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FAQ 4:
Applying for a job in game design

NOTE: this article was originally written for aspiring game designers, but many of the concepts described herein also apply to those who aspire to other types of jobs in the game industry. This article is subject to changes and improvements; reader comments are welcome. This article was originally written in 2001, and probably contains numerous dead links. We appreciate reports of dead links so we can delete them.

Get this, and get it straight. The job of "Game Designer" is a much sought-after position that requires a lot of game industry experience. So even if you have just graduated from college, don't hold out for the vaunted title of "game designer". Just apply for any game industry job you can get * (preferably one that you will find reasonably enjoyable).

The key is getting in in the first place. Your first goal must be simply to get inside the industry. We're talking about a career -- a way of life -- not a sinecure.

Once you are inside, you have to work hard, volunteer to help out in any way you can, learn everything you can, and prove yourself, before you can gain the title of "Game Designer". I wrote more about this concept in my IGDA "The Games Game" column for April 2006, Playing the Upgrade-To-Designer Game.

After proving yourself as a game designer once, you will have to prove yourself time and time again. Know that ahead of time, steel yourself, and be willing. And you'll be fine.

Okay, the necessary basic info is out of the way now. Here's how to apply for that game industry job...

1. First, you must be prepared for the job. Presumably, you have already read Lessons 1, 2, and 3 here at this website. Presumably, you are a high school graduate and have a college degree. (Yes, you really need a college degree. Besides, they say a college degree adds a lot of money to your lifetime income. I even heard this on a TV show, so it must be true! Check out "Degree Dollars: Four Years of Higher Education Can Pay Off for a Lifetime" at http://web.archive.org/web/20091116093803/http://advancedu.org/CAREER_NEWS.htm.)
Presumably, you are an avid game player. Presumably, you have already been participating in the game forums, to wit:

o http://www.gamedev.net/forums/

2. Next, you need to have a well-written résumé. I'm not going to tell you how to write a résumé; click here to find lots of websites and books on that topic, on our Game Biz Links page (look for the section entitled "About résumés and Cover Letters").

3. Next, you have to have a target list of game companies. I can't give you a target list; each aspirant has to make this for himself (hint: see our Game Biz Links page - look for the section entitled "Listings of Game Companies") (another hint: I put that section right at the top so it's REAL easy to find!). Any game company worth working for has a website. And there are lots of game industry job websites. Assuming you're active in the forums and know how to use Google you will find them. Ideally, your list contains companies in your local area, or in an area you are planning to move to very soon. Since you are starting out, you will not be telecommuting; you will be reporting to the office for work every day. Only the very experienced veterans manage to work out telecommuting arrangements (and even then it's rare). You are not there yet. If you are finished with your education, and you are looking for a job in the game biz, you need to live in a city with (hopefully more than one) game companies. If you don't live in such a city, you need to move. BEFORE you can hope to get a game job. Use these to find game companies in your area (or a good area to move to):

4. Next, you need to educate yourself about your target companies. Read their websites. Learn their product lines. Find out about their stock, if they're publicly owned. It looks bad if an applicant comes in and says, "Well, I don't know anything about your company, but I'd like to work here.".

5. Now you're ready to contact the target companies. Don't pin all your hopes on getting a job with one specific company. Have multiple companies to contact. You never know what's going to happen. Find out the name of a person to contact at each company. If you know someone who knows someone at a company, get in touch with that person and find out who you should send your résumé to. You need a name to put at the top of each cover letter. If you don't know anybody who knows somebody, call the company and ask for the name of the studio head (the VP in charge of the game production department) or for the name of the Human Resources head.

6. Cover letter. As with résumés, you can find information about how to craft cover letters on the internet (see our Game Biz Links page). However...

