David Smith from Interactive Selection and Game Careers recently had the chance to speak with Susan Gold, professor of game design at Full Sail University and president of the Global Game Jam at GDC. Susan joined the faculty of Full Sail University’s Graduate in 2009, after founding the annual Global Game Jam, an experiment in creativity and innovation in game development. With more than 16,000 game developers participating in 2013, Susan is the developer of the world’s largest collaborative interactive video game development event. Susan’s frequent conference talks and consistent outreach efforts has extended the Global Game Jam to over 58 countries, effectively changing the course of game development around the world.
Susan served as the chairperson of the IGDA Education SIG from 2006-2010, and continues to develop tools and resources for educator professional development. Susan orchestrated the Education Summit at GDC from 2006-2010, the Anigames Expo in Bogota, Colombia from 2010-2012, the Federal Games Working Group Summit at Games for Change in 2012, and is helping to organize the 2013 DigiWorld Conference in France. Susan has been consulting with the U.S. Office of Science &Technology Policy with projects like Apps for Healthy Kids, the STEM education initiative and now, the Federal Working Group in Games. Susan got her start and organizational skills as a community activist in Chicago.
In Susan’s exclusive interview with David Smith of Game Careers, she talks about how game developers can benefit from the innovative collaboration at the Global Games Jam: “Being part of your community is so important. Knowing the people that you want to work with in the future, or just having an opportunity to learn from those people. You have a bigger mentorship happening at that time, at the game jam. But more importantly, it’s the relationships you make, the network you create for yourself, as well as the ability to take that game and show other people what you have done. Without a game, you can’t get a job.” Watch the full interview with Susan that follows:
Game Careers recently spoke with Ubisoft’s Alex Hutchinson at GDC in San Francisco, where he spoke on an Assassin’s Creed III panel, covering project collaboration. Alex is currently the creative director on Assassin’s Creed III at Ubisoft Montreal. Previously, he was creative director at EA Montreal on Army of Two: The 40th Day. Alex was also at Maxis in California, where he was the lead designer on Spore (PC), The Sims 2 (PS2, GC, XB), and co-lead designer on The Urbz: Sims in the City (PS2, GC, XB). He has written on games for magazines such as Edge, Games(tm), PC Zone, PlayNation, and The Official PS2 Magazine, among others. Alex has spoken on games at DICE in Las Vegas, GDC in San Francisco, E3 in Los Angeles and the Games Convention in Leipzig, Germany.
In Alex’s exclusive interview with Game Careers, he recommends Montreal as a place to work in games, plus offers this career advice: “If you’re just starting out, I could not overestimate the boon of having an understanding of engineering. If you can code as a designer, this is a huge plus, something that is getting more and important, especially if you’re interested in both the AAA, large development studios and more independent, smaller-scale studios. The more things you can do, the better!”
Game Careers was fortunate to catch up with Richard Rouse III at GDC in San Francisco, where he was presenting his latest session on game design. Richard is a game designer and writer at Microsoft Game Studios, working on unannounced projects. Previously, he was narrative director on the Rainbow 6 franchise at Ubisoft Montreal. During a stint as Director of Game Design at Midway, he consulted on a wide range of titles, including Stranglehold and Wheelman.
Richard was studio creative director at Surreal Software and served as project lead, lead designer, and writer on the hit action/horror title, The Suffering, and its sequel, The Suffering: Ties That Bind. He has also contributed to Homefront and Drakan: The Ancients’ Gates. Known for his writing and lectures about game design and interactive storytelling, Richard wrote the book, “Game Design: Theory & Practice,” one of the most popular books on the subject.
In Richard’s exclusive interview with Game Careers, he provides insight on breaking into the world of Microsoft Game Studios: “Microsoft has a culture of wanting to get new talent in, straight out of college when possible. We also value experienced people who have worked in a number of different places and can really work with our partners, bringing lot of their own experience to the table to make games great.” Watch the full interview that follows:
We are pleased to remind all hirers that the Best Practice Recruitment and Selection Guide for all of games industry was written by Interactive Selection and published by TIGA, the trade association representing the UK games industry. The TIGA Guide is endorsed by the Recruitment and Employment Confederation (REC). The Guide, Recruitment and Selection: Best Practice Guide for Game Developers, gives practical and informed advice on hiring new staff.
