So after another day at work I come home and check my emails. A daily ritual it seems. The GameIndustry.biz email immediately got my attention (as usual). GameIndustry.biz seems to be pretty much to go to place for info, help and general advice on how to break into the industry. It also has a job board (the largest I've seen) where companies and agencies post various job openings within the industry.
There are probably hundreds of jobs. The only issue I have is experience. My choice of university course didn't help. Doing a degree in what is essentially a Social Science has no benefit in the gaming world. But, I never went to uni with the intention of getting a degree to push me into a career. I went to experience the lifestyle and help decide what I want to do in the future. It was only after university that I decided that the gaming industry was the career choice for me.
Thus, I was relegated to the fact that I needed to start from the bottom, and work my way up. Therefore I had to start a game testing. A relatively competitive position apparently. A great deal of people apply for it, hoping to play games for a living (or make their way into the industry like myself). But, with the number of new games coming out, surely there would be a great deal of positions. And, to an extent there are. The only issue is most are contract positions (3 or 6 month jobs) or require 2+ yrs experience. The contract positions I could handle. Even in this depression/recession I am happy to gamble and take my chances. Mostly in order to gain the 2+ experience that permanent positions require. The only issue I'm now finding is the contract positions are getting less and less. While the permanent positions seem to have more and more requirements. No longer is it just 2yrs experience. But, coding knowledge too. Where as, previously, such knowledge was beneficial it was not necessary. While it was needed to work up the career chain, it was something you could learn on the job.
Monday, 27 April 2009
Tuesday, 21 April 2009
Introduction
So, I guess the traditional About Me post is upon us.
Well, without boring people we'll just stick with the basics. I'm 21, living in Norfolk, England. I finished 3 years of a Bachelor's Degree in International Relations and Security Studies at Bradford University.
To earn myself some cash, and fund my various activities, I work at the local Waitrose Supermarket. I have been there since the beginning of 6th Form, so almost 6 years now. I am just about to embark upon my first full-time contract, which shall be interesting.
I am essentially a geek. That being said, certainly not anywhere near the stereotypical ones you see in films or TV. I don't read comic books and I'm not a weedy, pale-faced person. In fact, I'm 6ft 6 and while I do read fantasy books, they don't have illustrations.
I'm beginning to feel like this has become one of those "Tell us about yourself" posts that you see on all the internet dating sites. So, I'll probably stop. I'll undoubtedly drop more information as it becomes necessary to explain my trail of thought.
Oh, and a word of warning. I like to type down pretty much everything that comes into my head. So expect me to go off on a few tangents without notice. Hopefully everything will still make sense though.
Well, without boring people we'll just stick with the basics. I'm 21, living in Norfolk, England. I finished 3 years of a Bachelor's Degree in International Relations and Security Studies at Bradford University.
To earn myself some cash, and fund my various activities, I work at the local Waitrose Supermarket. I have been there since the beginning of 6th Form, so almost 6 years now. I am just about to embark upon my first full-time contract, which shall be interesting.
I am essentially a geek. That being said, certainly not anywhere near the stereotypical ones you see in films or TV. I don't read comic books and I'm not a weedy, pale-faced person. In fact, I'm 6ft 6 and while I do read fantasy books, they don't have illustrations.
I'm beginning to feel like this has become one of those "Tell us about yourself" posts that you see on all the internet dating sites. So, I'll probably stop. I'll undoubtedly drop more information as it becomes necessary to explain my trail of thought.
Oh, and a word of warning. I like to type down pretty much everything that comes into my head. So expect me to go off on a few tangents without notice. Hopefully everything will still make sense though.
First Post and Greetings
Ok, so hello.
I haven't publicised this blog very much, so you've probably just stumbled upon it. I just wanted somewhere to write down some crap and just see what happens. You never know what might happen on the world wide web.
So, again welcome to my blog. Here, I intend to track the hard work and brick walls I'm hitting trying to break into the gaming industry. The first few posts will probably just be getting the blog up-to-date and documenting the issues I've had so far, and the interesting (at least for me) way I ended up here.
Hopefully this isn't going to be another little idea in my head that just gets a small little update, then left to rot. Perhaps I'll find that writing down this ideas actually gives me more of a reason to do them, and gives me the encouragement to do it.
Guess the only way I can find that out is by doing it.
I haven't publicised this blog very much, so you've probably just stumbled upon it. I just wanted somewhere to write down some crap and just see what happens. You never know what might happen on the world wide web.
So, again welcome to my blog. Here, I intend to track the hard work and brick walls I'm hitting trying to break into the gaming industry. The first few posts will probably just be getting the blog up-to-date and documenting the issues I've had so far, and the interesting (at least for me) way I ended up here.
Hopefully this isn't going to be another little idea in my head that just gets a small little update, then left to rot. Perhaps I'll find that writing down this ideas actually gives me more of a reason to do them, and gives me the encouragement to do it.
Guess the only way I can find that out is by doing it.
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