GameDevSG

Regardless of what you've heard, remote work is here to stay. Regardless of what companies might prefer or say, remote work opportunities are still plentiful compared to pre-pandemic numbers. Especially if you are thinking of joining an indie studio. However, there are limitations! Remote does not mean "work from anywhere" for most companies, for a few reasons. 1. The company must have paperwork that establishes their business in the state, country, or territory. This process can take months in some places, so not every company is setup to work remotely everywhere. Check with someone when applying! 2. The production might not be setup for too large of a timezone difference. Check where the company is located, and look to see what time zones employees are in by looking through their people directory. If you see people in your timezone, chances are you are good to go. 3. Some roles are better suited to remote work than others. This might seem obvious, but it is true! A lot of companies are wanting juniors and leads to come into the office. Agree with it or not, it does happen a lot. #gameindustry #gamedev #gamejobs

How are you feeling right now? Please feel free to talk with others in our Discord, everyone is here to help each other. Mental health is so important in our job search journey. Hope to see you there! 💙 (invite via our website!)

A couple decades ago you could get a job in the game industry without knowing any of the software or tools used by a company. Sounds unfair right? The kicker is, many of those that got their start decades ago are no longer in the industry. They could not keep up in ever evolving tools and quality. The good news is, pipelines and methods of creating assets, systems and games genres are starting to standardize (somewhat). This means that when you do get your start, keeping up is no longer as crazy as it used to be. While it might seem impossible, the main difference now is that the gap between a jr. and sr. creator is much smaller than it used to be. Being a senior/lead is more about speed and strategy than actual craft competency these days. That does mean it is way harder to get your career started, but once you do, you've made it into that fold and you can breathe much easier than people who started well before you. It does feel like the demands in job descriptions are impossible to meet. Just keep at your craft and keep improving at all costs. We know that is easier said than done, but it must be done. Good luck out there. #gameindustry #gamedev #gamedevelopment #career

We know everyone wants feedback from job rejections. Don't hold your breath, it's not going to happen... We’ve made a cheat sheet you can use to gather feedback: 1. "Not enough experience." = We want someone that has worked on the exact issues/projects we are having right now. It's super secret, so we can't really let you know what those are. Sorry! 2. "We loved you, but went with another candidate." = Either A.) other candidate is cheaper, B.) other candidate happened to have "experience" just smidge closer to what they wanted (no time for training, go go go!), or C.) other candidate doesn't actually exist and it's all lies. 3. .... = They are drowning under applications and likely just sorting through referrals at this point, or they are super jerks that don't care. It's a toss up! 4. "Unfortunately, you're overqualified." = They can't afford you. The only way to interpret that one. 5. "We really liked you, but this role is on hold for the time being." = Super duper picky and holding out for the Unicorn Rockstar Ninja. That, or layoffs impending. 6. "The team decided they really need someone in house and not remote." = They were hoping somehow they would win you over to magically uproot your life during the never ending layoff hellstorm. 7. "The team enjoyed meeting you, but wanted to know if you wouldn't mind doing a test?" = One person on the team is totally stubborn and unwilling to take any chances, or the company wants free work from you to get unstuck in the one thing they need. 8. "Not enough experience." Part 2 = They just don't think your work is good enough, but don't want to say that. Or, they are under really tight deadlines and can't afford to train anyone for any amount of time. 9. "Unfortunately, you didn't get the job." = Any number of things, but most likely just because they could only hire one person. It sucks, but this is a good thing. It means you are on the right track! Any other rejection translations out there? #layoffs #careeradvice #inthistogether

Do you give in to the guilt? #portfolio #guilty

It’s time to stop messing around and get serious. Put down the games, start creating! -Start taking care of yourself (sleep, diet, small breaks) -Start researching what companies want -Start making a plan and give yourself deadlines -Start cracking open tutorials and learning new things -Start looking over your entire resume, portfolio, and profile to show your value as much as possible. I know it’s hard, but you MUST find a way to fight through. Gain that killer instinct. You can do this! Screw the down job market, screw the competition. You are the competition. Channel it all into making things happen. It is more possible than you think. Good luck out there! #jobsearch #dreamjob #careeradvice

