Graduates and Careers in Games

OK – a lot of recent headlines to sort through at the moment, and definitely worth taking the time to pick through some of the seemingly conflicting headlines being generated by the games industry this week on the subject of graduate recruitment.

First up – Matthew Jeffery from EA who talks to gamesindustry.biz about graduate recruitment from EA’s point of view. Highlighting the recent surge in numbers of games courses in the UK, Matthew advises that EA:

prefer people to have traditional degrees, so somebody studying computer science, maths or physics and then coming into a programming role, means that they can then go off into a number of different industries and be successful.

Whilst this isn’t a universal approach across the games industry he also notes that EA do not hire from generalist game degree courses, and that graduates need to have specialised skills in programming or art, and voices a general concern about Games Design as an academic subject. These views are similar to other employers, with many needing highly developed academic skills alongside practical coding and art abilities in their graduates.

Matthew offers some pretty sound advice that we wholeheartedly endorse here at Skillset:

People all want to get into our industry, which is a phenomenal thing, but for graduates we just want to make sure that the message is out there – choose carefully, look at the course you’re studying, see where the students have gone on to after that, etc.

Continue reading Graduates and Careers in Games

Animex Networking

First up – apologies, I totally forgot to take my camera. However, aside from that the event was great, and completely highlighted the importance of networking in the animation industry. At first the networking party really did resemble a school disco – with huddles of employers talking amongst themselves and students lining the sides of the . . . → Read More: Animex Networking

What will become of post production?

Last night saw me at the graduation party for the new stars of post production in the South West of England. “First Post” is a scheme Skillset and the industry created to give new employees in post production the competence and confidence to ensure that they (and their companies) will be a success. It . . . → Read More: What will become of post production?

Animated Exeter – I’m on a panel.

I’m taking part in an interesting session at Animated Exeter as part of the ‘Animate and Educate‘ day. So if you’re not busy next Friday, and interested in the teaching and use of animation in schools, then you should come along.

We’ll be talking about the benefits of using animation as a teaching tool, its application, and . . . → Read More: Animated Exeter – I’m on a panel.

Skills emergency – but where has it come from?

Yes, there is a skills shortage.  That is undeniable.  Industry is feeling the pinch.

In the digital agency / digital marketing sector I was very lucky to have the opportunity to speak with a couple of hundred industry bods last week at the Chinwag Skills Emergency event to discuss what interventions could be put in place long term and . . . → Read More: Skills emergency – but where has it come from?

Sponsorships and Bursaries for Games Courses

The Academy of Interactive Arts and Sciences has just announced a new fund for people studying games in US universities:

The Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences (AIAS) has announced the creation of the Dr. Randy Pausch Scholarship Fund, established to support students in pursuit of careers in game design, development, and production.  The AIAS will award four . . . → Read More: Sponsorships and Bursaries for Games Courses