Applying for Internships

[Higuy]

I figured I'd post this here to get some good feedback since I'm sure most of you know what your talking about (most of the time)

As many of you know I like to work on games, like alot of other people here. I live right near Annapolis, MD which puts me close to Bethesda Softworks over in Rockville. I browsed their website and found this:

http://jobs.zenimax.com/requisitions/view/68

Now I know that being a QA dude isn't a glamorous job by any means when relative to other jobs, but its definitely a doorway into the business.

So I guess where I'm going for is, when applying for this job, how do I make myself stand out? I once applied for a different internship there and did hear back from PR but it was just kind of like a generic "we get alot of emails" response. Besides from updating my portfolio and resume (which I'll link once its in a better state), what else can I do? I feel like I'm perfectly capable of doing the job and doing good at it, but getting the internship I feel will be harder since it is so competitive and a well known company.

I've had a couple jobs in the past but

1) one was for my dad, who owns a boat repair business (i still work there)
2) the other was for the marina where my dad works... and I've known those people that were my employers there my entire life

So, Modacity, what can I do to improve my chances?

[Donut]

I don't know if you've ever seen my or neuro's rants on how shitty working in games can be, but please be aware that it is indeed shitty. QA being one of the shittiest jobs in the industry. Shitty isn't really all that informative, I know, but I kind of assume you've already heard this whole shpeal before. If not, please let us know, because it's definitely something you need to hear before choosing this as a career path.

That all said, Bethesda's editing kits have been pretty similar since Morrowind. Mod work for a Bethesda game (like Oblivion or Skyrim) will look great in a portfolio for them since it shows you're already familiar with their in-house tools as well as more general stuff (3D art, etc...). Try to focus in on something concrete too. You're into level design aren't you? Showing off your mindset for level design and documenting your thought processes would be a good focus for a mod. Essentially what you're trying to do is say "Hey, I make levels and I know how to use your tools. I'm a good investment that you can put to work!".

I guess the other piece of advice is try to not be too let down if they decline your application. Sometimes they just don't have space for you, but might need you in the future. That's what they told us at my school anyway. I don't have any experience with that happening personally.

[Dwood]

Go to comic-cons or other video game meetups and expose people to your portfolio as a digital/3d artist, consider getting a booth. If you do it right, you can skip internship and get right into a job.

[Cortexian]

QA is the shittiest of the shitty. You do the same thing, all day, every day, for weeks/months. You do it over and over on different hardware, and log the results every time.

[Higuy]

QA is the shittiest of the shitty. You do the same thing, all day, every day, for weeks/months. You do it over and over on different hardware, and log the results every time.


I don't know if you've ever seen my or neuro's rants on how shitty working in games can be, but please be aware that it is indeed shitty. QA being one of the shittiest jobs in the industry. Shitty isn't really all that informative, I know, but I kind of assume you've already heard this whole shpeal before. If not, please let us know, because it's definitely something you need to hear before choosing this as a career path.

I've heard the stories before and other peoples rants on other websites. While its a "bad job" I'm sure its somewhat competitive also and like I said, a doorway to go up higher which I would want to do. Either way its still an internship and would probably only last so long before they needed me full time or not.

And for games overall - yeah I've heard it can be pretty bad sometimes - but you also hear stories about how people like it also. I've been modding games and doing stuff like this since I was still in middle school - I'm fairly certain its something I want to do with my life.


That all said, Bethesda's editing kits have been pretty similar since Morrowind. Mod work for a Bethesda game (like Oblivion or Skyrim) will look great in a portfolio for them since it shows you're already familiar with their in-house tools as well as more general stuff (3D art, etc...). Try to focus in on something concrete too. You're into level design aren't you? Showing off your mindset for level design and documenting your thought processes would be a good focus for a mod. Essentially what you're trying to do is say "Hey, I make levels and I know how to use your tools. I'm a good investment that you can put to work!".

I guess the other piece of advice is try to not be too let down if they decline your application. Sometimes they just don't have space for you, but might need you in the future. That's what they told us at my school anyway. I don't have any experience with that happening personally.

Yes, I've started messing with the Creation Kit lately. Not sure if anything there will be in my portfolio by the time I apply but I'll definitely have ground work to be able to work on things.

If they had a job opening for level designer/world artist or something like that I might apply for those positions too but I'm not sure they are open, I also heard "don't apply for too many, just like 2 or 3 tops" which I can definitely see.

e: didn't realize this until just now, but another part of Bethesda has more jobs in the actual "game dev" than I initially thought,

http://jobs.zenimax.com/locations/view/4

So I might apply for Level Designer also.

[Donut]

I would shoot right for that level designer position, because you can skip right over that QA job. Skyrim still uses modular building pieces right? You could try making a complete set that shows unity of theme and understanding of architecture and all that.

[Zeph]

Your portfolio is everything. Everything else is a lie.

[Higuy]

Anyone mind checking out my portfolio and giving some crit for me? I'd be most appreciative.

http://www.lucasgovatos.net/

I'm currently working on some Skyrim quest/level and will put that in most likely when its complete but the above is what I have now.

Thanks.

[Patrickssj6]

css padding

[Donut]

You've definitely got the right idea keeping your contact information right at the top of the screen on every page, and I like that you have relevant images of each of your projects. Good job on that.

My advice would be to have a few more screenshots on the individual pages and move the videos down below. The fewer clicks and the faster I can see the content, the better. If I like what I see, then I'll watch the video, but catch my eye with fast loading still images first.

[Higuy]

css padding

I'm not good with css. Care to elaborate whats wrong so I might be able to fix the issue? There was an issue on Google Chrome (and not Firefox/IE) but I thought I fixed it.


You've definitely got the right idea keeping your contact information right at the top of the screen on every page, and I like that you have relevant images of each of your projects. Good job on that.

My advice would be to have a few more screenshots on the individual pages and move the videos down below. The fewer clicks and the faster I can see the content, the better. If I like what I see, then I'll watch the video, but catch my eye with fast loading still images first.

Thanks. Perhaps maybe I should move the "cover" photos to where the youtube videos are, have the text below them, more pictures, and lastly the videos at the bottom?

[Patrickssj6]

Sry wrote something quickly before going to bed. I was just referring to the text not being indented.

The design is OK and I am not a CSS expert either but maybe you want to have another site as a design reference to get some ideas? Or if you know how to use Photoshop, design your website there first and then try to achieve that in HTML5/CSS.

I would go with some simple modern design, obviously you like Orange and Green as your key colors, just build it around some shades of Gray (White Background). Making your work pop out more.

[Donut]

Thanks. Perhaps maybe I should move the "cover" photos to where the youtube videos are, have the text below them, more pictures, and lastly the videos at the bottom?
Yeah, that sounds good. As a general rule of thumb, put yourself in the place of the guy reading your resume and portfolio. Imagine he has 300 submissions to get through today. You want your work to be as accessible to that guy's microscopic amount of patience as possible.

[Warsaw]

Pro-tip:

You design a website in InDesign, not Photoshop. That is actually one of the former's intended uses, and it is a lot easier. Use Photoshop for content you want in the website.

[Patrickssj6]

I was referring to a rough sketch, not directly exporting a website from PS into HTML.

[Warsaw]

Well then, that works. Personally, I think trying to use the computer for a rough sketch is like trying to use a Formula 1 racer to get yourself to work because a pencil and paper are adequate but if you've got a tablet, PS is doable.