The week of truth has come and gone in its flash of hopes, dreams, and glory. Hard to believe all the buildup for this year's Game Developers Conference has run its course. It was a fantastic experience, as dizzying as it was helpful, and I can't wait to take what I've learned from GDC '12 and apply it to the forthcoming GDC '13!
Here are some of the lessons I gleaned, both from meeting with video game industry professionals and from my own experience participating in the whirlwind:
- You can't please everyone. There is no perfect resume; there is no perfect business card. One professional's advice and suggestions are rubbish to another. For example, some recruiters love the objective statement while others told me flat out that it's a waste of space. Whatever. Research the particular company you're interested in and tailor your materials to what they look for. Find a strong template and get solid general resume advice from faculty or pros, and then just make yourself shine in the best way that you know how.
- That said, there are definitely better and worse ways to illustrate what you can offer a company. Do more showing than telling on your resume. If a skill can be described in its precise context as it was exercised during a project or product development, that is infinitely better than simply listing what you can do. (At least, that's the story I got from most pros--a couple said they liked a brief list so they knew what to expect from the other details. Again, whatever.)
- If you have multiple professional interests and broad skill sets, focus your resume on one core discipline and make sure that every detail on that resume supports your specific professional goal. If you would like to try your hand at a couple different disciplines, make completely different resumes that focus on one discipline each. Companies want someone who can nail the specific jobs they need done, not someone who can kind of do a bunch of other people's jobs. It's still a good idea to include jobs and skills that are related to game development in other ways, but make sure your description contextualizes and focuses them onto your core professional discipline. For example, why does knowing some basic programming enhance your ability to be a producer? How do animation skills help you be a better senior programmer?
- Talk about team sizes and your personal contributions to the nitty-gritty of your projects' development cycles. The more you can convince someone that you actually make games and are valuable to a team in the process, the better.
- Make games. Seriously. Just make games like crazy so that you can show people your passion, your work ethic, and your creativity with something they can personally see, hear, feel, experience, and enjoy. Also, get a tablet to show your wares on. It's 2012. (I don't have one yet, dangit. I should get on that.)
- Ask questions. You want to learn from them--let them know that. Let them know how excited you are by treating them like the experts because, well, I suppose they are. They are the ones getting paid to do this, after all.
- If you are talking to a company's representative, that company should be the greatest thing since sliced bread. You want to be with them. You need to be with them. You have amazing things to offer them, but they have the world to offer you. Be excited! Brag on them and let them know how honored you are to be talking to them. And do it all genuinely, even if it's not exactly what you think. You have to play the salesman card in every way possible, without being a tool. Sound hard? It's incredibly difficult for me to be like this. I haven't mastered this skill, so I didn't reap its benefits, but I watched other people do it right in front of me, and it works wonders. Practice, practice, practice!
- Go to have fun! There's a ton of work to be done, but pace yourself. Play the IGDA's meta game, go to parties, and just talk to everyone who's willing to lend an ear. You never know how much work you can actually get done in the video games industry by playing with other people. Just remember to play nice. :)
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