Internship Opportunity -- TeeGee

Last night Tom Giedgowd, a student at the Darden School, came by to pitch some internship opportunities for his startup company developing customizable teddy bears.

Check out the presentation for more info on the opportunities, and send any questions or applications to GiedgowdT12@darden.virginia.edu.

Zynga Presentation on 3/4

The presentation by Bryan Larson of Zynga Game Network originally scheduled for February 11 has been rescheduled for Thursday, March 4, at 6 PM in OLS011. Again, the company is actively seeking candidates for full-time positions and summer internships this summer so be sure to bring your resumes! In addition, food will be provided and there will be a Netbook raffle.

Zynga was founded in 2007 by Mark Pincus and is one of the leading developers of social video games, among which they have developed include Mafia Wars and Farmville.

Video Game Prototyping Presentation 3/1

Tom Carbone of the Florida Interactive Entertainment Academy will be hosting a presentation concerning video game prototyping and game design graduate education opportunities on Monday, March 1. The presentation will commence at 6:30 PM at OLS 009.

You can download a flyer for the presentation, which contains more detailed information regarding it, by clicking here.

Zynga Presentation on 2/11

Bryan Larson of Zynga Game Network will be giving a presentation about the company on Thursday, February 11, at 6 PM in OLS011. The company is actively seeking candidates for full-time positions and summer internships this summer so be sure to bring your resumes! In addition, food will be provided and there will be a Netbook raffle.

Zynga was founded in 2007 by Mark Pincus and is one of the leading developers of social video games, among which they have developed include Mafia Wars and Farmville.

2 New Internships: Nomuda Games

While Joe Chard isn't actually considering hiring Oscar Wilde, as this candid image might suggest, his company, Nomuda Games, is currently accepting applications for not 1 but 2 paid internships for summer 2010!

Some more information:

Company: Nomuda Games
Location: Charlottesville, VA
Position: Intern (Programming)
Compensation: $2000 - $2500 stipend
Commitment: ~40 hrs/wk for 11 - 12 weeks (flexible)

Description: Nomuda Games is seeking developers and graphic artists for internships in the summer of 2010. You will work on a small team to develop our pilot mobile title, to be released for beta testing at the end of the summer. This is an opportunity to use all your skills, all your creativity, to make a meaningful impact on the next wave of mobile gaming.

Working either in Java targeting Android phones or in Objective C targeting iPhones and iPod Touches, work as part of a small team (~3 incl. a dedicated artist) to create a story-driven game that is delivered in installments. Some design work has been completed for this game, but applicants should be comfortable discussing design aspects of the project, as this is a collective effort (and a good chance to contribute meaningfully to a commercial project). Applicants need to be driven, entrepreneurial individuals and will need to be comfortable working in an agile, dynamic environment as a functional member of this new studio.

Job Requirements:

• Fluent in C++ and Java, willing to explore Cocoa Touch before summer; interest in web development is a plus
• Pursuing a BS or Masters degree in Computer Science
• Strong desire to work in the video game industry
• Must have developed at least one complete video game (via a class project, club project, workshop, etc.)
• Self-motivated, willing to do whatever it takes to meet deadlines
• Entrepreneurial mindset, capable of dealing with ambiguity, tackling challenges, and taking on a great deal of responsibility as a key member of a growing company

Benefits:

• Paid stipend for the summer
• Free lunch Wednesday (and some other days too)
• High degree of responsibility for building a commercially released game
• Exposure to veteran entrepreneurs
• Share of game profits
• Inside track on full-time employment (with rapid promotion) in the future

Submission Details: Resumes are good; portfolios are better! A formal interview will be required of all applicants.

To apply or get more information: contact Joe Chard at ChardJ11@darden.virginia.edu

SRRN Games Presentation Recap

SRRN Games is a fledgling game development corporation, founded in Spring 2009 by Tyler Carbone and Aujang Abadi, both of whom are students at the Darden School of Business at The University of Virginia, as well as Nathaniel Givens. Carbone and Abadi made a formal presentation to the SGD body on Thursday offering a partnership between the company and the club. Below is a summary of the information presented.

SRRN approaches video game design as an art form; they aspire to "change everything" about the the industry. They aspire to make games that, while not necessarily the flashiest, or the most technically advanced, or the prettiest, are at their core the most original, most inventive, and most fun available.

SRRN has a few games of their own in development. Among them is a classic 2D RPG for the iPhone titled "Ash", as well as an iPhone mad-libs game. The company also has a few other projects waiting on the backburner, and is currently staffed by around 13 employees, focused mainly in the game design and content generation disciplines.

What SRRN is offering to The Student Game Developers is opportunity. SRRN desires to work directly with SGD members in any way possible to help get the company's first few projects off of the ground, and in turn the company provides experience within and a foot in the door into a video games industry career, whether that be at SRRN or otherwise. Opportunities the company is interested in exploring include: adapting and expanding previously-completed SGD games into full-featured and viable commercial titles to be published under the SRRN label; fleshing out game ideas for future projects, SRRN-related or otherwise; and finally working experience under SRRN on one of their project ideas. While no formal internship positions are being offered at this time, the opportunity to work so closely with a video game publisher is one that certainly can boost a resumé and provide live and applicable experience in the video games development field.

SRRN is open to contact from essentially anyone with some sort of game development-related inquiry, whether it be a game proposal, offer to help the company, or otherwise. For more information on SRRN Games, please visit the company's website by clicking here.

