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Mental Health over Rejection
The Importance of Networking
25/06/2022
“I found an opportunity via the VGA program where you could give a talk of your choosing, so I decided that I would make it about networking, as I believe it is not talked about enough. Unfortunately, the original opportunity fell through, so I have decided to post the success stories here as well as the presentation I had created for the event.”
Introduction
Hello folks, my name is Demi, and I am a freelance producer that volunteers as a mentor for game jams. I have done a Level 3 Games course, as well as a Level 5 HND in Games; when I finished education and got rejected for Uni, I decided I was going to stop at nothing to get into this industry. I scoured the Games Job’s Direct websites, checked out my favourite studios job postings as well as applying on LinkedIn. I had a massive portfolio of Art and I really wanted to get into 2D Concept Art. Of course, I was met with a stream of rejection emails, which you will all experience when you start this journey as well.
I did manage to get a few indie jobs as a 2D Sprite artist, but I didn’t realise how difficult it was. The developers weren’t very great at communicating their concepts and I was doing 14 corrections on nearly every piece I created. Of course, they were new to the game, so they had never commissioned a person for art before. This was a very different experience to what I was used to, and the entire process was burning me out. I didn’t like drawing as much as I used to and really thought about whether I wanted to do this anymore, because my love for art was dying rapidly.
I looked back at my educational days and remembered that I really enjoyed the project management side of games, so I decided to pursue that instead. I applied to many jobs, got lots of rejection, but finally landed an interview. They were so impressed with my work and my knowledge of the company that they said they would take me on at £3k – £4k entry level. This sounded fantastic of course! I was over the moon that someone thought I was worth that much, given I hadn’t had any industry experience.
Usually, when something sounds too good to be true, it usually is. The next two interviews were with different people and that salary was avoided when I asked questions about it. They still wanted me, but the job description had also become longer, with more responsibilities that were not previously mentioned on their job posting. I finally got my contract, and they were looking to hire me to be not only the Project Manager, the Producer, the Localisation Manager but also parts of HR. All for £5.50 an hour.
I thought that this would be my only chance to get into the industry and was willing to stick it out, but not without getting advice if this was normal first. I reached out to the NI Game Dev Network on Discord and asked if anyone could look at my contract and tell me if they’re within their right to charge me less than minimum wage. This introduced me to a girl called Christina, who told me that this was not okay at all and to renegotiate the salary. I tried, but they only upped it to £6.50 with the probationary period only being 2 months, then salary would be renegotiated. Still didn’t sound right, so Christina put me in contact with Rory Clifford who is the interactive manager at NI Screen and was in talks with company. He tried his best to inform them of UK law, but they found a loophole, so I had to decline the offer.
I was feeling lost at that point, I thought, dam, this might have been my only chance, but I also knew I couldn’t possibly live on that rate and survive. Especially taking on so many responsibilities as a newbie with 0 experience on how to do most of those tasks. There is such a thing as bad networking, where you will meet people who you think have your best interests at heart but will continuously push you to take jobs at studios that they know have a bad reputation. They might also waste your time by asking you to visit them at work so you can shadow them, but instead you find yourself just sitting at a desk doing nothing for 6 hours. I have had these experiences also and it can get ugly. But this should not detour you from your goals and the vast amount of benefits networking can have for you.
What is Networking?
Networking is not building a collection of business cards, it’s not about meeting people for transactional purposes or just to meet people high up in the industry. It’s about building friendships and professional relationships. You want to hear other people’s stories, exchange knowledge, talk about the industry or even discuss your favourite games.
Networking definition: –
“The action or process of interacting with others to exchange information and develop professional or social contacts.”
Oxford Languages
Networking can open so many possibilities, such as finding a mentor to help guide you on your journey, learning the different pathways into the industry and gaining a real insight into what it’s like to do the various types of roles within the gaming industry.
Something I learned since starting my networking journey is how the gaming industry’s culture is so focused on helping each other, they all have the same mindset of “paying it forward”. This is because at one point or another, someone helped them to get where they are today, and they understand the struggles of trying to make it. I have gained so much knowledge, met so many people and created some amazing friendships because of networking.
If you can’t meet people in person, there are other avenues you can take to start networking. Reading developer’s blogs for example, engaging with their posts and reaching out to them to ask questions. Use LinkedIn to connect with industry professionals and don’t be afraid to reach out to them. Even checking out the modding community is another great way to meet people and learn their craft. What you need to understand is that its people that make games, teams coming together to create a shared concept. That is why it is so important for you to start talking to people, building those friendships, sharing knowledge, and understanding what it is they do.
So, let’s look at the 3 key aspects on how Networking can help you: –
Friendships / Mentoring – Building friendships and meeting professionals with the opportunity of getting a mentor or inside guidance on your chosen career path.
Job / References – Networking can help you to find a job in the industry and get references from others you have met through networking.
Collaboration / Opportunities – Find others to collaborate with, either through game jams or personal projects. Learn about new opportunities that you may not have heard of as well as sharing resources.
Do not network for transactional purposes, remember that they are a human being at the end of the day and are sacrificing their time to talk with you as well as helping you. Get to know the person you’re connecting with, talk about your favourite games, industry news and learn their story! This is about building a friendship more than anything.
How to Network
Networking can be a simple process if you know the resources to take advantage of. You can find likeminded individuals that have the same passion as you do on various social networks and websites. I know some people here might be introverted or a bit shy when it comes to talking to people. But what you must remember is that people in the gaming industry are just like you! It’s a nerve-wracking experience for both parties, but having that shared passion is what connects us, and it does get easier over time.
Here are a few social platforms you can use to start your networking journey: –
These are popular, but there are other ones out there, like developer’s blogs for example, or other modding communities that mod your favourite games. But these are the ones I would recommend getting you started on your networking journey.
Success Stories
I decided to contact those in the industry that have had great success just through networking, so that they could share their stories as well as resources that might be helpful to others. Originally, I was only going to do 5, but ended up doing 11 because I just couldn’t say no after hearing their story.
