Download - LAFS SVGI Session 10 - Managing Your Career
MANAGING YOUR CAREER
Session 10
David Mullich
Survey of the Video Game Industry
The Los Angeles Film School
READ
DAILYCurrent events will impact your work one way or another. Know what they are. Strive to understand the world and use that understanding to make your games more interesting, accurate, insightful or challenging. A myopic world view limits creativity.
Networking
Most jobs are filled internally – through friends or friends of friends.LAFS Game Production Facebook groupLinkedIn.comMeetup.comAlumni AssociationsIGDA.orgMessage boards
Networking at GDC
How to Network at a Conference - Rated E (5:43)
Go to GDC! March 2-March 6, 2015 Moscone Center, San
Francisco
http://www.gdconf.com
Go to E3! June 16-18, 2015 Los Angeles
Convention Center
http://www.e3expo.com
Go to IndieCade! October 9-12, 2014 Culver City
http://www.indiecade.com
Go to GDC Next! November 3-4, 2014 Los Angeles Convention
Center Promo Code GDCN14EX
http://www.gdcnext.com
Other Conferences
LA Games Conference (Los Angeles) ComicCon (San Diego) Penny Arcade Expo (PAX) (San Antonio) Serious Play Conference (Los Angeles) ACM SIGgraph Conference on Motion In
Games (Los Angeles) SXSW Gaming Expo (Austin)
Electronic Entertainment Expo
G4 Icons Episode #27: History of E3 (20:59)
Professional Groups
IGDA/LAhttp://legacy.igda.org/lahttps://www.facebook.com/groups/231368329464 /
Blacks in Gaminghttp://blacksingaming.orghttps://www.facebook.com/groups/blacksingaming /
Women in Gaming International (WIGI)http://www.womeningamesinternational.org
Volunteer!
Great networking opportunities Looks great on your resume
Advice From An Intern
It’s a small world, after all Don’t go for a big splash Fixers, not moaners Cultivate mentorships Don’t watch TV during working hours Open yourself to opportunities There’s more to life than videogames
Global Game Jam
Global Game Jam 2013 Keynote (11:43)
Monetizing Indie Games
Portals – Share of ad revenueKongregate.comNewgrounds.comMiniclip.comAddictinggames.comMany, many others!
iOS, Android – Direct sales WiiWare, PSN, XBLA – Direct sales Web self-publish – 100% of ad revenue
Outside Box
How to Get a Job in Video Games - Gaming Jobs - Tips from the Game Industry (10:34)
Read Job Listings Regularly
Who’s hiring
What qualifications are needed
What portfolio pieces / software is desired
Job boards
You can find many jobs through specialty job search sites.http://jobs.gamejobs.comhttp://creativeheads.net/http://www.gamasutra.com/jobs/http://www.indeed.com/http://www.wiredtalent.comAnd, yes, Craigs List
Basic Terminology
You really should know this:
Q&A:
Questions and answers
QA:
Quality Assurance
Quality Assurance
A completely viable way to get your foot in the door in a games company.
But be aware that not all companies have a path to dev from QA.
Ask first.
Look Beyond Indie and AAA
AdvertGames Educational Games Serious Games Kid’s Games Gambling Games
Be Open Minded
All games are valid games to work on. You can learn just as much working on an advergame for cats as you can on the latest bazillion $ mega‐title.
Each title shipped is one step closer to your ultimate goal of dream‐game awesomeness.
If an advergame for cats is your dream‐game, then congratulations, you’re going to achieve your dreams much quicker than most. Also think of the LOLcat opportunities during user testing! People get PAID for doing this!
Recruiters
Digital Artist Management Premiere Search Prime Candidate Mary-Margaret.com GameRecruiter.com Individual agents
Recruiters Don’t Get YOU Jobs They’re paid by companies to fill
open positions They’re paid by those companies
based on a percentage of your starting salary
They often hear of job openings that aren’t listed on job sites
When Are Recruiters Useful?
