Q. How did you get into the games industry?
Q. I want to make games.  What do you recommend?
Q. Can you help me get a job?
Q. But what about networking?  Help me get a job!
Q. I want to talk to someone at PopCap.  I'm going to call you.
Q. I'm a recruiter.  I'd like to talk to you about a position.

Q. How did you get into the games industry?

After high school graduation, I went to Microsoft to work instead of going to college.  I started in Win95 technical support, eventually transferred into Games support, and from there, worked my way up into Games QA.  I'd been teaching myself HTML, JavaScript, and Perl in my spare time.  When I finally realized that testers almost never get promoted out at larger companies like MS, I left the industry to become a professional web developer.  3 years later, Go2Net/InfoSpace finally felt the tail end of the dotcom crash-- my entire department was laid off, and I was left job-searching in a city with one of the highest unemployment rates in the country.  During that time, I started corresponding with a Seattle game studio (Zombie) about the possibility of interning.  I came in for an interview, and the next thing I knew, had been hired on as a fulltime employee.  I contracted for 3 months before becoming salaried.  The road was long and hard, but after all was said and done...  I had a shipped title under my belt as a developer.

Q. I want to make games.  What do you recommend?

The games industry seems to prize ability and talent over diplomas in a lot of cases, but school is still a good idea if you ever want to do anything different.  Probably the toughest hurdle at first is the fact that many companies expect games-related experience-- even from entry level applicants.  So how do you get this experience if you can't find a job?  Find a hobby!  Seriously though, join a group of people and make a game for fun.  You don't have to create something from scratch; there are tons of online communities to help people make mods (modifications of existing games).  Half-Life 2 and Neverwinter Nights are two pretty popular games to mod.  Working on something like these will give you practical experience that you probably wouldn't get from school, and it will show companies a few important things: that you can work well within a team environment, and that you have the dedication to see a project through to the end.

Here are also a few things you may find useful/interesting:

- Alice: Learn to Program Interactive 3D Graphics
- DarkBASIC: The Ultimate 3D Games Creator

Q. Can you help me get a job?

Probably not.

Unless a) I know you/have worked with you personally, b) can refer you (actively vouch for your productivity, work habits, quality, etc-- staked on my own reputation!), and c) know which position you want to apply for, all I can do is send your resume to our HR department.  Even then, unless you're applying for an engineering or design position (my departments), I will probably never know what happens to it from there.  I'm just a wee cog in a big company, and I do have a life outside work.  :)

If you're a musician or a writer looking to break into games, all I can say is: good luck.  I know absolutely nothing about those.

Places to look for video game jobs:

- IGDA Bulletin Board
- Gamasutra Job Postings

Events to attend:

- Game Developer's Conference
- Game Developer's Conference - Europe
- Austin Game Conference
- Game Writers Conference
- Other Events Listed on the IGDA Website

Here is also a giant list of game developers whose websites you could look for jobs on and submit resumes through.

Q. But what about networking?  Help me get a job!

If you live near Seattle, I know of casual industry gatherings held at pubs roughly once a month.  Joe Waters runs one in Seattle and Bob Berry runs one in Bellevue.  If you're interested in attending either of those, please send me your name, company name (if applicable), and email address, and I'll forward your contact information on to the organizer(s).  I have no problems introducing new people to my industry friends in person if we happen to be in the same place at the same time.

Beyond that, there's not really a whole lot I can do, sorry.

Q. I want to talk to someone at PopCap.  I'm going to call you.

I do NOT accept phone calls from the front desk.  I am not involved with any aspect of business development at PopCap, so there is really no reason anyone outside the company should be trying to reach me on the phone. If you do not have my direct number, your best bet for getting ahold of me is probably through the contact form on this website.

Note: I do not respond to email from recruiters.

Q. I'm a recruiter.  I want to talk to you about a position.

I appreciate the thought, but even if I wanted to leave PopCap (which I do not), I have been working in this industry long enough to have formed an entire network of useful job-finding contacts on my own. I do not need the assistance of recruiters. In fact, I consider unsolicited contact from them to be almost as aggravating as calls from telemarketers on my cell.