Gordon Bicker
How did you start your networking journey?
I did that through LinkedIn, Ukie games and Grads in Games both had a student conference, there were a lot of LinkedIn socials that were posted, and I took that opportunity to reach out to others. So, I started on LinkedIn.
What benefits have you had from networking?
Recently, back some months ago, I happened to find a document from people in the games industry by Joe Hobbs, excel document which contained links to people from the industry who were willing to talk to students, got talking to a senior producer from Rockstar, Austin Roorda, how best to go about producing, I found it extremely interesting and got a great response, the first email back was nearly 900 words, and then we continued talking through emails. It helped towards my Uni Coursework, so its beneficial for people in education to help with coursework and connect with industry people for advice. Helped to grow my connections. Hannah Bradshaw, connected with them during the student conference. Connected with Zoe Samms who is now with Rockstar, but she also went to the same university (Abertay University) as I did.
Who have you met from the industry?
Austin Roorda, Zoe Samms, Hannah Bradshaw, networking has opened a lot of doors in the future for me, but it’s also been a way for me to build friendships, which has been great. Tomas Sala allowed me to interview him for Green Man Gaming through my journalism work which was an opportunity offered to me by my editor.
What did you find most difficult about connecting with people?
When I started, I was still a bit nervous and it is a nerve-wracking experience, but overtime it does become easier, introduce yourself, what is it you’re contacting them about? People are in the industry are genuinely very nice, and when you see the positive responses, it calms your nerves. I’m still a student myself.
What’s been the best networking experience?
Talking with Austin was so insightful, he was so nice to talk to and I learned so much from him as a person. I am sure that when I get to talk to many others through networking, I will think the same about everyone!
I always wanted to do something I enjoy and love doing, my main English teacher and other people always said I had a flare for writing. The first place I worked for was Press Start Hub which is not about anymore, but it was the first place I worked. On twitter there was also someone from Green Man Gaming named Frank who was looking for writers, I dm’d him and asked him if there would be any possibility for freelancing, which he said yes. I worked there since around April 2020 to November 2020-ish at Greenman gaming then moved on to Attack of the Fanboy. Networking is so vital, reach out to people who are seeking others help, work your way up the ladder. While working with AOTF, Venture 4th media reached out to me on LinkedIn in December of last year and I’ve been working for both companies ever since. I also reached out to AOTF to apply for them.
Connor McNeice
How did you start your networking journey?
Through the NI Game Dev Network, Lean Coffee mainly, the first time I joined, I joined the call instantly and introduced myself, because I wanted to try to get into the industry as quickly as I could, so becoming an active member so people would know my name, know what I am working on.
What benefits have you had from networking?
First and foremost, making friends and connections with different people in different roles and gaining an understanding of what they do and how they do it. I got my job through networking at NI Game Dev Network because that is where I met my current boss, Stephen.
Who have you met from the industry?
I have been talking to John Hannon a lot, I am really inspired by his work, he started as a 3D modeler for Outsider games but has moved on to character modelling which inspired me to get into that field as well, so I have been trying to learn that.
What did you find most difficult about connecting with people?
Probably just the opening sentence, you get so nervous about introducing yourself, but once you do it you realize that everyone is friendly, so its just getting over that first hurdle and then everything becomes easy.
What’s been the best networking experience?
NI Game Dev Network giving me the opportunity to get a job in the industry, I had been joining in every week and joining the encore because that is where more personal chats happen. That is where I got talking to Stephen where I sent him my portfolio, he liked it and he offered me to work with him.
Juney Dijkstra
How did you start your networking journey?
I don’t think there was a conscious place when I started, I think that when I started joining a guild in NeoPets in 2012 I felt like that was start into the networking, because through games like that & their communities I was able to meet game devs, moderators, and my involvement in the game industry has only grown since then. When I joined university, I joined the Dutch Game Development and Research Club (Study Association), which were all students from a variety of courses, and we organized excursions, networking drinks, conferences and game jams hosted there as well, that was back in 2008, I started talking both with folks already in the industry and who were soon to join the industry.
What benefits have you had from networking?
Everything. So, for me, as I mentioned, it’s been kind of natural, it has been a teaching experience and learning experience, I have met mentors and been a mentor, I have attended conferences and hosted conferences. This allowed me to organize conferences, it has gotten me clients for different school projects, it landed me my master’s thesis projects. It’s landed me sponsorships. It allowed me to attend and travel to different conferences, and create this discord, “Game Production Community”. And much, much more. I have made so many friends along the way.
Who have you met from the industry?
So many people! A few folks that stand out who come to mind right now…
- One of them recently joined my discord, Shams Jorjani, he is someone who gave a presentation at GDC Europe about failure, it was inspiring and spotlighting failure. From there he started a podcast series I followed, and eventually became a mentor to me.
- Alessandra van Otterlo, this was someone who I had already become familiar with. I met her way back in university, 2008 – 2009, and who was and still is super active in the industry. She helped me arrange speakers for my events, and I supported her as a volunteer at her conferences & industry booths, even managing groups of volunteers at her conferences. She also always challenges me to rethink statements that I make and my beliefs.
- Angie Smets has been a bit of a role model for me, as someone who is a strong female leader who shows that you can balance your career life and personal life. I had several conversations with her over the years, she was an example that you don’t have to sacrifice everything to have a solid career and that always stood out to me.
What did you find most difficult about connecting with people?
The first thing that comes to mind is imposter syndrome, acknowledging that I might be able to bring value to someone else. When approaching someone new, I felt like I’d be of no consequence.
I am also deeply introverted; social engagements really drain my energy, so I need to make a conscious effort as being someone who goes out and engages with others. It has always been a challenge, but I always felt I needed to make the most of it.
