Pauline Gepilano

"Required: X titles shipped" I've been involved in a few conversations lately with aspiring or junior developers who are frustrated that so many job descriptions require shipped titles. It gets even more difficult when a JD requires specific types of games shipped. These job seekers become more infuriated to find out that a lot of recruiters or hiring managers don't really count their game jam titles or solo games as "shipped" for purposes of these roles. Why is that? What exactly are hiring managers looking for here? Does it even matter? To answer that last question first: yes. It matters. First off, let's be clear on a couple of things here. As a general rule, you shouldn't be seeing shipped title requirements in true entry level positions. In those cases, any experience is better than no experience, so you should call out your jam, student, or solo games whenever you don't have anything else to show (or just call them out anyway if you're still relatively new or you're particularly proud of something you've worked on or built). But the reason you see a lot of jobs asking for shipped titles is less about the end result and more about showing that you've got experience working in a particular environment. If I'm asking, it's because I want to know that you can work on a team in the first place. You've been through the process already and have gone through the reviews and planning sessions and discussions that you simply wouldn't get building a game on your own or even in a quick jam. I've been through this a lot, with games that shipped and those that unfortunately did not. I've seen it on tiny teams where we could fit everyone in a single room and the entire schedule took months to teams which numbered in the hundreds across continents with multiyear schedules and the differences are very real. I've seen how different it can be in having to ship a boxed game through first party submissions or maintaining a liveops MMO that only existed on PC or mobile. Different processes. Different tools. Different methodologies. Different scales. I know how rough the market is out there. I know it seems hopeless at times and utterly unfair. I know it can really hurt to find a role you think you're just perfect for but then you see they want "shipped titles" experience or you need to have "worked on AAA teams" or "must have liveops experience" and it just doesn't make sense. Your challenge is in trying to show how you have the skills without the direct experience, while also competing against others (potentially dozens of others) who already have both. I wish the process could be easier for you. At the least, I hope I've added some context from the other side of the table here.

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Mini Gear Grinder... not a crazy one, just a mini one... Candidates: when replying to Posts that have jobs listed, multiple companies / Games Studios, etc. within them. A comment of "I am interested" does not do you much good. A comment of "I am interested in the following role at XYZ company" is however helpful. Seeing so many of these & I love that you're interested in the roles posted, but which ones? Help the Recruiter or the people out that are putting the resources in front of you & let them know what you're interested in. ⚙ The job? Which one, we have 5+ listed. ⚙ The company? Which one, as some of these posts list 5+ organizations. ⚙ The person posting? Let's keep it PC / PG here people, I'm not advocating for weirdness 😝 I'm referring to a conversation or asking for help where you need it potentially. Don't be creepy, please do not be creepy! ⚙ The products they make? Etc., etc. Identify a bit deeper... Help them help you! 😁 Keep fighting the good fight everyone! Enjoy the weekend & wishing you best out there! #'s for the #'s #TheMattBarney #OneLove #TheMeatballs #GearGrinder #VideoGames #PirateRecruitersUniteUnderOneBanner

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🎮 Want a job in the video game industry? 🎮 Begin with the end in mind.* ➡ When you drive to work do you just turn left or right based on how you feel that day? 😅 (I hope you left extra early that day) ➡ When you gather data for a project, do you grab monthly active users, popular breakfast items and breeds of dog? 🤐 (This report might be fun but your boss will not be happy) ➡ When you schedule a doctor appointment, do you call random numbers in the phone book? 🙃 The same applies to...well...applying for jobs. ❔ Do you look at the minimum requirements for a job or do you click easy apply on cool titles? (Although, I might as well shoot my shot for Game Director) ❔ Do you update your resume with your most relevant experience when you apply? What is your desired outcome? Work backwards and you'll see at least some of the steps in a path to get there. This is not easy to do, because there is no perfect way to be the best fit for a job. Everyone's journey is different. What steps have you taken to get to your goal or how have you been successful in your journey? *One possible end goal pictured #Letsgetyouhired #RecruiterAdvice

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📣GAMES INDUSTRY RECRUITERS PAST AND PRESENT📣 I have a curious question that you all have unique insight into! Today, I was chatting with some of my teammates about hard to fill roles in the gaming space and how we illustrate that to our greater teams and stakeholders with data. While we are definitely doing more data exploration I am also just curious about personal anecdotes and experiences so with that being said: ✍🏻 What are THE hardest roles you have had to fill in the games space? ✍🏻 Historically which roles have you found require a bit more work than usual? I figured this could be useful or interesting for other recruiters to see as well! As for me, I will be taking notes.

