4 months of trying...
I've been slaving away at trying to get just an interview at ANY company in the gaming industry but have had absolutely no luck, despite 4 months of trying. I feel like my location is starting to damn me as a lot of companies that I've seen are attending career fairs in almost every part of the country EXCEPT Illinois. I'm at the point of almost flying/driving to one of the career fairs to just get some face time. Just to be clear, I'm looking for an internship (or co-op) in either design/production or programming/level design.
I'm a junior at Northwestern University double-majoring in Computer Science and Industrial Engineering. I've got a 3.12 GPA and several courses directly applicable to the gaming industry.
For previous employment, I've had a web-services programming internship the past two summers and have several references out of it. It was a full time internship (40hrs / week, though I worked many more), and my responsibilities were equivalent to full employees on the team. They've already given me a job offer for after college.
For other resume highlights, I have numerous programming skills and languages. I'm part of the ACM club and do programming competitions through TopCoder and ICPC. I also have my pilot's license and am a lead advisor / administrator of student.com
I've literally been going down the game dev map and inquiring about internships. Most companies haven't even responded. I've gone to the top companies and submitted my resume there and am still yet to get a response.
I'm incredibly passionate about games and designing/tweaking them and feel like I've well exceeded the 10,000 hour rule. I'm really pretty set on having this be what I want to do with my life... but it seems like that breaking into the industry involves a divine endowment. I've read the FAQ's here and several books on the industry, but just can't find a way in.
The worst part is how much this is stressing me out. I've looked at the full-time positions and have found almost every single company only looking for people that have 2+ years in the industry. Seems to be a giant catch-22: To get into the industry, you already need experience working in the industry.
Anyone have any tips to actually getting to talk to someone in the company? Face-time, or even just a phone call?
Thanks for the tips. I'm definitely on the lookout for whatever events I can find. Unfortunately there are very few in Chicago. I've already signed up for one event later this month. Hopefully igda Chicago's new site kicks off soon and can resume meetings.
Are the places you're applying to in a reasonable commuting distance from where you currently live?
Originally posted by maenthoven
Yes. I've got three places to live right now. I have an apartment near Chicago (for school). My parents live in the Dallas / Fort Worth area (where I'm from). I've also got a LOT of family in the Silicon Valley area (my grandparents would love to have me for a summer).
So you're saying you've been applying only to Chicago-area companies for the past four months?
Because anything else is "Stupid Wannabe Trick Number Six."
http://sloperama.com/advice/lesson24.htm
Also, are you saying you haven't graduated yet? Because you're not ready for a full-time job if you're still in school.
Originally posted by tsloper
So you're saying you've been applying only to Chicago-area companies for the past four months?
Because anything else is "Stupid Wannabe Trick Number Six."
http://sloperama.com/advice/lesson24.htm
Also, are you saying you haven't graduated yet? Because you're not ready for a full-time job if you're still in school.
Sorry, in my haste I overlooked the fact that we were talking about internships.
Ones closer to where you live are most likely to yield results.
Good luck with the effort!
It might be good to cold call some companies to actually talk to a person. Some companies don't like that at all, but its how I got some contacts while looking for an internship last year. It might also be a little early for companies to even know about what internships they have available.
I know Blizzards deadline is late January, Insomniac opens up there internships in January and I had my interviews with EA last February.
(just some examples)
Originally posted by maenthoven
....I've gone to the top companies and submitted my resume there and am still yet to get a response.
1. Just the top companies? The top companies attract lots/the best applicants so competition will be tough. If you have not already done so widening your search to include some of the second tier companies may yield results.
2. If you have sent your resume to top, second and bottom tier companies and no one has responded then the problem may not be you but your resume - as in how it is written. It is frightening how easy it is to make yourself look awful with a poorly constructed resume and even more frightening how few schools seem to teach resume writing.
Read this http://www.obscure.co.uk/blog/2009/03/23/your-resume/
then consider posting your resume here for review.
..... I'm looking for an internship (or co-op) in either design/production or programming/level design
This may be an example of what I mean. Design and production are very different disciplines as are programming and level design and they shouldn't be slashed as if they belong together. If your application includes something like this you are basically saying "I am applying for everything", which employers will read as "I don't know what I want to do".
I'm incredibly passionate about games and designing/tweaking them and feel like I've well exceeded the 10,000 hour rule.
With that much experience under your belt you must have a lot of portfolio samples. Are you making the common mistake of including everything, rather than just your best work?
The worst part is how much this is stressing me out. I've looked at the full-time positions and have found almost every single company only looking for people that have 2+ years in the industry. Seems to be a giant catch-22: To get into the industry, you already need experience working in the industry.
Fear not, you are making a common mistake. All the job ads require 2 years experience because experienced staff are hard to find so employers must advertise.
Entry level employees are very common and employers receive a constant stream of entry level job applications so they often don't bother to advertise them - people just apply.
Conclusion
My money is on your resume being the culprit. I suggest you post it here for review.