These days, and in the game industry, in most cases, the best or preferred way to submit your application is via email or via online application.
When submitting via email, then, the email itself IS the cover letter.
Most applicants write cover letters that are better left unwritten. For instance, they sound like they were written using a formula from a book on how to write résumés and cover letters.
But you can't not write anything in the email, and I hate emails that just say "see resume attached." Very unimaginative. So you have to write something.
But I'm not going to tell you what to write -- because then guys like me would get flooded with applications that all say the same thing.
One thing you can do with a cover letter (cover email) is to share information about yourself that couldn't fit in your résumé or portfolio.
Just say something short that makes me want to click on the attachments and read your résumé now rather than later. If you are suited to the job of game designer, then you ought to be able to say something that isn't sappy or formulaic or boring.

See FAQ 12 for some suggestions about things you can do at home to sweeten your cover letter, and for information about design portfolios and demo reels.

7. Have everything ready in one handy place. If you are an aspiring designer, and if you have read FAQs 1, 2, and 3 here on this site, then you have probably written some game concepts. You should have:

o Cover letter.
o Résumé.
o Portfolio (samples of your work).

Note: Inclusion of the third part, the sample, is a problematic suggestion on my part, for legal reasons (game companies do not want to see unsolicited submissions). So make it a short sample, one that describes a standard genre or type of game - do not divulge your dream game idea in your portfolio. Although portfolios are standard for graphic artists, a "game design portfolio" is not a standard concept. Therefore I can't tell you exactly what to put in a design portfolio (if you're so creative, you think of something creative to do), but don't send a phone-book-sized design document. A game design portfolio should be no larger than a regular artist's portfolio - when printed, it should be under 20 pages, in a flexible binder (which might never be returned to you), with your name and contact information emblazoned on the front. See FAQ 12 for general guidelines about portfolios.
The danger of including a short sample of your design writing style in a submission is that the company's "no submissions" policy may result in their not looking at it. It might be better not to include any sample in a submission (the short writing sample is better used for an in-person interview) - or you could contact the recipient in advance, and inquire as to whether a short sample of your work would be helpful and/or welcome along with the résumé. Maybe they'd want you to sign a disclosure agreement or submission agreement first, if you are going to include a complete concept in your portfolio.
If you make a game design portfolio, it's probably a good idea to also put your stuff on the internet somewhere. Go get a free page or blog. Then write on the material, "this portfolio also available online at http://www...." and put the exact address of your online portfolio. More on portfolios in item 10, below.

8. Send it in. I used to advise aspirants ("wannabes") to call on the phone or drive to the game company, but I've changed my advice to reflect the changing reality. H.R. departments (Human Resources) are increasingly favoring the emailed application. Your portfolio may be online - so your email should include a link to that. Make sure that your email attachments all contain your name as the first part of the filename. "résumé.doc" is the stupidest filename ever, and I can't tell you how many of those I've received - because there's just one in my applicants folder (all the old ones were overwritten by the newer ones).

It can take up to 2 weeks for a game company to reply. So don't sit around waitin' and hopin', just move on and apply to another, and another, and another.

Hopefully the game company will like your résumé, it fills an opening, and they call you in for an interview. It's unlikely that any game company will want to pay your airfare to fly out for an interview for an entry-level position. Have you read "Location, Location, Location" in FAQ 27 yet? [This section edited Nov. 26, 2007.]

When speaking with the person on the phone, don't be nervous. Be your normal warm and personable self. Don't say you want to come in for a job interview, just ask if you could come in to meet the person and introduce yourself. You're interested in learning about the game industry, you're a college graduate, you've done some stuff on your own, and you'd appreciate a short chat. Whatever's applicable and true.

9. The interview. Don't put on a 3-piece suit. Nobody in a game studio (aside from some top executives) wears a suit. Wear clean presentable clothes. Long pants. A shirt with no holes in it except those needed for your head and arms to poke out of. Shoes and socks. Bring your package (maybe 2 or 3 copies of the résumé and cover letter; you might or might not be leaving your sample behind, most likely, depending on what's in your sample).