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LinkedIn's New Gaming Adventure! LinkedIn has entered the gaming arena with the launch of three intriguing puzzle games – Pinpoint, Queens, and Crossclimb. These games are now available on both desktop and mobile platforms, adding a fun twist to the LinkedIn experience. Each game offers a unique mental challenge, including word association, trivia with wordplay, and a distinctive take on sudoku. This move reflects a broader trend in the digital content industry, as companies leverage gaming content to attract and retain users. Amid the challenges of generating revenue from traditional advertising, offering gaming content is seen as a strategic move to enhance user retention and possibly create new revenue streams in the future. LinkedIn's current strategy primarily focuses on user engagement without monetization. The games are free to play and embrace the social aspect of gaming by allowing users to view their connections' activity and engage in friendly competition through leaderboards. This approach represents a shift towards creating a more interactive and social experience within the professional networking platform. With the gaming landscape evolving across various industries, from digital news organizations to platforms like Netflix, LinkedIn's entry into gaming reflects an effort to adapt to user preferences and behaviors. As the company aims to deepen relationships and inject fun into the professional networking experience, it will be fascinating to see how these gaming features influence user engagement and potentially drive future business opportunities on the platform. https://lnkd.in/dsc7eePJ Play the games here https://lnkd.in/dqM7dBW4

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Complaining won't get you hired. Sending hundreds of applications without a reply sucks, I get it. And job hunting in game development is tough in 2024. But hear me out: No one hires out of pity. People hire because you show value. Instead of complaining about the market, focus on creating value for others: • Share common best practices • Contribute to professional topics • Create useful solutions or courses • Make a tutorial on a complex issue Or go a step further: prepare a list of recommendations for the company you want to join and send it with your CV (and also share it publicly). How so, you might ask? Do something for others for FREE? Yes, absolutely. It's called "content marketing." You create value upfront, become more recognizable, and gain a reputation. And then you get hired easily because you provided value upfront. If you're willing to spend hundreds of hours on interviews, spend some time creating value for others. It'll pay off in the long run.

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🎮 Want a job in the video game industry? 🎮 ➡ Proactive - creating or controlling a situation by causing something to happen rather than responding to it after it has happened ➡ Reactive - to be ready to react or respond to something else Are you Proactive or Reactive in your job search? 1. Open to work banner on 2. Following favorite companies 3. Notifications from those companies (the bell icon in the top right) 4. Clicking on the "People" tab on the career page to find employees to follow on Linkedin to absorb their wisdom There's no one way to get a job. There's only the way that finally works for you individually. It is super tough right now. Any questions or comments? Advice for fellow job seekers? Put it below in the comments and we'll see if we can help. #Letsgetyouhired #RecruiterAdvice

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🕰️This was Breshna’s MVP 3 years ago Clunky, bare bones & not very pretty 😅 I almost cancelled our MVP launch 6 hours prior because I was too scared, too embarrassed, too skeptical! (thanks to Rizwan Nusrat’s 3am pep talk, we stayed on track)! Since then we’ve: ✅Completely revamped the user interface ✅Added 21 new game templates & 3k+ game assets ✅Integrated RTL script ✅Enabled custom uploads ✅Enhanced data analytics ✅Introduced co-creation of games ✅Implemented mobile optimization ✅Developed foundations for security & scalability ✅Procured a patent for our tech stack ✅Built an AI powered text to game engine & 3d metaverse Today Breshna is delightful to use, is now a beast of an ecosystem with 180k game makers & 2m game plays and is only getting started! The thing about momentum is, it needs building blocks! You gotta start somewhere, so start today, start with the bare minimum, start with something you’re not fully sure of in it’s current state but it’s potential is crystal clear, let the present be uncertain so you can cement your future vision! *************** If you are not embarrassed by the first version of your product, you’ve launched too late. – Reid Hoffman ***************

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Great list of companies and resources here -- bookmark this one!

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I interviewed our Casting Director and this was the clear takeaway... Voice Actors often ask me "how can I break into video games work." I thought this advise was brilliant 👇 - Actors who are also active gamers seem to get cast in games a lot! - However, Casting Directors aren't specifically looking for this - These actors tend to have a great understanding of the material - They instinctively know how a line or an effort should be performed - They have an enthusiasm & passion for the work - They are often easier to direct and are familiar with the language I am by no means suggesting an actor has to be a gamer to be a voice actor in games! But, if this is an area of the industry an actor wants to get into... Consider getting into the industry via this area... Do those last two lines make sense? I was trying to be clever! #VoiceActing #GameAudio #Develop2024

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To all my writing peeps out there, whether you're a junior game writer or senior narrative designer (or someone else altogether): what are your tips for studying and analyzing games you admire? I've been keeping a game journal for about eight months now where I jot down notes for story beats, narrative moments that impacted me, story progression, mechanics that involve narrative and/or UI (i.e. tutorials that use diegetic v.s. non-diegetic prompts), et cetera, but I've found this can be very jarring--especially on my first playthrough--so I'm curious if anyone has tips or tricks you use so you can enjoy the experience as it was intended while also helping you understand the hows and whys that make the game and the story work. #gamewriting #narrativedesign #gamedesign

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A question for all of my connections that are talent acquisition or hiring managers: What is the biggest piece of advice you want to give people that are looking for a job in games?