A final point would be that it’s always felt like social events like conference parties required extensive participation meeting cultural norms – I don’t drink alcohol, don’t like loud music, and get very uncomfortable as the night progresses. Feeling like I needed to make the event ‘worth my time’ meant a continuous struggle with increasing levels of discomfort.
What’s been the best networking experience?
I think the most valuable is that I have had the opportunity to learn from diverse perspectives through meeting folks with different backgrounds, from different cultures, with different lived experiences that were willing to challenge & teach me and look beyond my own lived experiences.
Keidy Zuniga
How did you start your networking journey?
Through LinkedIn, I’m originally from Chicago and moved to San Francisco because there were more opportunities and Chicago was lacking into technology. I found my job through my peers and friends via slack. I started to network with my favourite companies I wanted to work with and look at their graphic designers or art directors to connect with them, say “Hi how are you, I’d like to chat with you if you’re free”. (Just make sure that you say this in a nonintrusive way. Like, “I would love to chat with you about your experience with xx company” or “I really admire what you do and would love to connect over a cup of coffee or tea.” Leave it open-ended for them to accept or not.)
What benefits have you had from networking?
Benefits have been long lasting friendships, so when the networking started to work was when I went to the Ubisoft LinkedIn page and looked at the people who worked for them. One of the senior graphic designers reached out and said they weren’t looking for graphic designers, but we are looking for a Production Designer, which basically means clean up the final product, organize it and make sure it’s perfect and ready for the clients. I took on the opportunity and was only meant to be there for a month, but they ended up keeping me for 2 years. Also, I am huge Assassins Creed fan, so I got to be a part of the Assassin’s Creed III Remaster along with other Assassin’s Creed franchise titles like Assassin’s Creed: Syndicate, Origins and Odyssey, which was amazing. I made lasting friendships and I am still in contact with some of the people from Ubisoft (who were all women).
Who have you met from the industry?
Everybody in Ubisoft, I don’t think there is anyone specific, there were just a lot of people there that helped me get my portfolio up to industry standard. And so many people offered me other opportunities and it’s just great to meet gaming people because they are the nicest people. They understand how hard it is to get into this industry, so they want to help others. I have never experienced this kind of Culture, because I come from the design world which can be snobby and even when I tried connecting with people from that background, they weren’t that nice. Gaming people are the humblest people. The video game world is very small, so you end up seeing familiar faces a lot.
What did you find most difficult about connecting with people?
The talking, I am an introvert, I would love to go to a party and just lurk, because I don’t do people very well. But I pushed myself because it was important, and I went out to networking events and people remembered me from past events. There is a difference in networking in person compared to online. I didn’t get the benefits immediately in the in-person events, those came further down the line. I feel like I was most successful in getting a job through online, like through LinkedIn, Discord or Slack. I had more success because I had more focus on myself compared to a party where you can get lost in the crowd. It’s easier to be noticed online because people can read the chat history and see how you’re engaging with others.
What’s been the best networking experience?
Working for Ubisoft, because it came as a surprise, I connected with one of their graphic designers and talking with them, and their senior graphic designer contacted me offering me a position and we went from there. That was something very fast and I didn’t expect it at all, but I loved that experience.
Manuel Correia
How did you start your networking journey?
There was an event at a local university which was mainly focused on programming, and they invited game developers for a panel. It introduced me to people that were working in the industry. People don’t take games seriously where I am from, so when I had heard about this, I had to take up the opportunity. A speaker at the event had mentioned about forum which I immediately joined and have been lurking on since then.
Another important event was Future Gaming 2004, or FUGA. This was at another university, and they had international guests. The main thing about this event was that it took place next to a studio, which I was able to sneak into as part of a tour. This was the first time I went to a studio, saw prototypes, and talked to people who developed games for a living.
GameDev-PT was the main forum for game development in Portugal but unfortunately it doesn’t exist anymore.
What benefits have you had from networking?
I got into the games industry after a long time trying to find a job abroad, with no success. A friend from the local game development community told me of a vacancy at a local studio. They had an open role for a game designer, so I took up the opportunity. This was at a point where I had already given up on the games industry and was working in advertising. I wouldn’t have known about this opportunity without my friend.
A few years later, I moved to Dublin, working at Superhippo, but I could tell that things weren’t going quite right. I tried to meet people from other local studios and find out if any of them are looking for a game designer as my current position was about to end. By the time there was a mass layoff, I had already got two offers from other studios thanks to networking.
I have been in the industry for 12 years and have worked in 9 studios. Over the years, I have been engaging in the community, going to meetups, attending events and it had given me the chance to work for a variety of studios.
Who have you met from the industry?
I met John and Brenda Romero while they were touring Ireland. They visited SixMinute, the studio I was working at. I had opened the door for him, and we got to talking and we ended up going for dinner and talked about our projects. We kept in touch. Brenda Romero was trying to bridge the gap between Ireland and the US. Thanks to her I was able to get a cheaper ticket to the Game Developers Conference, which I wouldn’t have been able to afford, and it was a wonderful experience. Meeting Brenda and John Romero at that time helped me out later, when Brenda contacted me with a job offer to work at Romero Games, down in Galway.
What did you find most difficult about connecting with people?
Events where people a lot of people gather tend to become loud, especially if it’s at a bar, so it makes it tricky to hear. English is not my first language, and I must translate in my head before I speak so I find loud events to be difficult to network at.
What’s been the best networking experience?
I had the best time in the older forums I was talking about, because I was still trying to figure out what I was going to do as a career, and it was full of enthusiastic people. Now that it has grown and moved to social media platforms it’s a lot more overwhelming.
Meeting John and Brenda Romero has definitely opened a lot of doors for me!
Molly Johnston
How did you start your networking journey?
I guess, going to conferences, esports events back in 2016.
What benefits have you had from networking?
I have met a lot of people in seniority positions who I wouldn’t necessarily have been able to talk to, I am able to meet a lot of strong women, getting to interact with them at these events and gain an insight into what their beliefs and statements are and seeing somebody like you in that position has been quite inspiring.
