Switching It Up:
Changing Career Paths
• The old description of this talk:
– Can you really start out as QA and become a Lead in another department?
– Are you in programming now but want to move to design?
– Are you interested in teaching?
– This panel of industry professionals discusses how they made their leaps from one career path to another and how you can too.
• That was written by someone else before I firmed up this talk. It’s just me, Tom Sloper. But
I’m gonna give you the straight poop.

• Outside the industry hoping to break in?
• Inside the industry hoping to move laterally or diagonally?
• Inside the industry and now in a different place from where you started?

• The egg is “the game industry.”
• The yolk is whatever job it is that YOU want.
• Moving around in the egg white is comparatively easy.
• Getting into the yolk takes time.
• The really hard part is getting inside the shell in the first place.

Wanna Switch?
It Happens All The Time
• Remember what I said about the egg white? (It was one slide ago.)
• It may be that the majority of people in the industry are in a different kind of position than they started in.
• Consider these stories...

• First job in the game industry: the mailroom
• Where he wound up: Acquisitions
(he became the guy who rejects your game concept submissions)
• How he did it: long patient campaigning with the acquisitions guy during many smoking breaks

• First job in the game industry: marketing
• Where he wound up: producer
• How he did it: by showing them
(not telling them) that he understood what makes good games and how to manage the process

• His first job in games: lawyer
(writing game development contracts)
• Where he migrated to: greenlight czar (organizing the meetings where the execs made game project decisions)
• His job now: executive producer

• His first job in games: QA manager
• Where he migrated to: producing
• His job the last time I saw him: vice president of the studio
• How he did it: by being an awesome manager and knowing how to work with game people

• His first job in games: forklift driver in the game warehouse
• Where he migrated to: producing
• Where he rose to: president of a huge well-known company whose name I’m not saying

• Degree: Speech & Drama
• Odd Jobs: Shoes, Popcorn, Taxi, Rental
Construction...
• Applied for a draftsman position, hired as an engineering model maker
• Moved to California to make movie special effects models
• Applied for a draftsman position, hired as a toy model maker

• Brainstormed some game concepts, became a game designer by accident
• Designer  Producer
• Producer / Designer
• Freelance Design, Freelance
Producing, Consulting
• Teacher, Author, Speaker

• Maybe you’re a professional in a gamerelated job (programming, graphics, etc.) and you want to get into games;
• Maybe you’re already in games (QA,
CS, etc.) and you want to get into a different job in games.
• I’m not here to talk about any other situations than those. My topic is
“switching.”

• That means “switching careers.”
• Meaning, first, you gotta already have a career, for this talk to be meaningful to you.
• Either a non-game career, or you’re already in games but want to switch jobs within the egg.

• Not in a profession yet, don’t have a degree yet...
• ... and you want to work in games?
• Sorry! That’s not the topic of my talk. I’m pretty sure some of the other talks cover that stuff.
• But stick around if you want, maybe ask me something during Q&A.

How to Break Through the
Shell and Get Into the Yolk?

• But the principles are universal and simple to understand.
– Be good in your current job, no matter what it is. Good references are key
– Be able and qualified to do the job you want to switch to. Got degree?
– Build an awesome portfolio
– Be patient. And live in the right
“location, location, location.”

Already a programmer,
Want to program games
• Build something game related. It needs to do something cool. Write clean code.
• Have a demo disc you can bring to interviews
• Target a specialized area (A.I., 3D, tools, etc.)
• Expect to be paid less, don’t aim too high.

Already a professional artist,
Want to make game art
• Build a game art portfolio; make it knock our socks off. Got website?
• Make your models in low-poly, but make them look really gnarly.
• Know your strengths – characters?
Environments? Vehicles? – Models?
Textures? Animation? 2D?
• Show only your best stuff in the portfolio.

Already an audio pro;
Want to make game audio
• Make a game demo reel. Got website?
• Understand the difference between games and your field (movies, TV, radio...)
• Start with a lower pricetag to build your credits;
• Hang out your freelance shingle.
• Network like crazy (GDC, AGC...)

Already a pro writer;
Want to write for games
• Study lots of games.
• Write some game dialogue, scope out the difference from stage/film/
TV/radio/comics/novels...
• Have an impressive resume
(credits in stage/film/TV/radio, etc.)
• Hang out your freelance shingle, network like crazy.

