4 and a half years ago, I completed 3 years of professional technical study in Computer Science (In Quebec, this is called a “DEC“). In the last semester of my DEC, I did an internship at Air Liquide Canada, developing web application for their intranet. At the end of my internship, I accepted the job ALC was offering me as a Web Developer.
Fast forward to September 2006. I’m in Japan with 2 good friends. We’re riding the train to go to the Tokyo Game Show. Stéphane is listening to music, Marie-Michèle is reading a book and I’m lost in my thoughts. “I’m living my biggest dream. I’m in Japan! I’m going to the TGS! … … where do I go next?”. When I came back from Japan, I decided that I would do everything in my power to make my 2nd biggest dream come true.
“Your trip to Japan will be a life altering experience” a good friend had told me. At the time, I had no idea how true those words would be! hehehe
Officially, as of August 31st, I’ll no longer work for ALC. September 5th will be my first day at University, where I’ll be on my way to earn my Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science. You got that right folks! In ~20 days, I quit my job to go back to school! If that is not life altering, then I don’t know what is ^_^
Going to university is only my first step in becoming a renowned Game Programmer. Since I still have a rent to pay, I’ll find a part time job. I’m aiming for Game Tester, since that would give me a good insight into the Game Industry process.
I’ll continue volunteering at IGDA Montreal and build a good network of “inside” contact. I’ll also continue working on HexEngine and other projects to add to my portfolio. With a good portfolio and some inside contacts, I shouldn’t have any problems to find an internship.
Then, to expand my network to outside of Canada, I’ll volunteer as a CA for GDC or maybe even go for the IGDA’s GDC Student Scholarships.
After 3 years, I’ll be a Bachelor and I’ll have all the tools to land a job at Ubisoft as a Game Programmer ^_^
What do you think? That’s a good plan? A bad one? What’s your master plan to break in the game industry?
Hehe! Good plan! (Not that I did not know about it for a long time, but it’s still a good way to throw it down in words!)
After all that, if you still want a “life altering” situation have children, let me tell you that this is life altering to the max! :P
Tester to programmer is a pretty okay plan, but there may be better plans out there for you.
Since you already have a DEC, you might try applying at a few other local game companies that hire a lot of entry level developers. Check out the game dev map at http://gamedevmap.com/index.php?tool=location&query=Montreal.
Some studios offer tuition assistance. No need to look for an internship or break in as a tester if you can walk through the front door and have them help you jump through all the hoops!
-frob
@0xCAFE: Yeah, having children must be a life altering experience :) maybe I’ll experience it in a couple of years. Who knows?
@frob: I didn’t know that entry level developers job were available part time. That’s great! Thanks for the info. And also thanks for the email you sent me. I really appreciate it.