Who have you met from the industry?
There is a lovely woman, Dr Maria Stukoff, and she does a lot in the space in making sure that there is a lot of representation in diversity and more progressive routes for people who wouldn’t necessarily get those opportunities. That is something that I also believe in, so being able to connect with a likeminded person was beneficial.
What did you find most difficult about connecting with people?
I guess, maybe what to talk about? You don’t want to talk too much about yourself and want to get to know them better and of course, knowing more about them can be helpful to find the right questions to ask.
I have found that many people have cliques and that can be difficult to infiltrate as many of them are already so well connected with each other, but this is mainly people who are higher up in the industry.
What’s been the best networking experience?
I went to ESI (E – Sports Insider), where a lot of the people that go there are there for the purpose of networking, selling services and forming partnerships. This is where I met Maria and I had mentioned that I was new and shared in her passions about underrepresented communities and from there she was able to speak to me and reassure me, and offered me a speaking opportunity at one of her events, (Host Salford, Women in Esports event) so not only did I get out of my comfort zone but I was given a platform to speak about my own knowledge and experiences and there’s been a lot of networking opportunities that have come from that experience.
Nathan Kellman
How did you start your networking journey?
I guess I would say the place I have networked the most is “The Design Den” because it has many different people that work for big industry names. I can get feedback there, like on my CV, Portfolio and I got interview advice when I was trying to get a job at Hanger13.
What benefits have you had from networking?
It helped me with my current role, because before that it was an internship, but I applied after it ended and being able to talk with people in the industry and find what’s the hottest thing around and getting feedback has been helpful in learning the lingo and technical terms used in the game design world.
Who have you met from the industry?
I would probably say, Ryan Smith, he is a level designer at Ubisoft Massive, he gave me advice about career stuff, he also made me a moderator in the discord. He has been a pretty great help and we’ve become great friends.
What did you find most difficult about connecting with people?
I would say the most difficult thing is trying to find a space where they actually are, especially when covid happened you couldn’t go to meetups, but luckily for the discord I was able to find people in the industry and get advice.
What’s been the best networking experience?
I would say, that when I was in school 3 – 4 years ago, I wanted to be a level designer, but didn’t know how to create a portfolio. However, our university gave us the opportunity to go to studios and speak with people in the industry. They gave us advice and answered questions, they were able to directly tell me what people are looking for when hiring and looking at portfolios.
Peter Goodwin
How did you start your networking journey?
When I joined Codemasters in 2007, I was working for an audio company, I was working there for about 12 years. They were bought out by Creative, and I could tell this wasn’t going to work; they started shutting down all the projects around me. I was working at a library when I found out I was losing my job and someone suggested I phoned a person asking for a job, and that person told me what to do, how to apply and to go in for an interview, and I got the job. I was there for 4 years.
What benefits have you had from networking?
I knew the guy who I was going to be working with, but what I didn’t realize is that he wasn’t that easy to work with, on the phone he seemed fine. He wasn’t a friend as such, just someone I knew. It did get me into the Codemasters and into Audio so I got to see firsthand how a game was made, since I hadn’t worked in the gaming industry before, and it was a lot more fun than I thought it would be.
Who have you met from the industry?
The guy I worked for when I started at Codemasters, we had the same last name, a few people thought he was my father. Which I found quite funny. I had the Star War’s voice in my head saying, “Luke, I am your father”. He was an intelligent person and could figure out problems in his head which I didn’t have the ability to do, so it was quite interesting to be around someone like that. There were a couple of people that were notable, but I wouldn’t say they were well known.
What did you find most difficult about connecting with people?
I am not very good at connecting with people, at the start of it I was very shy and struggled to talk to people, but overtime I have been able to talk to anyone and do public speaking.
Radu Posoi
How did you start your networking journey?
Well, right now, I recently understood the importance of networking, because I needed to go through meeting people and find potential clients for my company. But afterwards, but after a while I realized how important it is to network properly, not just through emails, but meeting people in person and see what their needs are as a client.
What benefits have you had from networking?
I have met a lot of people; I am usually a friendly person and appreciate having a lot of people to talk to. I get to meet interesting people and career wise it helps me gain access to opportunities that wouldn’t usually be available to me because they might be closed circle. It’s easier to help a friend, rather than a random person on the internet, trust is important, you will miss out if you don’t have trust with the person.
Who have you met from the industry?
I met lots of people from various studios, not big names that are well known, but interesting people nonetheless and they all have a different take on things. Networking helped me achieve contacts with various people and kickstarted my business which is huge in my opinion. I would recommend everyone use LinkedIn and keep it up to date to start networking. The thing is, for example, in my area, there is not a lot of people in the industry, so I had to reach outside of my country. I recently listened to a podcast, I don’t remember the name of the guy, but he had great ideas and an interesting take on networking, he said that networking is more than just, hey hello, my name is ___ and I do this ____ help me.
Its about building relationships, as its easier to help a friend compared to a stranger, as this is human nature. Usually with networking, you must primarily give, but building a trust with people. It doesn’t matter who you know but have a connection with someone that might recommend you to certain people and show you job postings that might interest you.
What did you find most difficult about connecting with people?
When I started, I had an elevator pitch, and I was afraid to send it out because I was scared, they didn’t like me. But I found that its okay if people don’t like as there’s others out there who might like you. Much less people become close friends and that’s like networking, continuing an interaction and growing a friendship is like outside work life. Just put yourself out there, check up on people and let things go from there. Usually on social media, I am a lurker, its very unnatural for me to reply or interact with comments, so I would prefer to private message, you need to give back to the community and your network so stepping out of your comfort zone can help.
What’s been the best networking experience?
I recently met a guy where we talked about him building a website for me, I discussed my company and what my plans were the future, in the first meeting, he said it was awesome and connected me with a guy that could also help me out. The next day he contacted me and that was really inspiring for me and from that point I have wanted to help others as much as I can, give back to the community, answer questions, give advice and help others by connecting with people that might help them. It’s more about helping and building friendships and connections.
