ,

By Posted in Careers, Tools No Comments

After four years of research and over a year of writing, editing, and re-writing, I’m thrilled to announce that my new book Start Your Video Game Career is finally complete, and available for purchase!

Start Your Video Game Career, by Jason W. Bay

Click here to buy Start Your Video Game Career now!

This book is a big deal for me personally, since it’s the most in-depth book I’ve ever written. More importantly, I think it will be a powerful tool for you, because it’s packed full of knowledge, guidance, and inspiration to help you start your own successful career in the video game industry. Read more »

Tagged with: , , , , ,

By Posted in Careers 2 Comments
ted_wennerstrom_game_audio_composer
Game composer Ted Wennerström got here the hard way. Will you learn from his mistakes?

The following blog post was written by Ted Wennerström, a freelance video game composer, sound effects designer and producer.

Ted Wennerstrom: Having celebrated my first complete year as a full-time freelance composer and sound designer, I looked back at when I took my first stumbling steps in this harsh world of game audio. I decided to put it down as a list to not only remind myself, but to help fellow composers understand what they can expect when starting their own freelancing careers.

Here are the 5 most important lessons I’ve learned in my journey. Read more »

Tagged with: , , , , ,

By Posted in Careers, Podcast 2 Comments

In this episode of Game Industry Career Guide Podcast, I answer a question from Indigo, who asks “I have a question about taking a job in a position you don’t want just to get your foot in the door. I’ve had many teachers and other people tell me that taking a QA job or a 2D art job is a good idea just to get in. But I know that I really wouldn’t enjoy it nearly as much as a 3D art position. But it’s pretty hard to find a 3D position. So I’m not sure what to do. Any advice would be great.”

In this episode, you’ll learn:

  • What happens if you don’t have the skills you need to get the job you really want
  • 3 reasons why starting in a different job can boost your career
  • The 1 major drawback of starting in a different job

Read more »

Tagged with: , , ,