I’ve only been working in the game industry for 5 years, but I’ve moved up faster than most and think I have a few tips that worked for me. I might as well share them, because I want all of the people who work for me to adopt this kind of mentality. However, please note that I have only worked on startups and your mileage may vary.
My career path so far: Community Manager -> Associate Producer -> Senior Community Manager -> Product Manager -> Producer -> Studio Director.
Take on as much as possible
Ignore your title, ignore your pay, and take on as much work as you are physically able. Don’t ever say “I can’t do that, it’s not in my skill set.” Each time you do something new, you learn something new. If you are the type of person who accepts and actually seeks out challenges, you will be seen as a leader, and as someone who can be trusted to step up and take on things no one else wants to do. If you want to move up, volunteer yourself for those tasks that you want to eventually be paid to do. Just don’t expect compensation for doing these extra things right away. Do a great job, and when promotion time comes, someone will think of you.
Be available outside of work
You don’t have to be working 24/7, but having your email on your phone so that you are able to respond quickly when something needs answered makes you an indispensable resource.
Have strong opinions, and share them
Care about your work and about your industry. If you have opinions and thoughts that go against the grain, say them and be eloquent about it. Tell your thoughts to the right people. Speak up and be the person who isn’t afraid to share their thoughts. This has always worked for me — I’ve always been the person to send and receive the most emails at work.
Don’t settle for zero promotion from job to job
If you leave your job and move to another company, expect a raise. Ask for another 5k, another 10k per year. If you were a Producer before, don’t be afraid to apply for Senior Producer roles. If you were a Studio Director, apply for VP Development/VP Operations roles. Use your change of company to shop yourself around for the best opportunity. Note: this has worked very well in the social/mobile space where experience within this space > all. You may not have as much luck in traditional gaming spaces.
Have a career path planned and act like you already are on the path
There is nothing that will make a person more stagnant than not knowing what their future holds. I always plan out my desired career path and adjust it accordingly if things change. I started out in Community Manager and originally saw myself as VP of Community, but quickly found that my skills align pretty well with management and production. I set out a path of wanting to produce a game, then produce a few games at once, then manage producers and run a studio. Next stop: VP of Production or similar role, if I continue on this path. If you know where you want to be next, it’s easy to start doing tasks from the job expectations for THAT role in addition to your own.
Don’t be afraid to fail or admit mistakes
When you’re constantly taking on things outside of your comfort zone, you’re bound to make mistakes. Almost everywhere I have worked has been just fine with mistakes as long as someone owns up to them and learns from them. When you make a mistake, make damned sure that you don’t ever make the same one again. Management notices when someone says “You know what? That was my fault, I did this when I should have done that. I’ll make sure this doesn’t happen again.” That takes a mature person to be able to do that, which is commendable.
Be obsessed with the game industry
One thing that I have always prided myself on is my knowledge of the game industry. When I’m not working, I’m at home reading the internet and staying on top of my hundreds of game industry RSS feeds. I consider myself generally on the forefront of knowledge about anything happening in the industry, from new game launches, to acquisitions, to rumors. I don’t just work in the game industry, I am super passionate about it and make it my goal to know as much as possible.
Attend industry events
Some of the greatest moments I have had in the industry so far have been at trade events like GDC. This is the place where you can meet people who share similar interests to you, where you can make connections that can lead to opportunities in the future, where you find out about new technologies, where you can learn valuable information that will help you do your job, where you can put yourself out there as a speaker and make a name for yourself. It’s been fascinating to attend sessions, panels, roundtables, and of course — parties. I highly recommend finding any way possible to attend GDC. The passes are ridiculously overpriced for an individual who has to pay their own way, but volunteering is a great option for the cash-strapped.
Use social networking
Twitter and Facebook have been altogether more helpful for my career than anything else, hands down. I have met so many amazing contacts on Twitter. I have connected to people closer than I ever would have before via Facebook, and used it to find industry events and groups relevant to my interests. I have also used Twitter extensively to stay on top of all the latest news and read about things as their happening. For having a 140 character limit, there is actually a surprising amount of deep discussions about game design and industry strategy. Mostly, though, the networking is absolutely the best thing for your career in the game industry. People move around a lot, and you never know when you might want to call on someone for help landing your next gig.
What other tips do you have?
