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?