Sofia Hayden
How did you start your networking journey?
Primarily in games, it started in multiple places, the first one being clubs in my university. It does not have a game development club unfortunately, so me and my friends made an Entertainment Art Club, we wanted to create the community ourselves because we wanted to meet other students who shared the same passion. It wasn’t on purpose, we didn’t do it for networking purposes, it was to meet friends and talk with like minded individuals. It helped me get out of my comfort zone and find other resources like the Work with Indies Discord.
What benefits have you had from networking?
So, it’s really been a lot of fun, it was a great way to meet people and learn from a lot of people. You can do research on google but being able to ask a question and have people personally interact and answer your question when you’re a newbie can be beneficial. Something I learned from work with indies, is to put my links in my discord profile and it has helped others to reach out to me, either through game jams or personal product. The effect of that has been huge for me since I have just been hanging out in the discord and talking with others. The current job I am transitioning into was offered to me through asking questions in that discord and someone reached out to me and asked me for my help. Being active in communities made that opportunity possible.
Who have you met from the industry?
From leading the club in my university, I have been able to reach out to a lot of interesting people that I admired and ask them if they would be interested in an interview or a workshop. A lot of people responded, and I was able to have a conversation with them. I met Bill, who works for PlayStation, he is a smart and talented person who I have admired for a long time and have a conversation with him about music in games was awesome. Another notable person was the main developer behind Chef RPG, his name is Noah, and I was able to reach out to him with the context that I was a student and I wanted to learn, and if he wanted to do an interview, multiple students would love to hear his story and what its like to be an indie developer and he was super happy to talk with us.
What did you find most difficult about connecting with people?
I think maybe, like I wasn’t trying to network back then, I was just curious and wanted to talk to people. It was more about stepping out of my comfort zone as someone who is introverted. It made me realize that this industry really wants to help new people and I was scared that they might not respond or wouldn’t want to talk to newbie. But I got over that social anxiety and remembered that the reason I am doing this is because I want to learn and I have questions, its not a personal attack if they don’t want to talk to me.
What’s been the best networking experience?
It’s a funny little experience, because my first connection is being active and work with indies and someone on there reached out to me and asked me if I would be interested in working with them, so they commissioned me to work for them. I had gotten an offer and asked questions in other discords about it and then people from there reached out with another offer. So, it’s a funny experience really.
Kevin McKenna
How did you start your networking journey?
In 2006 I got my degree in mathematics, and I took on some volunteering at a phone bank, where I got my first job. That job eventually went under, but I went back to networking and sought out opportunities during the Great Recession (2009) to find what jobs were still in high demand. I reenrolled in an accounting program, and, during classes, I would talk with fellow students. I made four very close contacts during that program – all of which we still meet at least quarterly for dinner and drinks. One of those individuals told me about the job he was currently leaving so I found my first accounting job through networking. I worked my way up to a directorship at the organization and worked closely with our external audit team.
I always maintained positive work relationships and connected to those individuals on LinkedIn. I got my second job in accounting through the external audit firm. The audit partner and I went to lunch one day and I pitched the idea of me wanting to move into industry. He was pivotal in getting me into his organization. After a few years of that, I went to work for an organization that was an audit group, and my role was to manage the debt, cash, and leasing portfolio for a large healthcare organization in the US. I spent years there networking. Every opportunity I had, I would add people that I came in contact with to Linkedin. Every position I have had since my professional career, has not been from applying blindly, but from networking with others and hearing about positions – getting leads from my network.
What benefits have you had from networking?
Job opportunities, personal relationships, professional relationships and its really allowed me to find a bond with people like me.
I applied to be the financial arm of two well-known MMO’s, I went through a gauntlet of interviews. Coming from an internal IT department and previously finance department role I sought out individuals that could potentially help me with the language and finding a comfort level within the gaming industry. I wasn’t sure where to begin, but I know discord has a lot of communities. By happenstance I came across Game Production Community and I found a home in Off-topic. I spent most of my time lurking in Career Advice and I was surprised that my language and my approach to projects and financial management was THE SAME! It also broke down a barrier for me, mentally, that was me glamorizing these companies. By that I mean – I am a lifelong gamer. I can still remember the music scores to Legend of Zelda a Link to the Past and Soul Blazer – two SNES titles from the early 1990s. So, I was romanticizing the role and the industry. Once I got into the Game Development Community it helped me realize that these were just people and that this was just a job that I was more than qualified to perform.
Who have you met from the industry?
I met with the CEO of a major title in interviews and multiple production leadership from some MMOs during my interviewing process. One of the individuals I was able to share personal stories with and I hope, once they get back into the office after COVID, that I can send them a King Cake (a New Orleans specialty pastry). As mentioned above, I can’t go into details because of the NDA.
Outside of the gaming industry one of my favourite individuals I have had the honour of working with is, Dr. Yvens Laborde. He is the director of global medicine for Ochsner Health. He supports an orphanage in Haiti and does clinical rotations with medical residents. It was a pleasure to provide any support I could from a financial and operational perspective.
What did you find most difficult about connecting with people?
I was shy, and I’m introverted, and I have learned to ask difficult questions, and just to shake hands and tell people who I am. And that was the most difficult hurdle, was to break out of my introverted shell.
What’s been the best networking experience?
In my hospital role I used to provide reporting and budgeting meetings. I would meet individuals and leaders throughout the organization, and, after meetings, I would find them on linkedin and connect with them. I was able to take those contacts and leverage it into a promotion multiple time. In fact, internal networking is almost always the easiest route to climbing a ladder if you want to stay within an organization. In my seven years in healthcare, I was promoted four times.
Thank you all for sharing your stories as well as taking the time to talk to me
PRESENTATION
IG50!
22/06/2022
“I am excited to announce that I was one of the winners for IG50! Got the news yesterday but it was officially announced today and I am so happy to be listed with so many other talented people. This blog post is mainly to discuss the Into Games 4 day event which I will be attending as well as discussing the IG50! program.”
