Welcome to the Games @ UCSC Career Hub!
This page is full of tools to help you pursue a career in the games industry! Click on these boxes to jump to a specific section:
Overview of Roles in the Industry
There’s lots of different roles in the games industry, and different size companies will have different roles. It can be hard to understand all the jargon.
• The Game Developer Conference (GDC) Vault has many videos from years past with details about different jobs.
• This playlist of videos from UCSC Career Center has lots of stories from alums and industry friends about how they got their start in the industry (including the video below), and what kind of intro-level opportunities to look for.
Game Dev Roles and Your Major
It can be hard to know which skills in which classes are relevant to different roles or pathways in the industry.
• These Game Dev Cheat Sheets explain roles and relevant books, tools of the trade, and skillsets for each role.
• For AGPM students, our adviser created these “class clusters” which show specific UCSC classes relevant to different roles.
• Here’s a video explaining the difference between AGPM and CSGD our two undergraduate game design majors.
Job Opportunities
Where and when to start looking and applying? Many game companies post their internships in Fall (Sept/Oct) for internships in the following Summer (June).
• Linkedin Jobs has numerous filters so you can find what you're looking for in a job. Get started here.
• Use this community-maintained list to find additional game companies near your area!
Check out this workshop from the Career Center and the accompanying sheet to start your search!
Resume
Not sure how to start writing your resume? We’ve got you covered!
• Here is a resume template you can start with, as well as a sample resume to see how it looks filled out.
• Our Games @ UCSC Discord server has a #resume-reviews channel where you can post your resume and receive feedback from alumni, professors, and other students!
JOIN THE GAMES@UCSC COMMUNITY DISCORD
Portfolio
A portfolio is the first place where people will look to assess your skill set and experience. In Winter '21 we held a multi-part portfolio workshop to teach students how to build a narrative around their work, and several platforms to use.
Check out the recording of that workshop here:
Job Application Tips
Once you’ve got your resume and portfolio ready, you can use these resources to help you search for jobs.
• Use this sheet to keep track of your applications.
• Watch this video to learn some tips on what recruiters are looking for.
Upcoming UCSC Career Events
Career Network
The Career Center has knowledgeable staff that can help you get ready as you prepare your job/internship search. They host a number of workshops for learning about crafting resumes, cover letters and much more!
JOIN HANDSHAKE
JOIN CAREER ADVICE NETWORK
Design Your Future Annual Series
The Design Your Future event series is an annual event that connects game design alumni in the industry with students currently at UCSC in hopes of easing some of the anxiety around looking for a job in the games industry and help them learn about the variety of roles they can take on once they graduate.
VIEW UPCOMING EVENTS
Join the Games @ UCSC Community!
The Games @ UCSC Community brings together all students who are looking to enter the game industry. Join our Discord server, where you can know about career events, game jams, funny memes and more!