Games Industry Advice

[BlindandLost]

Hi all,

I've never posted on this part of the forum before, but I was wondering if there were any games industry people about who may be able to offer some advice please...

A little bit about me first to outline the issue I'd like advice on... I currently work as a QA Team Leader for a developer/publisher, a position I've been in for 6 and a half years. I started nearly 10 years ago as a temporary QA Tester and have worked my way up to my current position. It's a fairly natural progression from QA Team Lead/Manager into Production roles. This would usually be into an Associate or Assistant Producer role. I've been trying to get a job as an Associate/Assistant Producer for a while now. I did get offered a position at the company I work for a couple of years ago but before it all started, all hiring was frozen and that was that. I don't have a degree as I quit in the final year at university to get into work (I was never going to pass the degree and was sick of it).

My question is: Am I wasting my time trying to get into a production role without a degree? I'm going nowhere in current job and I'm keen to progress my career. I'm sure I could do the job of an Associate Producer and I'm realistic enough to know I'd have to start at the entry level due to my lack of qualifications. I've worked closely with enough Producers in my time to be sure I can do what they do and it's something I'm very keen to do. However, the lack of success I've had so far is starting to grate and I'm very close to giving up on the industry and trying my hand at something else.

The other factor I think could be affecting my applications is my age. I'll be 39 very soon and although I don't state my age on my CV etc. it's very easy to age me due to my education dates. I got into the industry relatively late and a lot of my colleagues are much, much younger than me. Does anyone think I might have missed my chances in the level of roles I'm looking at?

Sorry for the long post. Any help/advice to get my games career back on track will be gratefully receieved .

[Zad]

Degrees are the sort of thing that get you into most industries, but in my experience a portfolio of some sort is far more important in the games industry (and entertainment as a whole). If you were thinking of doing a full time degree, then I would say that by the time you had graduated then you would be so far out of the loop, and your portfolio would be so old that it would be nigh on impossible to get back in.

I would look at either doing O.U. courses, or one of the free online MOOC modules which the big UK, US (and many other) universities are doing now. If nothing else then the inclusion of project management training on your CV will put you ahead of all the other ex- QA people.

http://www.coursera.org
http://www.edx.org
https://www.futurelearn.com

e.g.
https://www.coursera.org/specialization/projectman...
https://www.edx.org/course/introduction-to-game-de...

[BlindandLost]

Zad said:

Degrees are the sort of thing that get you into most industries, but in my experience a portfolio of some sort is far more important in the games industry (and entertainment as a whole). If you were thinking of doing a full time degree, then I would say that by the time you had graduated then you would be so far out of the loop, and your portfolio would be so old that it would be nigh on impossible to get back in.

I would look at either doing O.U. courses, or one of the free online MOOC modules which the big UK, US (and many other) universities are doing now. If nothing else then the inclusion of project management training on your CV will put you ahead of all the other ex- QA people.

http://www.coursera.org
http://www.edx.org
https://www.futurelearn.com

e.g.
https://www.coursera.org/specialization/projectman...
https://www.edx.org/course/introduction-to-game-de...

Thanks for the reply. I think for the type of role I'm after, a portfolio is not really applicable. However I do agree that some kind of project management training would certainly give me an edge over other candidates coming from a QA background.

Cheers for the suggested courses/training providers! There are a couple there I've not seen before, so I'll certainly check them out .

I think what I was really trying to get from my OP was a feel from anyone in the industry in production/project manager roles or involved in hiring for those roles, as to whether I'm on a hiding to nothing in pursuing my dream job?

I'll expand it out a bit... If I were to undertake some AGILE project management training (especially SCRUM), how likely is it I could get into a project management job in more traditional software development? Would my experience in games development count for anything? I want to manage projects and developers, ideally in games, but I'd certainly not discount working in business software development.