This is a yearly award for 50 of the most employable, unemployed people in games. What into games & OPM are trying to accomplish with this award, is to celebrate these people and get them in front of the biggest UK game recruiters. Their portfolio will be viewed by some of the biggest developers in the industry and they will get exclusive employability support to help them get their foot in the door.
I was lucky enough to be selected as one of the winners this year and have taken the opportunity to network with other winners as well as meeting others in the games industry. I am so happy to have been selected and feel like this is such a wonderful opportunity for others in the same position as me.
You can check out the other winners for IG50! this year via this link below: –
Agile Project Leadership
21/05/2022
“This was a course I studied via LinkedIn Learning that I found to be helpful in understanding how to be a more Agile Leader in projects. It was insightful and gave me some good key points to refer to when I begin my journey into a Games Producer.”
AGILE MANAGEMENT LEADERSHIP
Leadership is a set of processes or steps that you can learn, they can have an artistic element to it and scientific steps and practices.
Leadership Defined
Traditional Leadership Functions
When discussing leadership, it is important to understand where it all started so that we can recognize what it is we need to change. The past does not dictate what we do today, but understanding our history is what allows us to invent better models and approaches for ourselves and our team. There are many different names for traditional leadership, such as command and control, authoritarian or top down. These names imply that authority and decision-making control reside at the top of the model. The origins of this model date back to the dawn of man, with kings and military organizations.
When we look at modern examples, this would include the police department and many large corporations. The power is vested in the individuals at the top of the model, whereas the rest of the organization is expected to follow suit on the decisions. Of course, this worked well during the Industrial Revolution and most tasks were performed on a repetitive basis. The knowledge we have gained since then however, is that it is much harder to direct the farther away you are from the task to be done.
If we think of the tasks delegated to individuals in history, such as factory worker having one simple task to do with the outcome either being a success or unsuccessful, it is easier to manage where that individual had gone wrong. In today’s practices though, an individual will specialize in a specific field and their knowledge will require many small decisions for a successful result. There can be many complex decisions that individual will have to make in such a short period of time to reach a compelling outcome. This is not a merely yes or no outcome scenario; working with this type of complex decision-making can be difficult to guide that person effectively. That is why there are new models in place today and most of the traditional methods have been tossed away, mainly because the world has changed, and it is not as simple as it once was.
Agile Leadership vs Traditional Leadership
Leaders are not simply those with a specific title, such as a manager, director, or producer; it is the ability to influence others or guide them. Traditional Leaders often rely on rank or hierarchy to command their authority, make crucial decisions, delegate tasks, and give direction. Agile leaders, however, do not need to rely on their rank within a company, as leadership is considered a mindset.
An Agile leader believes that agile values and practices create environments and teams that can be harnessed for the greatest overall benefit. They can recognize that they have key functions, such as creating that environment where failure is not fatal, but a welcomed lesson. When leading our teams, we need to allow them the ability to fail so that they can learn from their mistakes, without the fear of repercussions or punishment. Instead, it can be a teachable lesson for them to understand where they went wrong, why it went wrong and how it can be avoided in the future. Change the belief that knowledge is power, as shared knowledge is true empowerment, as this can create stronger collaborations and better results. You want you team to feel empowered so that they can evolve as a group; leaders should be considered the primary support in their group that the team can rely on to support their decisions.
5 Basic Skills to Agile Leadership
These are the essential skills to keep in mind when developing your agile leadership: –
Agile Leadership Objectives
Self-transformation to an agile leader
This is defining your goals and taking the small steps repeatedly to grow in a specific direction.
These are the five simple steps that can be used repeatedly to begin your leadership journey: –
Team transformation to Agile
A great way to transform your team is to assess all your teams using the same criteria and measurement in scale. It’s best to assess the overall product health and find out if the product owner is available when the team needs them. Are they available for daily collaboration with the team and how is the overall technical health of the team? What is the technical health?
Assess Technical Health
- How much technical debt is there?
- How is the team reducing their technical debt?
- Are the tests automated?
- Is the team using continuous integration?
Assess the outcomes of these answers so that you can see where your team is doing well as they strive toward the shared goal. Remember that you are the appointed supporter for this project and need to monitor the shortfalls of the team as well as discuss where they could improve.
Organizational Transformation
This ecosystem will have profound impacts on your team, as you need to examine the work environment your team is working in. Since you are uniquely positioned to assess the organizational agility, your role will require you to clear impediments to the project, define the strategies and help nudge the environment in the right direction. To start, you need to ask yourself, “What signs should you be looking for?”, the answer is the organization in the three main categories, teams, products, and leadership. Look out for systemic issues that correlate with different sectors of the project, identify the resolution path, and help the team to fix the issue that is impeding the project.
Agile Leadership Techniques
Decision-making Frameworks
When using Agile methods, we work hard to drive decision making to the people closely related to the work. Teams will need to make decisions every day on the design and the build of the project. At this level, it makes sense for the decisions to be made by the team. However, the leaders of the project know where the difficult decisions need to be made that cannot be done by the team, like the strategy, policies and the budget of the project.
A decision-making framework consists of four primary aspects.
Authorization – These are made by one individual as it is fast, direct and is not diluted by compromise.
Consultive – These are made by one person but with the input of the team and their ideas. Having more information means better results.
Consensus – This is not a total agreement decision, but everyone is involved and has a chance to provide their own input.
Majority – This decision is made when its not viable to decide by consensus, but by a majority vote. It is the backup plan for the consensus model.
Agile Principles in Leadership
As a leader, you need to work on a system, not in it. By embodying that perfection is the enemy of good enough. The goal here, is to have a starting point and not strive for perfection at every turn; this will help to accelerate delivery and incrementally improve your entire system of the product.
