Love Your Inner Geek.ppt

Love Your Inner Geek: Match Your Personality to the Right Game Career : 

Love Your Inner Geek: Match Your Personality to the Right Game Career Fiona Cherbak VP of Marketing, GameRecruiter Chair, IGDA Women in Games

Overview : 

Overview What is Career Assessment? Why is Career Assessment important? Types of Career Assessment Finding What You Enjoy Identify Your Achievements Identify Your Skills Identify Your Areas of Interest Identify Your Environment Identify Values and Conditions What Kind of Pay? Where to Work? Inventory and Analyze Extraverts Introverts Careers in Games Career Assessment Tests Career and Game Job Books

What is Career Assessment? : 

What is Career Assessment? In order to explore game career work opportunities, it is important to first gain an understanding of your interests, values, strengths, and family/cultural influences that impact the decision-making process. Through a series of tests and questions, you discover your strengths, skills, values, and interests.  You can then use this information to find careers that are best suited to you.

Why is Career Assessment important? : 

Why is Career Assessment important? Learn to work with, not against, your natural approach to doing things Identify your unique skills and strengths Find out if you want to lead or be led Target areas for improvement and growth Make better career choices Be prepared for changing future

Types of Career Assessment : 

Types of Career Assessment Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI): This personality instrument helps indicate your preferred manner of taking in and evaluating information and will identify your preferred style of working, decision-making and communicating. What Color is Your Parachute?: First published in 1970, What Color is Your Parachute? is the world’s top-selling job search and career book. In 1991 it was named to the Library of Congress’ list of “25 Books That Have Shaped Readers’ Lives,” alongside War and Peace, The Catcher in the Rye, and The Bible.

Where to start: do what you enjoy! : 

Where to start: do what you enjoy! What are things you have done just because they were fun? Because they gave you a sense of adventure? Or a sense of accomplishment? These things can be something you did at work, at school, at play, anytime in your life You are looking for patterns, transferable skills in each of these experiences.

Joy = Skill : 

Joy = Skill If it is a skill you do well, you will enjoy it; if it is a skill you enjoy, you will do well with it.

Joy on the Job! : 

Joy on the Job! Bad employers will not care if you enjoy your work, but good employers will. Good employers know that if you have enthusiasm for your work, you will do well.

Identify Your Achievements… : 

Identify Your Achievements… Achievement: Something you feel you have done well, that you enjoyed doing and felt proud of, equaling 2 pleasures: you enjoyed doing it and were satisfied with outcome. We feel it is OK to talk about our failures, but not our successes. But that is not true. By fully acknowledging our achievements, we discover our true skills.

Identify Your Skills… : 

Identify Your Skills… Analyzing those achievements, list all of your “skills”: visualizing, drawing, painting, synthesizing, organizing, computing, problem-solving, planning, communicating, evaluating, instructing, researching and more. This achievements list will help you define what you want to do with your life, and what skills and talents you have to offer.

Identify Your Interests… : 

Identify Your Interests… Now that you know your skills, where would you apply them? What areas of interest? Areas that use your mental and creative skills? Areas that deal with creating tools, products and solutions? Areas that deal with people’s needs? What areas truly fascinate you?

Identify Your Environments… : 

Identify Your Environments… Who do you want to hang out with at a party? Realistic people – mechanical, hands-on Investigative people – observe, analyze, solve Artistic people – innovative, unstructured Social people – help, train, develop people Enterprising people – lead, manage, persuade Conventional people – data, detail, numerical

Identify Values and Conditions… : 

Identify Values and Conditions… Values are a matter of what guides you through every task and encounter in life. Yet we are often unaware what our values are. Conditions are the attributes that make an environment appealing or not to work in. Determine your preferred working conditions: less supervision, more solitude, upbeat team.

Slide 14: 

HOW MUCH pay do I want? What job titles / levels are you aspiring to? What is the minimum and maximum pay that you want and need? Do you want to run your own business, run a team, be part of a team or work alone?

WHERE do I want to work? : 

WHERE do I want to work? Major game industry centers in the U.S.: - Los Angeles - San Francisco - Seattle - San Diego - Austin - Chicago - New York - Boston - Washington D.C. - Raleigh/Durham - Orlando www.gameindustrymap.com Currently Tracking 17,922 locations for 10,106 organizations in 72 countries

Inventory and Analyze… : 

Inventory and Analyze… Now that you have created your various lists (achievements, skills, environments, etc.), carefully review and analyze the sum result. Narrow your choices down to the most common denominators, until you have created a “snapshot” of your ideal career scenario. Re-assess your skills and interests every few years, so you can alter your path as needed.

Are you an Extravert or Introvert? : 

Are you an Extravert or Introvert? This preference describes alternative ways of orienting to the world. Extraversion is an external, action orientation. Introversion is an internal, reflective orientation. Beyond these, there are 16 personality sub-sets. Combined, these cover extraverted vs, introverted, sensing vs. intuition, thinking vs. feeling, and judging vs. perceiving. To learn more, take Myers-Brigg Type Indicator Test.

