Career and Employability
24th November 2022
The purpose of this talk is about the career that we want to go into after we have finished our degree. This mentioned about skills that we need to hone, types of companies that we look into, and how to prepare before applying for opportunities
Before looking at careers, there some questions that we asked ourselves:
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What kind of person am I?
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What do I want from life?
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What am I good in and interested in?
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What have I done/ achieved?
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By answering these questions, they can give a foundation of what types of jobs we can look out for. If I were to answer these questions myself, I would say:
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I'm a type of person who likes going out and hanging out with other people. But with most of my spare time, I like to be independent.
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I don't mind what I do in life as long as I am happy and content with it.
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Obviously, I am interested and like playing games - there are some games which I'm good at. Sketching and listening to music are some of my other hobbies as well.
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In what I have done and achieved, by the time I have finished this course, I had a degree in Games Art and Design, as well as completing in some Game Jams.
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Skills Related
It is important to know that most companies (when hiring employers) are looking for the right attitudes more than the right skills/ degrees, since they would rather have someone who is motivated by work rather than someone who is not. Skills can also be developed, so that during the time that you work at a company, your skills get better (as long you put the work into it). But it is not to say that having a skill/ knowledge in a particular subject is completely useless - there are some skills that are preferred which I will explain.
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There are 2 different types of skills for employees: Technical and Soft Skills. Technical skills are "the specialized knowledge and expertise required to perform specific tasks and use specific tools/ programs in real word situations". Examples are coding or having knowledge in particular software to name a few. Soft skills are not tied to one specific job, rather they general characteristics that help employees thrive in the workplace.
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Examples of Soft Skills:
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Teamwork
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Problem Solving
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Adaptability
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Critical Thinking
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Time Management
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Interpersonal (Interaction/ Relationships with other people)
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Communication
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Self Motivation
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Flexibility to meet deadlines
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Enthusiasm
There are more soft skills, but these are considered some of the most important skills to have.
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In other words, soft skills determine how well you work with others. Regardless of how strong your technical skills are, if you struggle in having any soft skills, then you would find it difficult to work well with others which is not what the companies want.
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Companies - What are they are looking for?
Different types of companies can have requirements that are different from each other.
Indie
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Portfolio - They get an Idea of what you have done
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Speculative Applications - according to the words of Dan Pinchbeck: "Many of the staff we have employed we have done so because they emailed us telling how good they are. If you are the kind of person to push yourself and put yourself out there, then you are the type of person we want because you are going to make better games"
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Self Publish - Information about you is easily accessible, very important to networking
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Research - Knowing about the company and the different styles/ requirements that each of them has.
AAA, large development, indpendant, and small scale studios
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Coding - Alex Hutchinson, Ubisoft Montreal - "If you're just starting out, I could not overestimate the boon of having an understanding of engineering. If you can code as a designer, this is a huge plus, something that is getting more important. The more things you can do, the better!"
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Technical Background - David Smith, Game Careers.Biz - "It's very important to have a good technical background. We are always looking for people with very, very good C++ skills, and ideally knowledge of maths and physics is useful, but not necessarily essential."
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Work on Projects - Scott Pitkethly, Creative Assembly - "If you get an interview an you have a load of projects you have worked on, not only does it shows us you have enthusiasm, but it gives you something good to talk about and allows you to show off your skills and knowledge base." I would also add that doing Game Jams/ Competitions would have a great benefit to experience.
This is a general gist of what companies/ studios want from their employer, but it is important to know that each company has different requirements and that we must do research before applying.
Recruitment Process
This is the general process for recruitment. Note: There are some stages that we do not need to go through.
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1. CV, Cover Letter, Application.
Usually, you start off by sending your application/ CVs to companies. If they don't reply, make sure that you catch up on them by sending them an email
​2. Online Tests​
Testing on a large variety of topics, such as numeracy, verbal reasoning, logical reasoning etc. If you pass, then you can move to next stage.
3. First/ Telephone/ Video Interviews
Video interviews are mostly common nowadays due to the pandemic. Usually, it is about who you are and why you want to apply for this job.
4. Assessment Centre Tasks
For things such as role-play, there are assessors who will watch you from the side-lines. Usually, its about how well you respond to situations, as well as looking at the skills required for the job you're interviewing for.
It not all about right or wrong, but whether you can work together to form a solution.
5. Final Interview
The last interview before the company decides whether or not they decide to give you an offer of employment. Broader, difficult questions will come, talking about your career history, interests, and why you are interested in this job.
6. Job
You got your job!
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It is good to know about the application process since I can prepare things ahead of time, such as a Portfolio or knowing what sort of questions will be asked during interviews.
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Review
When it comes to skills, there are definitely some which I am weak at, such as having a strong motivation to work, maintaining a strong communication with peers and teammates. Throughout this whole year, one of my aims is to improve this so that I will use them well when going into the industry.
It was good to reflect on the questions, so that I know what skills I want to hone - and to know what sort of role I want to play.
It was good to know about the recruitment process so that I know what I need to prepare before applying for jobs. This includes: what sort of things I need in my portfolio that is lacking, and knowing what to say when speaking in an interview.
At least for the interview, I was (and still) able to gain confidence in speaking through the presentations that I have done.
Having knowledge about the companies is good too. Just as I mentioned before, there are some skills that the companies are looking out for. Just as I mentioned before, it is important that I have the necessary skills to not get a job that I want, but to use it within projects