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snek_caseHNSource author
Lessons learnedExperience excerpt · English

I once applied to a game development company

… I once applied to a game development company. I have something like 20 years experience in systems programming. The problem is that my CV doesn't have any game development experience on it... But when I was about 20, I programmed my own 3D engine, and my own raytracer with soft shadows. A few years ago, I've worked with GLSL as well. I'm familiar with concepts like perspective projection, backface culling, scene graphs, shaders, 3D models, etc. and I'm sure that I could figure out how to work on a 3D game and produce useful work fairly quickly, but these people quickly tossed my CV into the "no" pile because I've never worked at a game development company before. At the end of the day, I'm doing very well at a different company doing systems programming, but my point is, people look for boxes to check on your CV. This is especially bad if you have to go through non-technical recruiters. Your best bet if you want to get into a programming job IMO is to try to speak directly to developers who work at the company. …

Original discussionWhy Non-Linear Career Paths Are the Future86 source comments · at import
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EO
eointierneyHN

Polymath was always an idea that appealed, mainly due to Leonardo da Vinci (check out his drawings of turbulent water). I think the problem is career paths, as though a working life must optimise for linearity to achieve success, when instead those individuals who explore breadth and depth and fun are both most productive and creative. Anyone who can see a problem and potential solution through more than one prism of learning is nearly always better able to communicate their insight and share their joy of thought. They tend to be more patient of failure, happier to be corrected, and fresher when returning to the problem again. Also, more money demonstrating multi-disciplinary competence when moving jobs is definitely a thing. Good managers are rare

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sokoloffHN

Why would you submit a CV/resume to a game company without highlighting your game-dev-relevant experience?

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dagwHN

I worked at a digital animation and FX studio and we got applications all the time from people basically just like you. People without any directly relevant experience on their CV, but with a passionate cover letter about how they spend their free time working on their own animation projects and links to fun things they've done. As long as they had something fun and interesting to show we almost always called them in for an interview. Admittedly we where a fairly small and quite anonymous shop and didn't get hundreds of applications. Probably at larger, more famous, places it is harder to do this.

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