When applying for gamedev jobs with a personal projects portfolio (before being asked for anything specifically, just at initial application level), do employers want to see finished product or do they want source code? Iâm guessing it also depends on job type (like say for a level designer vs a combat designer) If you need source code, how much or how little of it should you put on github? Whole project? Relevant code sections?
This might be surprising, but recruiters and hiring managers often donât actually bother to look at (or even ask for) submitted materials unless youâre an artist and have a portfolio. Most programmer candidacy proceedings Iâve been through havenât asked for code samples, but prefer to send programming tests instead. I never expect any of the people I interview with to have played or even looked at my games before, even though several of them were very well known. I certainly canât show them samples of the code I wrote for my employers - most professional programmersâ work is under NDA anyway, so asking for code samples isnât a super common thing. I know that Iâve personally rejected zero candidates because of their how their personal projects were presented online. Iâve only ever looked at them after phone interviews and programming or design tests to get a better idea of a serious candidate.
What hiring managers especially look for in a submission, however, is a resume that shows experience doing the duties and tasks that match the job opening. If thatâs for a gameplay programmer role, we want to see things like building game systems, 3D math, and experience working with designers. If thatâs for a level designer, we want to see things like building levels for Skyrim, Quake, Counter-Strike, etc. Make sure your skills are well-described in your resume. If itâs a decent match, thatâs typically enough to get you past the initial screening process.
Remember, when youâre doing an initial submission to a studio, youâre usually not presenting to a dev on the team. First, you have to get past the HR recruiter who sifts through all the candidates and only passes along the promising ones. Depending on the studio, these recruiters can go through dozens or even hundreds of CVs on a weekly basis. They donât have the time to go look at everybodyâs web page or github to do a deep dive, they put the resumes they get into two big piles - pass and fail. Those that pass move on to the hiring manager (and the candidateâs likely boss) for inspection, who will then pare down the list even further. In my experience, we give callbacks to maybe 10-20% of the total candidates who submit for a position. This means that a well-written, descriptive resume tailored for the job description will go a lot farther towards getting you a job than anything else.
The FANTa Project is currently on hiatus while I am crunching at work too busy.
[What is the FANTa project?] [Git the FANTa Project]
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