> $55,000 / year(Producers, but not APs)
When you have specific skillsCode LanguagesArt SpecialtiesAnimation Specialties
Resume Disclaimer
*The following material is the opinion of the instructor based on his years of experience as a hiring manager and resume reader. These opinions may not reflect the stated policy of LAFS or its professional career counselors.
Resume DOs
Permanent e-mail address (Hotmail, Gmail, Yahoo, etc.)
Reverse chronological order Describe accomplishments List skills (software tools, programming
languages, etc.) Link to your portfolio site Spell-check and proofread your resume
Gameography
List of every game you’ve worked onReverse order (newest first)List platform(s)Update always
Resume Length
One-page rule: early career ONLY Additional Sections as you get older
Teaching EngagementsSpeaking EngagementsWritten Works
○ Articles○ Books
Exhibitions and Competitions
Reference List
Minimum of three people who know you professionally and who will vouch for youBosses better than co-workersCo-workers are fineInternship supervisorsInstructors
Keep this list up to date throughout your career
Proofread Your Resume!
Everyone loves creativity by typo.
“You can customise your character with scaring.”
“To scare your character, press DELETE! Trololol!” laugh the developers at your job application.
Resume DON’Ts
List your hobbies Include a picture of yourself Include a career objective Include so much detail that you lose
the story
Resume Sites
Gamasutra.com
Monster.com
Dice.com
CreativeHeads.net (newsletter)
Create a Portfolio Site!
Art Programming Design Softography w/ pictures / screenshots
Your portfolio is only as good as the worst piece of work in it.
If in doubt, leave it out.
Portfolios
Do not make the viewer do this when looking at your work online.
Create a portfolio website to showcase your work!
But…
Portfolios
Share your content with potential employers.
That’s how communities work.
Trust me: No‐one is going to steal content from your mailed portfolio, and good practice belongs to everyone. Stealing the work of others is the mark of an amateur. No professional would ever stoop that low. For shame!
Portfolios
If your work takes longer to load than it does to view, you’re wasting everyone’s time.
Including your own.
Portfolios
If your demo reel uses an obscure codec and can’t be viewed by a developer, do NOT reply the following:
It works fine on my PC I thought a cutting edge technology
company would have been able to overcome a minor issue like that
What's a codec?
Most developers work in shared spaces and use headphones.
Even Leads & Managers.
Keep the volume on your demoreel consistent.
And try not to assume that everyone <3s Skrillex.
Portfolios
Portfolios
Be inclusive: Don’t assume the developer reviewing your portfolio is male.
Or white.
Or straight.
Avoid: Porn elves. Undressed or under‐dressed women. Unfeasibly large or gravity defying breasts (on anyone).Brutalized or dehumanized women with sexual overtones. Any and all over‐used, limiting and frankly borderline racist stereotypes of criminal men from non- white racial backgrounds including triads, yakuza, mafia, bloods or crips (especially if they are also rappers), insurgents and/or terrorists, middle‐class British villains as voiced by Alan Rickman, working class British villains as voiced by Jason Statham, French mimes as voiced by no‐one, impoverished Mexican villagers with strong regional accents and apparent limited access to grooming products, education or any kind of empowerment.
All of the above still applies if the characters are in zombie form.
Portfolios
A good rule of thumb for selecting work for your portfolio is this:
“If someone who didn’t know me saw this work, would they think I was a serial killer?”
Portfolios
If an applicant’s portfolio is bad enough, developers will save the work to a GALLERIE ABOMINATI*.
When they need cheering up they will gather round to look at it and laugh.
Do NOT be that applicant.
Portfolios
Know where you’re aiming your efforts at any given time. Ideally it should be here.
Portfolios
But you should aim here if you are nearing the job interview stage.
Especially as your interviewer may not have a degree.
Some of us are waaaaaay older than game degrees, or didn’t want or need a degree to get
where we are today. And that’s OK!
Portfolios
If you’re aiming here, that means you don’t know enough about the industry to get a job later. And you’re probably just trying to pass.
Manage Your Public Profile
Prospective employers will Google you. What will they find?
While it is not possible to completely control your Google results, you can help yourself by keeping your personal and professional life separate. Use privacy settings on your Facebook pages and picture tags by friends, and keep your Twitter trail professional or make it anonymous.