The main goody, the best thing you bring to the interview, is you . Be eager, attentive, charming. Your goal is to get a job, any job, so that you can eventually be a game designer. As discussed above, don't hold out for the highly-sought-after "Game Designer" position. Find out what job openings are available. Figure out which opening is suited to your skills and interests. That's the job you should be angling for.

What the company is looking for is hard-working, smart, capable communicators first and foremost. That's the impression you want to convey, through your appearance, your eye contact, and what you say during the interview.

10. The sample of your work (mentioned in step 7 above). In an in-person interview, you could at a logical point in the conversation show samples of your work. Your portfolio, in other words. Perhaps you could ask the interviewer before the interview about bringing samples of your work to the interview. If you're a game designer, sample game concept designs might be construed as an unsolicited submission, making the game company liable to a lawsuit from you if they ever did anything similar. It might be wise to put your designs (especially the portions that are included in your portfolio) on your own website (like a free blog page for instance), which would make them public knowledge (taking your portfolio out of the realm of "submission" and into the realm of "portfolio"). Letting the interviewer know this in advance could prevent what might otherwise turn into an awkward moment if someone perceives your portfolio as an unsolicited submission. And it shows that you are both savvy and sensitive to the company's needs.

The foregoing assumes that your sample illustrates a game concept for your original game idea, with sketches and words that communicate the game idea clearly. If you have a portfolio of just sketches (without any game concepts expressed), even better (bring that, and be prepared to leave it there and never see it again). If you have an interactive demo of your work on a CD, that's fine (be prepared to leave it there and never see it again). But the interviewer may not have the time to look at it. Do not expect the interviewer to go to your website, navigate through whatever labyrinthine path you've designed, and wait to download and run a game during the interview. It don't work like that. If you have an interactive demo on a laptop, that's fine. But the interviewer may not have the time to look at it. Obviously, you're not going to leave them your laptop. See FAQ 12 for some suggestions about things you can do at home to sweeten your interview, and for information about design portfolios and demo reels.

An important point about game concepts you developed on your own (oft stated on the game design newsgroups): It's unlikely that anybody is going to steal your idea and make your game idea without you. (It's also unlikely that they'll take your idea and make the game with you. See FAQ #1 and FAQ #11 .) Game companies are teeming with more ideas than they can ever make. What game companies need is people, not game ideas. Your purpose in showing them your sample concept is purely to show them that you're a creative individual that they should hire. A future article will go more into how to protect your ideas.

If you are more worried that showing your idea in an interview will result in its theft than your are about getting a job, then do not take a sample to the interview. It's as simple as that.

11. After the interview. It's unlikely that the interview will end with you walking out the door with a job offer in hand. That's possible, and that's desirable, but it's more likely that the interviewer will discuss you and your résumé with others before any decision is made about offering you a job. When you leave the interview, you will probably have a sense of how well the interview went. If it didn't go very well, then just spend a few minutes thinking of what you could have done to make it go better. Then use that thinking on the next interview. When a stumbling block is in your way, use it as a stepping-stone.

Send thank-you notes to the people who interviewed you. I know it sounds old-fashioned, but we're not talking about robots, we're talking about human beings with whom you want to build human relationships. Some folks send thank-yous electronically, some will tell you a paper letter is best. Here are some tips on thank-you letters from the Sunday May 25, 2003 Los Angeles Times CareerBuilder (latimes.com/careerbuilder):

Send the thank-you letter (in other words, "email") within 48 hours of the interview. The idea is to show them that you have follow-up skills.
One page max.
Each one you send must be written specifically for the individual. If you met multiple individuals, get their business cards so you have proper spellings and job titles, and take notes immediately after the interview so you recall details for personalizing the letters.
An important purpose of the letter is to restate why you are a good candidate, and also to answer any potential objections, especially those you may have heard the individual mention during your interview. Like lack of experience if you're a recent graduate.
Just like with a cover letter or résumé, the smallest writing error can spoil any good impression they may have gotten of you.