Set a team vision for motivation
When setting out a vision for your team, having one on ones and team meetings are the usual way of going about it. But in practice, the leader ends up dictating to the team what the vision is, instead of including them in the process of creating the vision together. You need to let them be inclusive, as the vision is meant to aspirational and create the sense of what this project could become. Doing this by yourself makes you the only believer, so as a leader, you need to make your team believe, belong, and act, through visioning sessions every couple of weeks. This will create a more productive environment and incite passion amongst team to see the project succeed.
What is a team vision? – In a nutshell, it sets a statement that reflects the purpose of the team and who they aspire to be. This will reflect your team’s actions in support of a collective decision.
Leadership Stabilization
Establish Team Values
When we look at successful companies, they always have a value in mind on what their company’s purpose is. As a team leader, it is important to sit down with your team and discuss your company’s values. Let’s look at what Amazons values are as a company: –
“Our vision is to be the Earth’s “most customer-centric company to build a place “where people can come to find and discover anything “they might want to buy online.”
When we break down this quote, essentially Amazon’s values are customer obsession, invent and simplify, ownership and insisting on higher standards. As a team leader, you can lead your team through the same process by discussing the vision together, reviewing the statement and making sure it fits with how you and your team want to be represented. Then you can begin the brainstorming session where you discuss the beliefs and behaviors that will make the vision become a reality.
This vision / values, can be brought up in difficult decision making and in conflicts, to remind the team of who they are and what they strive to be. It will also create a culture within your team and drive your desired outcome, through outstanding performance.
Define priorities to direct work
“MoSCow” is a prioritization technique that is very popular and has been successful for many years. It stands for the categories the work will be slotted into.
Course Certification
Into Games / Mediatonic / Studio Live Game Jam
25/04/2021
“This was an opportunity I found on the Video Game Ambassadors website; it was a great experience which I found extremely rewarding as I got to work closely with others within the industry and help shape young minds on their journey into Games. This is my second mentoring gig that I have done and I enjoyed every minute of it as my team was wonderful and the staff were helpful.”
Game Jam Experience
The first day is always the hardest as it’s awkward for everyone to talk each other and for myself as I had no knowledge of their college or the individuals themselves. I ran through the brief with them which I have listed below: –
Mediatonic was the studio behind the game jam which gave a great opportunity for the students to make a game based on either retro video games or retro board games. It’s obviously a strange feeling to be so aware of your age when talking about games you grew up on and these students have never heard of them. But being able to share my own experiences growing around video games that were available at the time was a nice feeling.
My team had decided to create a game based on racing, which they took inspiration from “Wreck it Ralph” and this game: –
They understood the brief requirements and had come up with a cool concept, in which the racers would be a parody of popular characters from video games back in the 80’s / 90’s. We quickly discussed the roles of each individual and worked on setting the Trello that had been provided by Into Games Staff. My team really worked hard on the project and were all actively participating in the game jam. They used the miro board that was provided to create mood boards and develop the concept further and I was able to help guide them on using this website as I had used it previously in education.
The fact they came up with creating a mind map on their own showed such initiative and really proved they understood the Game Design Pipeline. This is their Trello and Miro Board: –
So much work was done on Day 1 which was surprising; there was zero procrastination from my team and if anything they were excited to take on the task they had been given. They were all sociable, they worked well as a team and they were so funny to talk with.
Obviously, they faced some challenges in regards to the Audio and Programming aspects of the game but I reassured them that these games really only expect a demo version of your game, especially if the programme is only run for 5 days. And they can always discuss improvements they could make to the game in the future.
I took the time to get to know the students and share my knowledge of the struggles of getting into the industry and explained how networking can be a great way to get your foot in the door. I was worried throughout the mentoring about safe guarding, as I had received no prior information or guidelines before the project had begun. But this something I ended speaking to the organizers about for the future, as a way to make sure the students are safe and that the mentors taking these opportunities understand the fine line between a teacher vs a friend. As most of these students were below the age of 18. George Coates comes from an Educator background and was able to give me great feedback on how I could improve myself if I decide to work with young people more. Essentially, I need a separation when it comes to my artwork and when I take on these mentoring gigs, as my email has my online art persona within the name section and he suggested I create a new email for these opportunities as the students might find my work and it may cause issue with education sector hiring me.
I did end up learning a new software while doing this gig, such as slack, although find it to be useful for game jams, nor do I find using teams as a productive communication method for these events. Using Discord, which is a well known communication software that supports the streaming of video games as well as file sharing, event hosting, stages, would be a much easier and useful software compared to the ones used for this event. They would have more control over moderating the student and mentors interactions as well as using a software that as familiar with the students themselves as they are all gamers.
They had a Q&A panel which I found as a great resource for the students learn from others in the industry and ask those all important questions. They provided so many discords and websites that the students could use to gain feedback on their CV, their portfolio and find others to network with that are already in the industry. I was shocked by their lack of knowledge of these resources because I did the exact same course as them, just in a different country and I had access to all this information where as it feels like their lecturers don’t seek out these resources for their students.
Overall, the experience was super rewarding; I felt like I made great connections, learned a lot of new skills and got the chance to help young people shape their career from my own knowledge and experiences. I offered them my LinkedIn so that I could keep them in the loop about other opportunities that may be of help to them and shared discord links that may be useful in the future when they finish their education or now, as a way to network and get feedback.
Ukie Student Conference 2022
07/04/2021
“This was my first time panelling in general where I gave a talk on the importance of networking. I was part of the panel for the Ukie Student conference which I found to be a great opportunity to help others that were in a situation like myself. I created a short presentation using Canva thanks to the help of a friend called Leela Collins.”
THE IMPORTANCE OF NETWORKING
Not many people think about how networking can help them when they finish education; LinkedIn can appear like such an adult social media and too professional for a student. This doesn’t mean it is not for everyone. I had the same thoughts as well when I finished education and while I was in college, but when I struggled to find opportunities that would help me with my journey into the games industry, Networking was a new door for me to open.