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Tip for publishing consideration submission to Midwest Games... tldr - Send info through our portal (https://lnkd.in/gWtKgpuU), not through email (or LI). I get that it's a little counter-intuitive...you might think you want to put your info right in front of the sourcing decision influencers' faces. But it's actually a disadvantage - especially those of you who are agents throwing multiple titles at us at once. The submission portal goes right to our database, and that database is there for a reason: to keep an organized and consistent record of all submissions in one place. I look through there all the time. I'm reminded of titles I may have overlooked or need to go back to consider as circumstances change all the time. We rarely, if ever, make immediate decisions or even quick deep review/consideration. Our factors for consideration shift regularly. I do not review your particular email regularly, or at some point even remember you sent one. I go to the database. Connection via other channels is good. Discussion about your game over other channels is good. But having your core game info in those channels is not good. Please use the submission portal!

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You asked for it! 😂 Keeping up with my Job Hunt™️, a LinkedIn Original Series. Job Hunter's Journal Week 2 🧡 ➡️ Motto: What now? This week we had to get creative. 𝑨𝒔 𝒊𝒕 𝒕𝒖𝒓𝒏𝒔 𝒐𝒖𝒕, 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒄𝒂𝒏 𝒓𝒖𝒏 𝒐𝒖𝒕 𝒐𝒇 𝒋𝒐𝒃𝒔 𝒕𝒐 𝒂𝒑𝒑𝒍𝒚 𝒇𝒐𝒓. Normally this tends to happen around week 3-5, however, the games industry is going through one of the most challenging times yet (IMO because we didn't plan our workforces carefully and conservatively the past 3 years, but no point crying over spilt milk). Being pragmatic about this, I can essentially do two things: 🟣Start fully applying for jobs outside of Games, which entails: •Figuring out which industries I feel connected to and/or would be good at. •Mapping them to understand who are the main players and main products. •Remake my job hunting documents to show my full skillset plus transferrable knowledge. •Connect with heads of people, heads of recruitment and influential people in those industries. •Apply like there's no tomorrow. 🟠Brainstorm how I can add value to people, and monetise my skillset while passively job hunting, which looks like: •Connecting with and having initial chats with different game recruitment agencies. •Writing down a few blurbs about myself (a short paragraph selling the candidate's USP) to assist those agencies. •Looking inward to assess my skill set, and past experiences, to try to come up with solutions within recruitment to common problems. •Conceptualising a product (by product, I mean something that adds value and has a monetary value, it can be a workshop, a strategic review, a consultation...) I feel confident and comfortable delivering/selling. •Making a beautiful deck for it using Canva. •Business Develop my way around town. I'm not ready to job hunt outside #GameDev just yet. So I've taken the second route. --- 🚨 While I was writing this post, I realised that many candidates aren't aware of the number of game-focused recruitment agencies out there. So, perhaps this post can serve as an introduction! ➡️ If you are a Games Recruitment Agency, raise your hand (🙋🏼) in the comment section and introduce yourself. ➡️ If you are a job hunter interested in working with agencies, comment 🆘 below (feel free to write your blurb and Sell Your Fish™️)! ➡️ If you are neither, feel free to tag, comment, repost, or do anything that helps with reach ❤️. --- 📣 Follow #RethinkRecruitment and ring the 🔔 to stay updated! ⏩ https://entrylevel.games/ 🌟 Opinions are very much my own™️ #Layoffs #Redundancies #JobHunting

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I was asked, "How will Simply Sweet Games raise the bar for the industry?" The challenges are clear: frequent layoffs, inaccessibility, and a significant lack of diversity. Too often, games are just a side note in business strategies focused on short-term gains at the expense of passionate, underpaid newcomers. That’s why at Simply Sweet Games, we are committed to creating change. Our motivation stems not from greed, but from a vision to transform the gaming industry to include more diverse perspectives. We are actively addressing the diversity gap by creating games that cater to and celebrate women, who represented nearly half of all gamers in the U.S. in 2023. This market isn’t a niche—it’s a major segment that deserves better representation. I wake up and feel amazed at how this has become my full-time focus. We uphold sustainable hiring practices and foster an inclusive environment where everyone can contribute and succeed. We aim to redefine industry standards with principles of honesty, respect, and support—not just for our products, but for our people too. #DiversityinGames #Equity #InclusiveHiring #GameIndustry #WomenInGaming #womenwhowork #SimplySweetGames

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I don't know who needs to hear this, but: 👏 YOU NEED TO THINK LIKE AN INVESTOR WHEN DECIDING TO ACCEPT AN OFFER 👏 Time is unarguably the most important resource you’ll ever have. Time is money, time is family, time is your sanity. You are directly investing your time when you make the decision to accept an offer with a company. Evaluate your leadership. Ask the hard questions. Spend cycles evaluating the product, culture, and the trajectory before you leap. Do this throughout your process -- don't wait until the very end. You are 100% doing yourself a disservice if you operate otherwise.