The Guide also suggests ways of encouraging the best candidates to apply for jobs, looking at examples of modern practices from mentoring to flexible working to career break schemes. Exploring methods of motivation and retention, the Guide is essential reading for developers and digital publishers looking to keep employees motivated and to attract the best talent.
It was written by David Smith, the managing director of London-based global games recruiter Interactive Selection, who also founded the not-for-profit network Women in Games Jobs. He was assisted by Laura Hare, the head of human resources at Jagex, Geraldine Cross, head of human resources at Blitz Games and Mark Webley, the CEO of Lionhead Studios, all of whom contributed to the Guide.
Laura Hare, Geraldine Cross and Mark Webley give expert tips on planning recruitment, the interview process, investigating work permits and visas, preparing company information packs, writing job descriptions and advertising for staff. There is a heavy emphasis on equal opportunities law with input from Osborne Clarke, including a comprehensive recruitment and selection checklist, and an in-depth look at using outside agencies.
TIGA CEO Dr Richard Wilson said:
“With an increasing number of development studios being formed in the UK, many will be unsure of the recruitment process and how to get the very best people to fill their positions. This guide helps to ensure they avoid any of the recruitment pitfalls, retain and respect the staff they take on and ensure that the interview process is an enjoyable and fruitful one for candidates and interviewer.
Kevin Green, Chief Executive of the Recruitment and Employment Confederation, said:
“It is critical that businesses have an effective process to attract and select staff. This guide is both practical and jam packed with sensible advice. We commend it to all those games businesses who want to improve their success at hiring the best people.”
The Guide is free to TIGA members and clients of Interactive Selection. Please contact Interactive Selection if you would like a copy.
Quo Vadis has become Germany’s largest conference for topics related to the video game industry. First chosen in 2007, the Berlin venue embodies everything games are about: youth culture, creativity and a love of play. The event takes place in Berlin 23-25 April. Richard Garriott will hold a keynote at this years Quo Vadis talking about the future of gaming and his actual project “Shroud of the Avatar”. Alongside Lord British will now be David Smith, MD of Interactive Selection and Founder of the Women in Games Jobs professional network who will be speaking at 10.00 am on Thursday on Women in Games. Is a diverse games industry workforce producing diverse games good for business? He will be sharing some of the initiatives that are taking place and planned in the UK to recruit, retain and support the progression of women in the games industry by positively and actively promoting female role models and giving encouragement and information to those women seeking to work in games. If you would like to meet with David in Berlin, please get in contact through david AT interactiveselection DOT com.
Richard Wilson, Chief Executive of TIGA talked to David Smith of Interactive Selection and Game Careers at Develop in Brighton. His advice for people thinking of getting in to the games industry:
” I have two main pieces of advice for people wanting to get into the games industry, the first being get yourself a good set of qualifications — the UK games industry is highly skilled and fully of highly trained, creative people so start by getting a good education behind you. The lovely thing about the games industry is that it combines art and design on one hand and the scientific, mathematical side on the other and bringing those two sets of skills together is really the essence of games development. Anyone wanting to get into the games industry would need to be an expert in one of these two fields. The other key part of getting into the industry is having an absolute passion for the sector — You not only have to have the skill set but you also need commitment, passion and enthusiasm to get into a games company. To get into the industry you really need to identify the company or more so the genre you want to work in, do the background research and then demonstrate your passion and your skills.”
