Knowing things outside of games is a good thing

Knowing things outside of games is a good thing (knowing the detailed history of the Star Wars universe doesn't really count). Taking and doing well in classes in a variety of topics in college is a good start. You may think that your South American archaeology class will never be of any relevance, but you'll be surprised how things you learn there will come in useful in the most unexpected ways. Make sure you do something beyond games. Take up a hobby of something totally unrelated. Some of the best candidates are art enthusiasts, practice sports seriously, are into oriental philosophy, or play the viola. I always ask about people's hobbies during an interview. Usually the weaker candidates won't have any hobbies or their only hobby is playing computer games. I really think that if you're going to dedicate yourself professionally to games, you need to have some interests in other areas. Also, being familiar with wildly different subjects allows people to approach problems from a completely different angle and come up with very creative solutions. Don't discount the importance of a well-rounded education. One thing you should not worry about at this point is specialization. If you have one in mind, that's fine, and share it with your employer so you can plan a way to get there. But keep in mind that at first, breadth is more important than depth. It'll be much better for you to learn as much as possible about game development in general. The brightest graphics guru who only knows about graphics will not be half as effective as he could be if he had broader experience developing games. However, one specialty you can jump straight into is tools. Learn the APIs. Write some tools. Create an editor for an existing game. However, don't think of tools as a temporary thing to pay your dues. Tools are an extremely important part of game development, now more than ever, so you can make a full career as a tools programmer. How about people from other software industries with some years of experience? There's a certain bias against them in the industry. On one hand, they're not considered to have the right "experience," and then they ask for too much money because they have several years in development already. You can bring a lot of experience, and a lot of it will be different. That's very valuable, but the company needs to see that. Play that angle in your resume/interview. Explain how your skills can be invaluable to the company (and that also shows you're familiar with the development process). Doing a game-related project on the side can go a long way to convince a company that your heart is in the right place. If you only take one thing away from this article, this should be it: Always be looking to learn new things. Always read new books. Always try new things. Always be willing to listen to and try a different approach. Someone like that will quickly gain a huge amount of experience and become an invaluable member of the team, but the converse (someone with lots of experience not willing to learn anything new) is nearly useless in a rapidly-changing field. Having said all that, I'm afraid we're not currently looking for any entry-level positions at Sammy Studios. We might be hiring again this summer, so check back then. In the meanwhile, hit the books and sharpen up those skills.