Already a project manager;
Want to produce games
• Problem: you need experience in the game industry first. Find another way through the shell, then work your way through the egg white.
• Patience required – it could take a couple of years, not just months.

Already a Marketing pro;
Want to market games
• Live in a city where there are game companies?
• No problem.
• Do your homework; read game trade dailies, Gamasutra.
• Market yourself.

In some other industry;
Want to do level design
• Got solid work resume?
• Build solid portfolio of several indy games and/or mods
• “Game school” degree not really necessary, since you’re already beyond college.

In some other field;
Want to be a game designer
• Huge problem; you need several years experience in the game industry – find an entry into the game industry.
• Work hard, enthusiastically, and well at your entry job.
• Game designers are communicators, collaborators, who understand how games are made. Prove that that’s you.

I’m already inside the shell.
How do I get into the yolk?

• But the principles are universal and simple to understand.
– Be good in your current job.
– Be able and qualified to do the job you want to switch to.
– Let your superiors know of your longterm goal.
– If you’re a manager, know who will replace you in your current job.
– Be patient. It WILL happen.

• Just saying “I would make a good game designer” doesn’t hack it.
• You gotta show me.
• Don’t do like Casey Affleck’s character in “The Assassination of
Jesse James by the Coward
Robert Ford.”

Switching Companies Isn’t
Necessarily The Answer
• Recently I got a resume from a QA tester at another company. He wanted to work as a level designer at my client’s company.
• His background, resume (and sadly, his portfolio) showed that he’d be best suited for QA.

In the game biz already;
Want to program
• Program something game related. It needs to do something cool. Write clean code.
• Have demo disc. Post an elegant routine outside your cubicle.
• Target a specialized area (A.I., 3D, tools, etc.)
• Look for opportunities within the company to volunteer.

In the game biz already;
Want to be an artist
• Build a game art portfolio; make it knock our socks off. Got demo disc?
• Know your strengths – characters?
Environments? Vehicles? – Models?
Textures? Animation? 2D?
• Post your best work on the walls of your cubicle – “show, don’t tell.” Show only your best stuff.
• Look for volunteer opportunities. Don’t be a pest.

Already got game job;
Want to do audio
• Make a game demo reel.
• Play some of your better stuff now
& then (not too loud!).
• Look for volunteer opportunities, don’t be a pest.
• Game audio is usually not a fulltime job. Don’t give up your existing job.

Got game job; Want to write stories, dialogue
• Patience required. This won’t be easy!
– Writing for games usually isn’t a full-time job.
– Your competition: game designers, freelance professional writers.
• Share your short stories, tack them up on your cubicle wall. Contribute to the company newsletter. “Show, don’t tell.”
• Look for volunteer opportunities, but don’t be a pest.

Got job in games;
Want to produce
• Work really hard, well, efficiently, and enthusiastically at your present game job.
• Watch for your opening. Offer help whenever opportunities arise.
• Patience required – it could take a couple years.

Already in the game biz;
Want to move into marketing
• Seriously?? Dude...
• Get a marketing degree in your spare time.
• Do your homework; read game trade dailies, Gamasutra.
• Market yourself from within. Maybe be a bit of a pest.

Got game job;
Want to design levels
• See if you can beg or borrow a copy of whatever level design tools your company uses.
• Learn how to use’em, and build some rad levels. Show’em to other level designers.
• Keep on doing that, and be patient.

Already got game job;
Want to be a game designer
• Patience, patience, patience.
• Work really hard, well, efficiently, and enthusiastically at your present job.
• Look for opportunities to volunteer, don’t be a pest... you know the drill by now.
• Show them you’re a communicator, a collaborator, who understands how games are made and what’s fun.

For More Info: On The Web
• www.sloperama.com/advice.html
• igda.org/breakingin/career_paths.htm
• gamecareerguide.com
• www.gamedev.net/reference/
• gamasutra.com
• gamedaily.com

• Introduction to Game Development
(Rabin)
• Secrets of the Game Business
(Larramee)
• Game Design Perspectives
(Larramee)
• Game Production Handbook
(Chandler)

• It’s Q&A time (not to be confused with
Q.A. time)...
Tom Sloper
Sloperama Productions
Los Angeles, CA, USA www.sloperama.com/advice.html