How You Got Into The Industry

[zaphod]

my parents were somewhat worried about it at first too. They kept asking me how I knew games weren't just a fad and wondering if I would have a job 5 or 10 years down the road.

[Psy]

How important would work experience be when applying for a job?

[hessi]

if you are applying for an internship: people won't/shouldn't care.

if you are applying for a full position with 2k+ Euro a month, experience is a must have. having a shipped title might work out. but this really depends on the company.

generally small companies tend to use trainees for exploitation purpose. bigger companies might be quite picky when it comes to full positions.

i don't know you well, so my advice would be: start with being exploited in an internship. gain a first shipped title that way. then try to either get a full position in the same company or leave and apply at different companies. getting into the industry is actually quite easy. gain some experience by internships and hobby projects. ship some low-mid budget titles and you are in

[Psy]

I might apply for an internship but I'm not sure when or where to apply.

[kleinluka]

Experience is not always a must have. You can get a junior position with no experience. Of course the pay won't be as great at first but you shouldn't worry about that on your first project. Once you've finished one it's easier to move up.

[FrieChamp]

I remember when my dad told me he would get an axe and slash my computer if I do bad at school because of computer games.

GOOD TIMES!

[Zacker]

Regarding parents, I had to drag my parents over to see our building after getting the job here before they would believe that we were not just not a few teenagers in a basement...

[e-freak]

IO - developing in basements ins fun

I'm not sure about my university stuff as many said that a specific gamedesign course may not be that good. Though the course I'll be attenting (just got the mail ) is more about Digital Media in general with a focus on Games. It combines programming lessons, art lessons, marketing and design. all state of the art (all practical stuff is going to be cryengine 2, complete new movie and soundstudios bought this summer)... (and the best: it doesn't coast anything apart from the regular public university fee (210€ for the semester)

[Steppenwolf]

Regarding parents, I had to drag my parents over to see our building after getting the job here before they would believe that we were not just not a few teenagers in a basement...

yea my parents had no idea about video game development. They were mightly impressed tho when i showed them around in the office. They never expected it to be so big, professional and yet chilled out.

[2d-chris]

Ha, same for me, my parents thought all my late nights on the computer where of no real purpose, even though I explained many times that I was spending more time making them rather than playing. When I got into the industry they where very impressed One week they dropped me off at the studio so they wanted to see it, I suppose they thought it would be some basement with cadle light and feather pens

The studio at climax is the entire top floor of that weird building on the right ...

[Zeta]

I was going to apply to climax

[Taylor]

I’ve heard so many horror stories from Climax...

Every games industry job above a tester will claim it needs industry experience, honestly if they’re not specific about what experience is required (ex: 4 years as a designer, MMO experience, shipped 2 titles), it’s often fluff and you may have success anyway – especially with tangible modification experience. And yeah, if all else fails go in at the bottom and work your way up. I’ve seen testers join towards the end of a project, and move up the ladder quite rapidly. Just realise that you won’t be bumped up automatically, and still need to promote yourself internally (where it’s much easier).

My parents have always been supportive of working in the industry, but if I’d wanted to tarmac drive-ways for a living they’d probably be behind me all the way.

[dux]

I’ve heard so many horror stories from Climax...

Please, continue.

[2d-chris]

Climax are a pleasure to work for ... infact have a guess what, so are EA!! unless your the kind of person who lets bad things happen to you and then blame somebody else for it

[kleinluka]

you worked for EA? nearly everybody I know who worked there said it was the worst time of their life