Alix Games

 Anonymous

There is a good series of articles from Lee Winder at Blitz Games on Portfolios. It is geared towards programmers but the same rules apply about what should be shown, the quality of work and presentation of work.

The Elusive Demo Portfolio

Make sure the work you show is relevant to the type of job you want to get (for example, seeing a written story in a 3D modelling portfolio is just noise) and make sure it is of high quality. Anything half finished doesn’t belong there.

My old colleague’s portfolio (Max Boughen) should give you an example of work that should be in one. Bear in mind that he is experienced so his quality bar is quite high compared to what a student would be.

Network. You are more likely to get a job through a contact that you have met and talked to then through generic company application process. This also includes other students who have not yet got a job because when they do, it then becomes possible for them to recommend you and/or you apply through them.

This happened to quite a few of us on our MSc. One person got a job at EA via the application system and then pass along his HR contact contact details to us and essentially fast tracked us through the system.

You may also find that few companies will reply back. This can mean many things ranging from your portfolio and CV may need some work to the job has already been filled. You just need to keep trying and applying while improving your CV and portfolio.

Without industry experience, your application to interview ratio will be quite low which is why many recommend doing an internship if possible. Once you have a few published games under your belt, you find getting a job interview much easier.

Finally, here is a site of games companies in the world (may be outdated): GameDevMap.

To recap:

• Network
• Show only your best work
• Continue working on your portfolio
• And keep applying

Hope that helps.