SRRN Games Talk

On Thursday, October 22 at 6 PM in OLS 005, SGD will be hosting a presentation by SRRN Games. SRRN Games was founded by two Darden school students, Aujang Abadi and Tyler Carbone. They'll be talking about who they are, their current projects, and a potential collaboration in the Spring. Make sure you come on out to hear them this Thursday!

SGD Resumé Panel Recap

This past Thursday, the Student Game Developers hosted a resumé workshop to aid SGD members in the creation and editing of their respective resumés. Panel members included SGD President Chris Dodge, senior computer science and economics double major Steven Mond, and University of Virginia computer science professor Aaron Bloomfield.

Following is a list of important points that came out of the discussion regarding resumé construction:

• Items that are useful to include in your resumé are: your experience in the field; technical skills and qualifications; examples of projects you have completed, through academic pursuits or otherwise; what specifically differentiates you from other potential job candidates (i.e. "how are you special?"; and finally your education (referring only to your college education).
• The first line of the body text of the resumé is by far the most important. In addition, place your most pertinent achievements close to the top of the document.
• Place key terms on the left side of the document; typically resumé screeners will quickly scan the document for key terms, and putting pertinent keywords with regard to your qualifications on the left side are more likely to be seen.
• Avoid poor grammar and spelling errors at all costs. In addition, do not construct a resumé that is longer than one page, and try not to be overly verbose or flowery with your writing.
• Use action verbs. NEVER use passive voice.
• Do embellish your qualifications a bit; however, don't go too far as you can be held accountable for anything you list on your resumé during an interview.

With regard to cover letters:

• When writing the cover letter, keep in mind that the point of the letter is to interest the screener to read your resumé.
• Sell yourself! Explain why you want the job and what you offer to the company you are applying to.
• Be sincere in your cover letter, but sell yourself. Again, however, keep in mind that you will be responsible for anything you write down in the cover letter in an interview setting.
• Use jargon from the field, and, again, avoid passive voice.
• The cover letter should be all about you, all the time.

Finally, two useful websites were introduced:

• http://gamedevmap.com ; this is a map of all game development companies world-wide, with links to each company's website provided
• http://www.igda.org ; the International Game Developers Assocation

SGD Resumé Panel

On Thursday, October 15th at 6pm in Olsson 001, SGD will be holding it's first Resumé Panel. This will be a panel of SGDers who all have had some form of experience tailoring their resumé's for the games industry, ready to answer questions you have for them about the best way to format your letters, stuff about cover letters, and how to make yourself stand out. This panel will be held exactly one week before the SRRN Games Talk, so if you want to make sure your resumé is top-notch so you can ever-so-casually hand it to them the week after, this is the perfect opportunity!

Of course, before we can hold this panel, we need some members to be ON the panel! Therefore, SGD, it is up to you all to nominate the panel members. If you have a nomination in mind, write back to me at dnm5z@virginia.edu (with [Nomination] as the first thing in the subject line, followed by the nominee's name) and tell me why your nomination is fit to be on this panel.

You can nominate yourself too, I guess, but that would kind of be a dick move.

I look forward to hearing your nominations, and we will announce the panel at LEAST by a week before-hand.

Microsoft career talk

Microsoft will be hosting a talk on Wednesday, September 30 2009 detailing career opportunities within and information about the company. The talk starts at 5:00 PM, will run until 6:00 PM, and will be held in Room 223 of Rouss and Robertson Halls at the McIntyre School of Commerce. Food will be served and raffle prizes will be awards.

SRRN Games Information Session

Local upstart video game company SRRN Games will be conducting a presentation hosted by SGD on Thursday, October 22. This presentation will be at 6 PM in OLS005. Topics of the presentation will include job and internship opportunities within SRRN Games during both the academic year and the summer and the potential commercialization of SGD projects.

SRRN Games is located in Charlottesville, VA and was founded by Aujang Abadi and Tyler Carbone, both of whom are presently graduate students at the Darden School of Business at The University of Virginia.

2 Tips for SGD Members Looking to Get a Games Job

Getting into the games industry is more difficult than ever during this economic crisis. But there are a few things that aspiring developers can do to greatly increase their chances of getting a job offer one day.

The following two tips are taken from the BreakIntoGamesCareer.com article, "The Top 10 Things You Can Do to Increase Your Chances of Becoming a Game Developer"

1) Work on independent game projects.

One of the most important aspects of an application that game company recruiters look for in applicants is their experience. If they can’t make a small game on their own, how are they going to work with a team to make a multi-million dollar title? Team up with some friends and work on a game. It doesn’t have to be a full featured console title, just make sure you finish it. Unfinished projects don’t count. This is something that puts all SGD members way ahead of the curve.

2) Narrow your field of expertise.

While it’s good to be able to do many things at a small company or small project, larger more established companies will be looking for the best people in a given specialty. If you’re an artist, pick characters or environments and focus on that. If you’re an engineer, focus on artificial intelligence, graphics, or whatever your passion is. Decide what you’re going to do and become an expert.

If you focus on the core aspects of an applicant that recruiters are going to be looking for, then you'll have a great shot at nailing that job offer.

For more tips, resources, articles, and other information pertaining to getting into the video game industry, be sure to visit BreakIntoGamesCareer.com

Best of luck everyone, and have a great semester!