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Games Jobs Workbook v14.1 Is Here (Please Help Repost) https://lnkd.in/d6x5NHMZ - Resource 8 We now have: - 2,760 games employers (+632) - 982 games employers who are actively hiring (+101) - 13,359 games jobs (+368) In terms of secondary statistics (when I say "ever," I mean since I started tracking data in November 2022): - Jobs are the least concentrated by employer ever. The top 10 employers have 4,993 jobs, or 37%. The top 27 employers have 6,706 jobs, or 50%. - Jobs are the least concentrated by function ever, although still fairly concentrated. The top three functions have 61% of all jobs, and the top four have 70%. Engineering, Programming, Tech Design, Tech Writing = 29% Art, Tech Art, Animation, Cinematics & Video = 21% Game Design = 11% Production, Project Management, Business + Communication Ops, Performance = 9% - The average number of jobs per employer is 14. - The median number of jobs per employer is 4. - Of the 982 games employers currently hiring: 264 are fully remote (27%) 118 have some remote jobs (12%), so 40% of games employers have some remote jobs. 600 are all hybrid or onsite (61%). - Of the 982 games employers currently hiring: 1,322 jobs are fully remote (10%). 2,686 jobs are at employers who have some remote jobs (20%), so 30% of jobs are at games employers who have some remote jobs. 9,351 jobs are at employers who are all hybrid or onsite (70%). - You can expect 939 additional games companies in v14.2. I am breaking this large update into v14.1 and v14.2 after all, just because I need a bit more time for testing on the second installment. Thanks, as always, to my dear friend Eva Tucker for feeding me this list of new adds, to which I have added URLs and locations where they were missing, eliminated companies that are defunct or without sites, and added the full functional level of detail in the games jobs workbook. All these new companies are now also 99% semi-automated through my standard approach. Please enjoy this even bigger, largest directory of games jobs in the world!

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I never thought I would be writing this but... like everyone else at Sumo, I might be at risk of being #LaidOff. We don't know much yet, and there's a chance I won't be affected, but what kind of doomsday prepper would I be if I didn't prepare. Especially when the industry has considerably slowed down. Not that the timing could ever be great for something like this, but it's particularly tricky as there are VERY FEW recruitment jobs in #GameDev. The only silver lining is that I have quite the generalist background and skillset, so please allow me to Sell My Fish™️⬇️ 🔎 Recruitment (In-House, Agency, and Embedded): •Extensive experience sourcing for all core disciplines and operational roles within game development. •Successful recruitment across the UK, Canada, France, Sweden, and the United States. •Proven success in hiring talent from graduates to studio leadership positions. •Represented companies at WASD, Develop Brighton, Unwrap Festival, Digital Dragons, EGX, and numerous university career fairs and student showcases over the past 5 years. •Delivered presentations on "Rethinking Recruitment" at major game dev conferences. 🗃️ Project Management: •Led the development of the entry-levels skills hub detailing 12 junior roles based on the UK Apprenticeship Standard, including designing surveys, analyzing data, and presenting findings. •Managed the UKIE & Into Games Kickstart Scheme, responsible for all aspects of the project, successfully hiring over 130 young people on Universal Credit. •Managed the creation of the largest-ever Recruitment Report in Games, overseeing all aspects except graphic design. 📑 Data Analysis and Reporting: •Wrote internal reports on DEIB insights and best practices, enhancing recruitment processes. •Analysed data from over 600 respondents, contributing 190 hours of input, to create a comprehensive recruitment report. •Designed and analysed two surveys targeting junior employees and senior hiring managers, grouping findings to create the hub. 📢 Marketing & Public Speaking: •Developed and executed the marketing strategy for the Entry-Level Skills Surveys and Hub, and the Hitmarker Recruitment Report •Represented companies at WASD, Develop Brighton, Unwrap Festival, Digital Dragons, EGX, and numerous university career fairs and student showcases over the past 5 years. •Content creation on LinkedIn, staying up-to-date with algorithm updates and best practices. --- So if you are looking for a Sara of all trades, master of inclusive hiring, do reach out, I'm happy to chat about future roles as well! ➡️For links and my CV go to: https://lnkd.in/e2SdSnR4 ➡️ Community, now it's my turn to need help, can I count on you liking, commenting and reposting this? --- 📣 Follow #RethinkRecruitment and ring the 🔔 to read about: ⏩ https://entrylevel.games/ 🌟 Opinions are very much my own™️ #layoffs

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