Never use your personal social network profile as a portfolio: No‐one wants to trawl through embarrassing nightclub photos of you while searching for your work.
Contacting An Employer
To: Recruitment @ A Games Studio
CC: Every games studio in the nation
Subject: I love what your company does, and am a perfect fit for your studio.
ORLY? I feel *so special*
Contacting An Employer
mailto:[email protected]
Do you really want this as your identifier for job applications?
Get a professional-looking email address!
Cover Letters
“Dear Sir or Madam,
I’m a recent graduate and am very keen on getting a job in the games, animation, visual effects, pre‐visualization or web industries...”
Signed by reject #732
Target each application to that job only: Cover letter CV / resume Showreel
Cover Letters
“...im willing to provide my services to improve the animation industry level”
You do realize this implies you think you’re better with 0 years of experience than they are with ∞ years?
That’s not just ignorant. It’s downright insulting.
And grammatically wrong, too.
The above remains true even if you were “kidding” and was posted on your social network site. Because prospective employers can see that too unless you’ve set your privacy settings accordingly. Well? Have you?
Job Interviews
At a job interview, remember that you’re being interviewed by a professional <insert discipline here>, not a professional interviewer.
You can distract them from any awkward moments with shiny work!*
* This does work. “I’ve brought my sketchbooks, would you like to see them?” is like baubles to kittens.
Interview Questions
“What is your greatest weakness??”
Bad answers: “I haven’t got any” “I am a perfectionist” “You are!” “Chocolate” *
Good answer: “From your perspective, I guess it’s the fact that I don’t have
much work experience. But let me tell you about the projects I have worked on in and outside of college...”
Don’t Badmouth Anyone
There is only about 1 degree of separation between pretty much all game developers, world wide.
It will come back to bite you. Even **years** down the line.
Interview The Company
You should be interviewing the employer as much as they are interviewing you.
Learn to tell a good employer from a bad one.
All games companies have good times and bad times. The trick is to work out the differences between “Bad times” and “Bad employer”.
This is easier with hindsight.
More Interview Tips
Learn about the company first Dress appropriately Don’t arrive late or too early. If you are late, call. Talk about things of interest to the interviewer Use questions to talk about your strengths and
past accomplishments Don’t lie Find out what’s the next step Write a “thank you” letter (or email) afterwards
Mock Interview
Watch a Job Seeker Interview with Game-Maker Turbine (14:03)
Employee
Work-for-hire Social Security & other taxes (“withholding”) paid by employer Some level of benefits:
○ Health Insurance○ Retirement Plan
401k ESOP
○ Profit Sharing○ Paid Holidays○ Vacation Days○ Sick Leave○ Employee Discounts / Free Games○ Parking
Temporary Employee
Company contracts with Temp Agency
You are employee of Temp Agency Temp Agency pays your SS & taxes Generally no benefits until
assignment becomes long-term http://www.wiredtalent.com/ http://www.volt.com/
Independent Contractor (Vendor)
All terms negotiated up frontLess micromanagementYou must pay your own SS & taxes
There is no shame in freelancing.
As long as you’re working on games, you’re a game developer. Even if you’re an impoverished freelance, outsource or indie dev who isn’t exactly living the dream right now. You’re still one of us and we <3 you.
Now What?
Always be thinking about your next job
Always have your resume up to date
Always have some money saved up
Tokenism
The practice or policy of making no more than a token effort or gesture. Token effort. Token changes. Token comments. Token QA practice. Token documentation.
Does NOT belong in game development practice ANY kind.
Do not aim to do the minimal required. Aim to exceed expectations.
Personal Hygiene
Is not a “lifestyle choice” when working in teams.
Body odor is NOT a viable way of keeping managers away from your desk*.
* No matter how tempting that can be during crunch.
AlwaysBeCreating
Course Evaluation
Go to this URL and answer information about this course:
https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/DLRBNXS
Gaming Is Miraculous
Modern Gaming is Miraculous (4:36)
Good Luck!