Looking For a College With a Good Chemical Engineering?

Bill Perkins: Is working in the Gaming Industry a good career? I've always been interested in Engineering, but working for a company like Ubisoft or Treyarch has always been an interest of mine as well. Guess I'm just looking for ideas, college is just a year away, and i need to decide what i want t

• Answer:

  First of all, the industry is just like any other. Some parts are good, some aren't. I've been fortunate in that my position and group has been great all around. However, there are plenty of positions at any company that are basically Hell. (QA, crunch time as a dev, etc). The biggest problem you may face is that this industry is ultra-competitive and hundreds if not thousands are trying to break in, and over the past 2-3 years there's been somewhat of a recession in the industry, with many companies laying off hundreds of people. Therefore, when applying at places like Ubisoft or Treyarch, you're not only up against other recent graduates, but up against trained professionals with experience, so getting your first gig may be extremely challenging. The best way to get attention is to generate a portfolio. While you're in school, if you're learning programming, make friends with an artist and a designer and work together to make an iPhone game. Or seven. Compete in Indie Challenges (there's dozens of them). Participate in 24 or 48-hour design contests. Even if you don't win, you gain experience, meet people (some of whom will be in the industry, I personally participate in those 24-48 hour contests often because they're a ton of fun) and generate tons of projects that show off your talents. And hey, maybe one of those games you make may hit it big and you could be the next Rovio! Just don't expect it to be easy or happen overnight.