Don't pin all your hopes on one company. Go for other interviews. The worst thing that can happen is that you don't get any offers. The second-worst thing that can happen is that you get one offer. The third-worst thing (the same thing as the best thing that can happen): you get more than one job offer to choose from. While it's a good thing to get multiple job offers, it's usually a painful decision to make, and almost always an awkward situation to be in.

* Here's more about taking whatever job you can get, and then moving into a design position...

Name: Brian
Age-Ed-Occ: Game Designer
Date: 15 Jun 2003

Comments

Just wanted to interject here---the way I got into Game Design was to create an idea for a game, realize how complicated it truly is, then went to the forums, message boards, developer websites, and applied for every game design position available. Including all its subsets--jr. Designer, jr. Level Design, etc.

I ended up working at a company that doesn't make AAA titles for the last three years, however, I learned exactly what it takes to go from paper to implementation. You aren't going to get the best job right off the bat.

Once you get your foot in the door, stay late every night. Volunteer to do anything and everything. Make friends with the leads of OTHER departments if you can--(it's the best way to learn what all the other departments do during development)...ask as many "stupid" questions as you can (without irritating anyone). Most of all, show them that want to learn every faucet of the development process---and that you don't know anything right off the bat (even if you think you do).

Then, after a few years, and a few published titles, you can move on to greener pastures.

I'm sure that there are other ways to break into the field (QA and all that)...but I wouldn't trade the way I got in for anything...I had an accelerated learning process--and I'm looking forward to my own greener pastures to learn from now.

The last thing to remember when applying is that you will not qualify even for a jr. position right off the bat---but don't worry about that. Apply anyway, and stress your love of design and games, and that you want (and are willing) to do whatever it takes for you to learn the process.

If you can write, have a good personality, and have good ideas, you will catch a break out there from someone.

Best of luck to ya!

This discussion excerpt is from the IGDA's Breaking In forum, April 20, 2006:

IGDA Forums > General Discussions > Breaking Into the Industry > Job hunting from the other side

WF: I guess what I'm trying to ask is, do I need a technical degree like Computer Science to succeed creatively in the gaming industry?

TS: You aren't really asking if everybody in a creative position has to have a CS degree, are you? I don't have a CS degree. I've been designing and producing video games for over 20 years... I recommend that you read this: [dead link deleted]

WF: My interest is in conceptualization of games and plot structure, not so much the hard coding. ... Is what I just described more-or-less what producer's do or is that more of a designer's job?

TS: No, conceptualization and plot structure are not producer tasks. "Plot structure" might not even be a game designer's task. Read that link. How come you haven't already read it? After you've read it, I am always happy to answer questions... as are we all here.

TS: More links for you:

http://www.sloperama.com/advice/lesson42.htm - about producing
http://www.sloperama.com/advice/lesson14.htm - about designing games
http://www.sloperama.com/advice/lesson32.htm - about writing for games

GG: [Quote]"Even if you don't match their needs, apply anyway." This method doesn't work too well in the game industry.[/Quote]
GG: Not only does this method actually work, its the only way I've gotten every single job I've ever had lol.

TS: Now that you mention it, that's how I got into this biz in the first place! I saw a want ad for a draftsman. I figured they could probably also use a model maker. I was right, they hired me. And within a couple years I was a game designer. Go figure.

For more about effective job-hunting, read FAQ 27 -- the "Barrier-Busting Checklist" will help make sure you're using the best techniques. The flip side of the coin is FAQ 24 -- you don't want to do any of the "Ten Stupid Wannabe Tricks"!

See this website's Game Biz Links page to find sites where game jobs are advertised.

I welcome reader feedback to improve this article. Feedback and questions will be posted on the Game Biz Q&A board.

