For Did You See This Wednesday, we’re talking about a subject that I know is near and dear to many of your hearts: applying for a job in the gaming industry, as brought to you by Naughty Dog. I resisted the urge to make a doggy style joke in the title, in case any of you are wondering. Puns!
Naughty Dog, creators of games such as Uncharted and the upcoming Last of Us, have released an amazingly helpful guide for game industry hopefuls. Resumes and Portfolios: The Naughty Dog Way breaks down what the developer expects to see from potential employees, including a list of what they like in a portfolio, and the kinds of qualities they’re looking for. In a beloved industry with a notably small pool hiring only the best talent, this kind of guide is more than welcome.
The most important thing you can learn from this list? Be yourself, highlight what makes you unique, and don’t be afraid to stand out. That sounds like simple advice, but when you think about how many talented people are applying for the same position, you have to be able to showcase how you are different from everyone else. A couple of excerpts I liked:
We prefer reels to be no more than 4 minutes in length. We strongly recommend putting your best work first, since (as they say) you only have one chance to make a first impression. Your reel and/or portfolio should give examples of your abilities and style – don’t be afraid to highlight what truly makes you shine! And please keep download sizes small so your reel loads quickly. Lastly, you should only include material that is approved for release.
So if any of you are looking to start careers in the games industry (and I know a great many of you are), hopefully this gives you some kind of a template for the future. I wish I had had something like this when I applied for some industry jobs in the past, rather than going with a standard cookie-cutter resume that I’ve sent out my whole life.
Have any of you been looking for a resource like this? What kinds of jobs are you looking for in the games industry and what places would you love to work?
Source – Naughty Dog
Wow Eddy you don’t know how much I appreciate you posting this. I’m still in college, but I’m already working on networking and building my portfolio so stuff like this is a tremendous help.
Feels like ages since I have been here!
So some recent article relevant news 🙂 Recently my girlfriend went looking for jobs up here in the DFW area. One of the places she applied was to the creators of Borderlands studio, GearBox. She hasn’t heard back from them officially, but she did get an equally as sweet job: She is now a web designer at GameStop Corporate.
I will let you know what she says about this article once she reads it. I think applying to places as such are defiantly very different. She got her job at GameStop in part to her go-getter attitude about the job and the work she will be doing. Since she works in the web graphics department, showing her best work was key and something she did do.
As for places, specifically game studios, that I would like to work, my dream would still be at Bethesda. Despite my un-artistic talents & inability to code, I would kill to work on their voice cast.
Im not going into the industry for that, but the moment I saw the naughty dog logo i was like CLICK!
Good guy Naughty Dog, helping out the fans. At one point I was hoping to be in that part of the industry. I can’t deal with staring at that much code though, haha. I’m in a Network Specialist program right now and learning what I wanted to learn when I finished high school but never got to do. I take part in the industry I guess? I make content for YouTube with games. I’m no Seananners, in terms of subscribers, but I have his enthusiasm for gaming and making content that makes people laugh, or think. 40 subs and growing! 😀