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How hard is it to enter the feild of game and app design with so many people learning these skills?

#Game_Design #programming #coding

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Joyce’s Answer

As a recruiter I look for 3 things in an engineer:


1. Good gades in CS degree (or something similar)

2. Internship experience or lots of side projects that exercise coding (portfolio)

3. X factor - what makes you stand out from the others? Did you win a hackathon? Did you create a game that is now being used in the app store? Is your GitHub super active? Were you a finalist of a coding challenge? Were you President of your CS club?


Typically I like to talk to candidates who have at least 2/3 of the above.


So, to answer your question, is it easy? Well... That depends if you think the 3 points above is easy to do. If you have the passion to improve your skills, then the path there will be a fun challenge.

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Ken’s Answer

Getting to know yourself and how your personality traits relate to people involved in various career opportunities is very important in your decision making process. With this certainty about your career direction, the next important step is to develop and maintain face to face in person communication with people in your intended field to develop a professional network, as that is the main way that professionals advance in their career area.


During my many years in Human Resources and College Recruiting, I ran across too many students who had skipped this very important step and ended up in a job situation which for which they were not well suited. Selecting a career area is like buying a pair of shoes. First you have to be properly fitted for the correct size, and then you need to try on and walk in the various shoe options to determine which is fits the best and is most comfortable for you to wear. Following are some important steps which I developed during my career which have been helpful to many .

Ken recommends the following next steps:

The first step is to take an interest and aptitude test and have it interpreted by your school counselor to see if you share the personality traits necessary to enter the field. You might want to do this again upon entry into college, as the interpretation might differ slightly due to the course offering of the school. However, do not wait until entering college, as the information from the test will help to determine the courses that you take in high school. Too many students, due to poor planning, end up paying for courses in college which they could have taken for free in high school.
Next, when you have the results of the testing, talk to the person at your high school and college who tracks and works with graduates to arrange to talk to, visit, and possibly shadow people doing what you think that you might want to do, so that you can get know what they are doing and how they got there. Here are some tips: ## http://www.wikihow.com/Network ## ## https://www.themuse.com/advice/nonawkward-ways-to-start-and-end-networking-conversations ## ## https://www.themuse.com/advice/4-questions-to-ask-your-network-besides-can-you-get-me-a-job?ref=carousel-slide-1 ##
Locate and attend meetings of professional associations to which people who are doing what you think that you want to do belong, so that you can get their advice. These associations may offer or know of intern, coop, shadowing, and scholarship opportunities. These associations are the means whereby the professionals keep abreast of their career area following college and advance in their career. Here are some tips: ## https://www.careeronestop.org/BusinessCenter/Toolkit/find-professional-associations.aspx?&frd=true ## ## https://www.themuse.com/advice/9-tips-for-navigating-your-first-networking-event ##
It is very important to express your appreciation to those who help you along the way to be able to continue to receive helpful information and to create important networking contacts along the way. Here are some good tips: ## https://www.themuse.com/advice/the-informational-interview-thank-you-note-smart-people-know-to-send?ref=recently-published-2 ## ## https://www.themuse.com/advice/3-tips-for-writing-a-thank-you-note-thatll-make-you-look-like-the-best-candidate-alive?bsft_eid=7e230cba-a92f-4ec7-8ca3-2f50c8fc9c3c&bsft_pid=d08b95c2-bc8f-4eae-8618-d0826841a284&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=daily_20171020&utm_source=blueshift&utm_content=daily_20171020&bsft_clkid=edfe52ae-9e40-4d90-8e6a-e0bb76116570&bsft_uid=54658fa1-0090-41fd-b88c-20a86c513a6c&bsft_mid=214115cb-cca2-4aec-aa86-92a31d371185&bsft_pp=2 ##
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Kim’s Answer

Matthew,


You need to find ways to stand out from the herd! When I talk to young people trying to do game design, the conversation usually goes something like this:


ME: Are you supposed to have a portfolio?

THEM: yes

ME: Do you?

THEM: no


You need to be able to show off what you can do! Have a good portfolio! You should probably also have it available electronically. (I would discuss this with Joyce, the previous respondent).


With enough drive, you can get into this field. Simply "wanting it" will not be enough. You need to be constantly challenging yourself to learn and do more! Go for it!


Kim
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