Watch the full interview in the video that follows:
Game Portfolio & Interview Round-up is scheduled for Friday, April 19 at Becker College in Worcester, MA. Students from all over Massachusettes are joining working professionals in the games industry for a special day of portfolio reviews and mock interviews. Game designers and game artists from various MA-based game studios will review portfolios, provide advice and conduct mock interviews with students. Review team includes game pros with current and prior game credits at Turbine, EA, Sony Online, Proletariat, Disruptor Beam, Fire Hose Games, Deejoban Games, Zynga Boston, Stomp Games, Giant Spacekat, Hitpoint Studios and Creat Studios. More info at: http://www.massdigi.org/events/game-portfolio-reviewmock-interview-round-up-april-19-2013-worcester-ma/.
Interactive Selection is now posting news and jobs updates on a page on Facebook. To receive these updates in your Facebook timeline, you need to click that you “like us”. We already have feeds through the Linked In and Twitter but we don’t want Facebookers to miss out if this is how you to choose to keep up to date with what is happening in the world of global games recruitment and jobs. Try liking us today for the very best of news aimed at the busy Facebook audience. You can see all the current postings at http://www.facebook.com/Interactive.Selection
A non executive directorship is an appointment to the board of a company on a part time basis. The work of a non executive director (NED) generally involves making buiness introductions and attending board meetings, with the aim of jump starting the company’s success through the provision of experienced, intelligent advice to the company board, the chairman or management. NED’s are rare in the games sector unless the games company has venture capital funding but they are sorely needed. Why pay £25000 a year for a junior programmer when you can pay 1/2 this to have one of the most experienced, former games publisher European MD’s on your team. The very first board meeting may pay back 10 times the cost of the NED board fees. Interactive Selection have sought out and welcomed through personal recommendation 6 of the most talented, most experienced, former MD’s who have ran mega teams for the likes of EA, Microsoft, Sony and THQ with the very best of door opening contacts in all the high places. Please contact David Smith if you are interested in strengthening your team or indeed you are interested in joining Interactive’s great talent pool for NED appointments.
The 6th edition of the Games Industry Support (GIS) Day is officially on at Game Connection America in San Francisco on Tuesday March 26th ! It will be a 2-hours meeting reserved for associations and association members only. By banding together all related organizations in the industry, the GIS board will provide useful resources and information to better articulate, discuss and confront issues inside the interactive entertainment community.
Among the subjects to discuss at this meeting are next-gen consoles, tax breaks (UK coming up), gender equality, academic research collaboration and fraud. David Smith, MD of Interactive Selection and Founder of Women in Games Jobs will be leading a discussion on gender equality in the games industry, a hot topic of debate. Other panellists include Per Strömbäck, Managing Director at Spelplan (Association of Swedish Game Developers), Ian Kelso, President & CEO Interactive Ontario and Mikko Kähärä, Head of ICT Growth Services at Cursor Oy.
Game Portfolio & Interview Round-up is scheduled for Friday, April 19 at Becker College in Worcester, MA. Students from all over Massachusettes are joining working professionals in the games industry for a special day of portfolio reviews and mock interviews. Game designers and game artists from various MA-based game studios will review portfolios, provide advice and conduct mock interviews with students. Review team includes game pros with current and prior game credits at Turbine, EA, Sony Online, Proletariat, Disruptor Beam, Fire Hose Games, Deejoban Games, Zynga Boston, Stomp Games, Giant Spacekat, Hitpoint Studios and Creat Studios. More info at: 
A non executive directorship is an appointment to the board of a company on a part time basis. The work of a non executive director (NED) generally involves making buiness introductions and attending board meetings, with the aim of jump starting the company’s success through the provision of experienced, intelligent advice to the company board, the chairman or management. NED’s are rare in the games sector unless the games company has venture capital funding but they are sorely needed. Why pay £25000 a year for a junior programmer when you can pay 1/2 this to have one of the most experienced, former games publisher European MD’s on your team. The very first board meeting may pay back 10 times the cost of the NED board fees. Interactive Selection have sought out and welcomed through personal recommendation 6 of the most talented, most experienced, former MD’s who have ran mega teams for the likes of EA, Microsoft, Sony and THQ with the very best of door opening contacts in all the high places. Please contact 