Say "No!" to cold calls folks. #recruiting #coldcalls #sales

Friendly reminder to remove the “Objective” statement at the top of your resume. It’s understood by all that the objective is to get paid, learn, and live our lives. Instead do this! Introduce yourself! But, not traditionally. Companies actually don’t care about you (yet). Phrase your introduction in a way that shows your value. It’s much like a resume summary, but with a personal touch. Your voice should shine through! You don’t have to cram it all in. Just 2-3 of your most valuable skills and/or achievements. Think like an employer here. You may get caught up not having enough experience, think outside the box. Something like this: Hello, I’m Sterling! I’ve spent the last few years honing my skills in game animation. I graduated Full Sail University’s Animation program as Valedictorian. My reel was shown in Full Sail’s animation showcase, and I supported Game Design teams with their projects in Unreal during that time as well. I’ve spent a total of 7 years on this journey, starting with scripting my own games in high school. Thanks for your time and please feel free to reach out for any questions about my experience! It focuses on value, main skills, it’s short, to the point, and leaves them wanting to know more. Believe it or not, they’ll make their decision to speak with you or not by the time they finish reading this statement. The rest of the resume is a formality at this point. If you find that you really can’t come up with enough highlights to hit, chances are you aren’t ready quite yet. If you’ve never opened up a game engine, or only made stuff for yourself and no one else, or don’t quite know the exact job you are shooting for, than you need more time and research to remedy this. Any other resume tips? #resume #careeradvice #gameindustry

Thousands of people are trying to get into an industry that does not have nearly that many roles to go around, and tens of thousands more getting laid off. That's the reality. How you market yourself has become extremely important. Not just making things look flashy, but showing that you understand how the industry works. Making it as easy as possible to get the info companies need, giving them the correct info they need. They won't even spend an extra 20 seconds finding that info, you have to be extremely clear. Treat Linkedin like shouting into a public place. Only post what you would say in a room full of potential employers. If you feel the need to vent, please join our Discord! The good news is, this is a creative field, you don't have to be 100% buttoned up. In fact, don't be. Be you, mostly. It's a balance and a game within itself. Good luck out there folks! #gameindustry #gamedev #gamejobs

🚨 There are no shortage of people going above and beyond.🚨 New people are coming into the industry all the time, and you have to fight to be one of them. It's not about burning yourself out, but it is about being extremely consistent, to the point where you may not have much of a life outside of creating and taking care of yourself (and others you love). Don't create aimlessly, create with purpose. Take time to understand the pipelines and processes that companies use and skills they are looking for. Find common themes in job posts on skills. What problems do they need solved typically that you like doing? How can you put your spin on it? Research is the name of the game, don't just start running in a random direction! 📣 Don't listen to companies. They don't know what they want. Wait what?📣 Yes, we know we said to research, but at the end of the day companies only know what they want when they see it. You have to show them it, not tell them it. If you show them something that feels like it could be plopped right into their production, you are getting hired. If you are showing less than that, you won't be hired. It's really that simple. Take a good honest look at your work and ask yourself "is this good enough?" If it's not, then don't bother applying anywhere until you can empathically say "YES!" to that question. There is no learning the job after you get hired anymore, those days are gone. That's reality. It might feel impossible, but it's not. Just keep improving any little bit by bit that you can. Keep moving forward small steps at a time. Don't spend all your time just applying to jobs, you must keep improving at all costs, even if it means applying much less than you are right now. People get out of practice and then it just falls apart from there. Hope this wasn’t too direct. Good luck out there!🍀 And please do check out our ebooks for more advice. You can do this! #gameindustry #gamedev #gamejobs