Originally posted by Obscure
1. Just the top companies? ...
Conclusion
My money is on your resume being the culprit. I suggest you post it here for review.
Awesome post, Dan. (^_^)
Tom
Resume below. Took out some specific details for privacy reasons...
OBJECTIVE
Internship or Cooperative Engineering position that utilizes my programming knowledge and management abilities while exposing me to the gaming industry.
EDUCATION
Northwestern University, Evanston, IL
Double Major in Computer Science and Industrial Engineering GPA 3.12
June, 2011
Relevant courses include:
- Honors Engineering Analysis I (Programming in MATLAB, Linear Algebra)
- Introduction to Computer Engineering
- Fundamentals of Computer Programming (Programming in Scheme)
- Programming in C++
- Engineering Design and Communication
- Data Structures and Data Management (Programming in C++)
- Human-Computer Interaction
- Stochastic Models and Simulation
- Introduction to Integrated Marketing Communications
(My High School), Dallas, TX
High School Diploma GPA 3.65
May, 2007
Relevant Courses and Clubs:
- AP Classes/Tests: Physics B (5/5), Computer Science A (5/5), BC Calculus (5/5)
- Robotics team programmer
WORK EXPERIENCE
(My company) Deerfield, IL
Cooperative Engineering Internship – 40 hrs/week
(My company website)
Summer 2008, 2009
Worked directly with project managers to design, code, test, and debug customer software solutions. Programming languages used were JavaScript, XSL, HTML, XML, and the company’s internal hybrid-language. Responsibilities were equivalent to full (my department) employees.
ACTIVITIES AND SKILLS
Programming and Computer Skills: Extensive experience in Java, 3ds Max, C++, JavaScript, XML, XSLT, HTML, Visual Basic, Microsoft Word, Excel, Powerpoint, and Access. Experience with Scheme, Lua, MySQL Maya,, and C#. Currently learning Python and Cocoa/Objective C.
Northwestern ACM Club and Programming Team: Competitor in TopCoder algorithm design competitions for Northwestern University (programming in Java and C++). Competitor in ICPC mid-central USA contest. ACM Club experiments with modding Warcraft 3 and Team Fortress 2.
Pilot: Dependable and consistent VFR rated airplane pilot with over 140 hours of flight time. Responsible for all phases of aircraft flight, including communication, navigation, weather, and crew-resource management. 50+ hours of Pilot in Command flight time.
Student.com Administrator and Moderator: Volunteers on http://www.student.com with the alias of (my alias). Works directly with the site owner and developers to critique and improve site structure, UI, and site direction. Manages and moderates teen advice team and forums.
Thanks for your input guys.
Try applying with a different resume depending on where the companies are located. You've said your grandparents have a place near/in Silicon Valley, so use their address on your resume. With living in Sacramento (even at only 90 miles outside of San Francisco) I know that my location destroyed many job chances that I had. One employer even said (and I loved that he actually told me this too) that even if there's a candidate of similar or slightly lower abilities/fit to my own skills and abilities, the other candidate would get the job - due to location. Granted I was only unemployed for 4 months (I just started yesterday doing Motion Graphics/3d for the Pharmaceutical industry - still working on that game industry) but still. Like others have said, face time is quite valuable. Get yourself to the GDC this year. Get to the Career fair if nothing else. I flew out from Philly, spent $1800-2200 on the week (hotels and whatnot + late registration to the GDC) but it was still very very worth it. If this is really something that you want to get into as far as internships/career goes, you've got to be close to the places. Like Sloper says - location location location. Why pick someone that has no experience in the industry if they don't live close bye.
Also, I'd lose the Pilot information specifically due to the fact that it has zero to do with your current occupation or the industry that you're trying to get into. If you still want to mention it, bring it up in the interview.
Also, I'd lose the Pilot information
I disagree. Knowing how to fly an airplane could be seen as valuable at some game companies. It should occupy no more than 1 line on the resume though.
I feel your pain. I've been in the industry for 25 years as an artist and I can't get an interview either. 
(The freelance thing is getting VERY hard. Non paying clients etc.)
You could try attending a conference for game developers and meeting people there. I'm not necessarily talking about GDC-sized events. There's lots of smaller (and much cheaper) ones. I went to Montreal International Game Summit last year, and met lots of developers. I went to as many round table discussion type panels as possible, and avoided the lecture style ones. I wanted a chance to speak and make an impression on the people there. A few people came up to me at the end of these asking if I would consider applying to their studio, so I think it was a good strategy! You'll have to do some research to find events in your area. If there's an IGDA chapter nearby, that might be a good option as well.
Either way, bring business cards, and try to make it seem like you're not desperately job/internship hunting, even if you are
There's an awesome blog about networking in the game industry here:
http://tinysubversions.blogspot.com/2005/10/effective-networking-in-games-industry.html
Are the places you're applying to in a reasonable commuting distance from where you currently live? If there's not much near you, you might be out of luck until you graduate and are able to move to a game development hot spot. It's much more difficult to get hired if you have to relocate, even if you're willing to pay for it.
Good luck!