For those who do not know, I have a degree in economics and never worked with games before I started my journey in this amazing industry with GamePaln, my first job was an internship in the area of transaction services, and after I graduated I fell into the world of startups and innovation.
Here are some tips for you that are from any background and worked in any area before you can start your career in the gaming world.
1- Start with what you find interesting
I always loved the market area, I am passionate about the market concept and how it connects many things in our society. Since I decided to study economics I was sure I wanted to work finding out more and more about these market interactions, how they work and how one decision can have such a big impact, be it on a company or on society.
2- Find out how you can fit in
Different from what many people think, games are not only design, art, and programming, there is a lot that happens beyond these three areas, there is the administrative part (like every company) that takes care of finances, payroll, receiving payments, there is the human resources area, the business development area (which is where I work for example), and many others. I will leave below an image with the possibilities that Hitmarker made some time ago.
3- Company List
After you understand what you like and how you can fit your passion into games, it is time to understand which companies you can apply to.
This step of listing the companies is very important for you to know which are the main names in the areas, both here in Brazil and abroad, and also keeps you alert so that when a vacancy opens up in the area you want to work you can apply.
Besides this, it helps you to be up to date with the latest news in the area, information that can be very useful at the time of the interview.
4- Be present
In the creative economy, and especially in the area of games, it is relatively easy to get into the community and make yourself present, besides being organically welcoming, it is a very recent area that needs people that are willing to participate.
During the pandemic when the meetings were online, I bet on discord channels and search for study and discussion groups, even resurrecting my old Facebook account to get in touch with these people.
Here in Recife, particularly in the area of creative economy and innovation is easy to find and get in touch with people that can open doors, probably because of Porto Digital. In Fortaleza, the SMD course and ASCENDE are great starting points to start connecting with the ecosystem.
5- Prepare your resume/portfolio
As I’m not an artist, I’ll leave here Carol’s comic strip on how to put together a portfolio for games for those who are starting out.
Regarding resumes, one thing that helped me a lot to prepare myself, both when applying for jobs and during interviews, was to stalk both what the jobs asked for (check hitmarker and linkedin) and also stalk people already working in the field.
For example, I knew I wanted to work with markets or some area where I could apply my college knowledge, within this the possibilities were the administrative area, project area, financial area, and business area.
So I went after the openings of these areas to know what they asked for, which courses, how much experience, and mainly, how I could, within my previous work experiences, focus on a speech that would demonstrate that I have experience in the requirements that the openings asked for.
In relation to stalking people in the areas, it serves as a mirror for you to guide yourself in the path you want to follow, so you can understand the culture of the company you applied/want to apply to, do they hire people with more time in the area or with more courses?
Do people spend a lot of time there, or is there a high turnover of employees? And if you want you can get in touch with these people so they can give you tips (including my linkedin here).
6- Persistence
This is going to sound a bit coach-like, but it is important not to give up on the career change, just as if you were to migrate to any area or sector it is a long road, it took me 6 months to succeed and I couldn’t be happier today.
During this time I was improving myself, attending workshops, and studying hard to show that I had competence and knowledge just needed a chance, and this chance I promise you are out there.
5- Final checklist
A short summary and a reminder of what to do to work with games:
1- Decide what you like
2- Decide which industry you fit in
3- Which companies are hiring
4- Be present
5- A killer resume/portfolio