Extraverted… : 

Extraverted… People with extraverted ways of working are most comfortable and at their best when they are interacting with the world around them. The primary approach of such individuals is doing, talking, acting and trying things. Extraverts tend to react quickly, see problems and communicate effectively in groups.

Extraverts work like this… : 

Extraverts work like this… Act and adapt – react quickly to environment; quick see problems and opportunities. Innovate and initiate – explore the environment for patterns and associations. Direct and decide – expedite, organize, work economically in terms of time. Communicate and cooperate – Contribute to relationships, opinions and interactions.

Extraverts look for opportunities to: : 

Extraverts look for opportunities to: act quickly be action oriented change activities regularly focus on the world around you interact with others try new things work within a group

Extraverts make good… : 

Extraverts make good… Team Leaders (design, programming, etc.) Producers Managers and Directors Marketers Sales and Business Development Staff Speakers and company representatives Company founders and CEO’s

Introverted… : 

Introverted… People with introverted ways of working are most comfortable and at their best when they can take the time to think things through. They like to reflect on or interpret their experiences and plan their actions. The casual observer will not easily see their best side. Introverts tend to be visionary, innovative, observant, in tune with world around them.

Introverts work like this… : 

Introverts work like this… Specialize and stabilize – gather and integrate info, gain understanding at core levels. Interpret and implement – visionary approach to find meaning in data, ideas, experiences. Examine and evaluate – Analyze info and make logical decisions, scientific. Care and connect – Enhance personal relationships, focus on feelings of others.

Introverts look for work with opportunities to: : 

Introverts look for work with opportunities to: avoid frequent interruptions concentrate on one task get information ahead of time learn something in depth think before acting have specialized knowledge enjoy one-on-one or small groups

Introverts make good… : 

Introverts make good… Individual specialists in art, design, programming and production Creative Managers and Art Directors Human Resources Staff QA and Customer Service Staff Troubleshooters and experts in their field Legal counsel, CFO’s and IT heads

How do I use an MBTI assessment? : 

How do I use an MBTI assessment? Take a close look at your Myers-Brigg profile. Understand clearly the nuances and variations between personality types. Match your type to job roles you are interested in pursuing, based on your skills. If unclear on job descriptions, gather samples and study to gain clear understanding.

Careers in the Game IndustryARTISTS : 

Careers in the Game IndustryARTISTS Character Modeler – Creates characters Environment Modeler – Creates 3D environments Skin/Texture Artist – Creates textures Concept Artist – Draws 2D Animator – Animates “boned” models Cinematic Artist – creates cut scenes or movies Technical Artist – converts art assets for game engine

Careers in the Game IndustryDESIGNERS : 

Careers in the Game IndustryDESIGNERS Game Designer – Visionary behind the game; creates game play and features. Level Designer – Creates missions and is responsible for the “fun” within those missions. Level Builder – Uses the game editor to arrange imported objects (static meshes) and the in-editor terrain and lighting tools to build a playable level. Interface Designer – Designs menus, HUDs

Careers in the Game IndustryPROGRAMMERS : 

Careers in the Game IndustryPROGRAMMERS Engine Programmer - Creates core game code Tools Programmer – Creates tools Graphics Programmer – Codes graphic issues Network Programmer – Multiplayer coding AI Programmer – Codes the game’s intelligence Technical Director – Manages programmers CTO – Big cheese of all technology

Careers in the Game IndustryPRODUCERS : 

Careers in the Game IndustryPRODUCERS Assistant Producer Associate Producer Producer Senior Producer Executive Producer Development Director Studio Manager

Careers in the Game IndustryMARKETERS : 

Careers in the Game IndustryMARKETERS Product Manager or Brand Manager Marketing Manager Director of Marketing Creative Services Publicist Graphic Designer Editorialist – write game reviews, interviews

What to do next… : 

What to do next… Define what you want to do with your game career, and what you have to offer in terms of your skills and talents. Understand deeply your game job work preferences and expectations. Identify the game job roles for which you are most suited, and will most likely succeed in. Develop a career development plan now!

Career Assessment Tests : 

Career Assessment Tests CareerExplorer.com LiveCareer.com JobDiagnosis.com SimilarMinds.com HumanMetrics.com These FREE tests will help you understand yourself better and guide you to your job!

Career Assessment & Game Job Books : 

Career Assessment & Game Job Books “What Color is Your Parachute?” By Richard Nelson Bolles “What’s Your Type of Career?” By Donna Dunning “Get in the Game” By Marc Mencher “Paid to Play” By David Hodgson, Bryan Stratton & Alice Rush Check Amazon.com for wide variety of career assessment and skills assessment texts.

THANKS and GOOD LUCK!! : 

THANKS and GOOD LUCK!! Fiona Cherbak GameRecruiter Los Angeles – San Francisco – Las Vegas - Austin – Miami Fiona@GameRecruiter.comwww.GameRecruiter.com