Speaking of which, here's some reader feedback from the Game Biz Q&A board:

I can be rather verbose, part 3

>Date: Wed, 22 Dec 2010 11:31:57 -0800 (PST)
>From: Joe B
>Subject: Well worth the cost of lunch
>Hi Tom,
>I wanted to let you know that I managed to land a job in Irvine a few months after speaking with you. It's a QA testing position and I made it through both the phone and in-person interviews without any problems. The information on your website, and the advice you gave me personally helped me prepare for some of the questions that were asked. I dressed casually as you suggested, and I'm glad I did, because the people interviewing me were all in jeans and t-shirts.
>The one thing I really wasn't prepared for is how long it takes to finally land a job in the industry. Originally, I expected to land a job right out of college, though I don't know if that was over-confidence on my part or just not realizing how bad the economy is right now. I also expected to get more than a single job offer, but that didn't happen either (which is quite stressful when you have student loans looming and have been living with family for seven months). The company first contacted me nearly two months after I had originally applied. It took another week for me to get a phone interview, another month for me to get the in-person interview, and two weeks after that for me to get the job offer, which starts a month later. So from the time I applied to the time I start working, the whole process has taken over four months. With all my previous part-time jobs, I had been hired within a few weeks of first applying, so four months caught me off-guard.
>Again, thanks for the advice. I'm thrilled that I managed to get a job in the video game industry at a company I respect.
>Sincerely,
> Joe [I can be quite verbose]

Hi Joe,
Awesome, I'm delighted you got a job. And I appreciate your sharing the story about how long it took. It's instructive and I'll attach this to one of my FAQs (as soon as I figure out which one[s]).
Stick with it, and keep me posted on your progress.
Tom Sloper

Los Angeles, California, USA
December 22, 2010

Should I post my designs? What if they're based on existing IP?

> From: Joan R
> Sent: Monday, May 20, 2013 6:44 PM
> Subject: A couple of questions regarding public GDDs
> Hi Tom!
> I'm a 24 year old recent graduate in Multimedia Engineering in La Salle URL (Spain), and I'm an aspiring game designer. My objective is to get some money and experience from real life companies while I program and prepare a couple of games and a cool portfolio, and then jump into the industry (as soon as I can).
> I'm reading your page in my free time, and I understood the importance to write down everything you do/think. I'm working on a simple web page at the moment, and I thought about posting some samples of my game documentation there, but of course the GDDs are a tricky matter. Should I, in some form, publicly show my work, or just get it hidden until applications?
> Alongside some minor (ongoing) mobile projects, I have some bigger ideas in my head. And some higly improbable (imposible) ones, like sequels or games related to existing big IPs. Could I upload them as sample game documentation, as I did them just for the fun of it?
> Thanks for writing down your knowledge and experience!

Hi, Joan.
The main benefit in posting your original game ideas on your own site is to get around the "unsolicited submission" problem I cited in my FAQs. Note, though, that if you have ideas you really intend to execute some day, maybe you don't want to post those online.
Game ideas that involve extending someone else's IP could be a problem in several ways:
▲ The IP owner might object and tell you to take it down;
▲ You might someday want to apply for a job with the IP owner, and they might not appreciate the "homage" implied by your concept;
▲ You might someday want to apply for a job with a company that competes with the IP owner, and they might be unhappy that you never saw fit to pay "homage" to THEIR game that's roughly similar to the one that "inspired" your design.
It should be a given that you would never actually make a game inspired by someone else's IP. Writing a game design, though, basically amounts to little more than "fan fiction," which might or might not make the IP owner upset. Is there ever a reason to write one (a game concept based on someone else's IP)? Well, I know that aspiring TV writers are encouraged to submit scripts to TV shows they want to write for. I've never heard of game companies soliciting designs for their IP, so this may not be so much a parallel as a tangent. Hard to say.
Tom Sloper
Creator of the game advice FAQs -- donations appreciated.

Los Angeles, California, USA
May 20, 2013

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FAQ 4: Applying for a job in game design

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FAQ 4:
Applying for a job in game design