The Games Game - April 2004

Each month, industry veteran Tom Sloper provides career guidance to game biz wannabes, newbies, and junior professionals with the goal of helping them break into the industry, and stay in. Submit a question to Tom for developer-oriented advice in this column (IGDA members only).

Staying In After Getting In (April 2004)

Dear Tom,

I'm at the debugging stage of my full 3D game demo that I'm going to submit to games studios in support of my application as a game programmer.

Even though I have a computer science degree, I have had my fair share of narrow misses for positions given that at the time I did not have a completed demo, nor industry experience.

Now that I'm days away from making serious applications I have a brand new concern: What if I'm not good enough to stay in the industry? Just as there are guidelines when making applications, are there similar guidelines that make a good impression to better secure your place once in the industry? In other words, what have been the factors that have caused people to be "dismissed" from those who have maintained their careers? Given how hard it is to get in in the first place, I'm fretting!

Your guidance is very much appreciated.

Kind regards,
Dean Butcher

Dear Dean,

Look at things from the point of view of the hirer for a moment. Hiring somebody for a full-time job is no trivial matter. Once somebody has been hired, it's going to take something fairly serious to fire them (or lay them off).

Someone might be "let go" if he doesn't perform adequately. That is to say, he consistently delivers below quality requirements, or is always late with his deliveries, or makes errors in his delivery format. Someone might be "terminated" if she is frequently late or absent. And someone would be given her walking papers if she was a disruptive influence in the team. For instance, if she was constantly arguing or complaining. Or if an employee was harassing another employee in any way. Someone would definitely be fired if he does anything unethical or illegal (regardless of whether he knows that it's unethical or illegal).

Getting let go for any of the above reasons would be your own fault, and of course it would look bad on your resume. In all the cases above except the case of unethical or illegal action, the employee would receive at least one warning. You usually have a chance to fix the problem and stay in the job.

There is also the possibility of layoffs. A layoff might occur because of a change in the company leadership, a downturn in the company's finances, or the company might simply shut down or be acquired. Getting laid off for these reasons is not one's own fault, and doesn't look bad on the resume.

So we see now that the best way to keep one's job is to work hard, work well, and to work cooperatively with the team. There are things you cannot control - and which you should not spend time worrying about. As Stonewall Jackson once said, "Never take counsel of your fears." So just do your best, and keep your eyes (and your options) open.

Tom Sloper's game biz career began over twenty years ago at Western Technologies, where he designed LCD games and the Vectrex games "Spike" and "Bedlam". There followed stints at Sega Enterprises, Rudell Design, Atari Corporation, and Activision. In 12 years at Activision, Tom produced 36 unique game titles (plus innumerable ports and localizations), designed four games, and won five awards. Tom worked for several months in Activision's Japan operation, in Tokyo. He is perhaps best known for designing, managing and producing Activision's "Shanghai" line. He is currently consulting, writing, speaking, teaching, and developing original games. Find out more at Sloperama.

© 2004 Tom Sloper. All rights reserved.