I got into Networking when I was successful in my first interview, and after seeking advice on my new contract, I was overwhelmed by those willing to help and introduce me to people that were as passionate about the industry as I was. First I got talking to Christina who said I should speak to Rory who was helping the company I applied to on navigating their way through UK Law. I have gained so many friends in the industry, simply from asking for advice and that in itself is amazing!
Managerial Economics
05/03/2022
“This course was listed on LinkedIn Learning and I thought it could help me to better understand the economical factors as a manager. I found it useful in developing my understanding on how to deal with difficult decisions. Here is the information I gathered from my notes on the course.”
Introduction
Managerial Economics is a science that helps to explain how resources such as labour, technology, land and money can be allocated efficiently. It focuses on the decisions people make and below is a list of the type of scenarios you might face when facing difficult scenarios: –
- Demand Theory
- Production Theory
- Cost Theory
- Pricing Theory
“Economic decisions are affected by options, constraints and variables.”
Stefan Michel – Professor at IMD, Author, International Marketing Consultant
When buying a home, there are two ways of looking at your options: –
Psychological Perspective – A school of thought or a philosophy which would guide someone’s interpretation of an individual’s behaviour.
Economic Perspective – A social science concerned with making optimal choices under conditions of scarcity.
By looking at this decision from these two perspectives, it can help you to define a few variables that really matter. It can trigger an important discussion on how you are going to make this decision based on these factors.
Consider these options when making tough choices: –
- Decisions to be made
- Available choices
- Measurable objective
- Input variables
The Demand Curve
The demand curve shows how many customers are willing to buy your product or service at any given price. It is a graphical representation of the relationship between the price of the goods or services and the quantity demanded for a given period of time.
I have added an example on left.
Design your future self – Webinar
15/03/2022
“I found this webinar to be insightful in understanding how to develop your future self through easy steps. It was hosted by Tiankai Feng (Head of Product Data at Adidas) and Christopher Lewis (Data Storyteller/ Behavioural Designer / Digital Transformation). This webinar combines the creative and analytical approaches and applying them to your own personal development. It was an audio live event which I took part in asking questions to the hosts and you will find my summary of the event below.”
STEP 1 – YOU WILL BE DIFFERENT IN THE FUTURE
Knowing your potential
We often underestimate our potential and development; its not often that we as humans take time to reflect on our character and how we might be holding ourselves back.
“Human beings are works in progress that mistakenly think they’re finished” – Dan Gilbert
We will go through a number of changes throughout our lives; having a perspective on who you were 5 – 10 years ago compared to who you are now can help you to understand how you’ve grown and changed as a person through the years.
There are many questions we can ask ourselves to help us to understand who we are now. Such as what interest of yours has changed compared to 5 – 10 years ago? Personally, my interest in Art and Design has changed dramatically, along with my perspective on politics. I am not saying that these are bad changes, but it helped me to see what my true interests were as I grew up and could formulate my own opinions.
Matthew McConaughey Speech
This speech will change your perspective on yourself and how you might succeed on life by changing the way you think, approach and develop yourself. His hero is himself, “It’s me in 10 years”, “My hero is me at 35”, “My hero is always me 10 years from now.”
This is so relevant to this webinar and was brought up as a topic. Matthew McConaughey believes in his future self and that he strives to be a better version of himself in 10 years. He doesn’t focus on the outside perspective of others, or how they might perceive him, but instead, focuses on the person he wants to be.
Questions to ask yourself
- What do people think you’re good at?
- What fills your glass? Metaphorically speaking.
- What skills are you currently using?
- What gives you joy?
- What gives you that drive?
- Who do you want to be in 10 years from now?
Asking yourself these types of questions can help you to understand what it is you want to improve on, what you have currently achieved, what matters to you the most. These types of questions aren’t something we often consider in day to day life. We as humans have a one way thinking when it comes to our own success; we use others stories as a way to discredit our own successes. It is not about how successful everyone else is in your life, its about you, cause at the end of the day, it is your life!
“We Might neglect our future selves because of some failure of belief or imagination”
Philosopher Derek Parfet
STEP 2 – GET TO KNOW YOURSELF
What drives us?
If we take a look at Dan Pink’s book, “Drive”, we can consider an activity to try to help understand our motivations in life. In the webinar, they used these 3 questions to help us understand this exercise: –
- What problem do you want to solve?
- How do you want to solve it?
- How are you going to make it happen?
Toxic Achievement
There are many aspects that can be considered toxic achievement influence. When you spend your days on social media, and see people from high school with a more successful life than yourself, you often think to yourself, “I need to try harder”, “what am I doing that is different to what they’re doing?” and “I must be a failure”. These are all things that come to mind when we weigh our success with others, but we don’t think about how these might affect our mental and physical wellbeing. We are surrounded by a society that boasts glorified and cultivated achievement and it can become quite a lot of pressure to be successful in life.
We don’t often ask ourselves, what truly matters to us. You can put yourself through incredible amounts of stress just to achieve what you want in terms of your career. But you need to ask yourself, do you have a good life and work balance? Am I focusing too much on my work? Am I happy? Yes, having a successful career can be great, but if you have a family at home, you will reconsider your priorities in life and think, is climbing up the career life really worth sacrificing time with my family.
“The idea of ‘achievement’ has shifted from the personal domain to the public one. What the world recognizes as an achievement is one, and what we may have desired remains a personal feeling, and delegitimised. Comparison has become the key to describing achievement, where the self is eclipsed.”
Saumya Baijal – Deccan Herald 2020
STEP 3 – EXPLORING DIFFERENT VERSIONS OF YOURSELF FOR INSPIRATION
It is difficult to know if we are making the right choice; there is no single choice that will lead us to a perfect life, just like the idea of a perfect life does not exist. You can help yourself to see the possibilities by considering 3 scenarios…
Optimize – How can I make the best out of my current situation?
Focus on the opportunities that are currently available to you and how you might make improvements. Identify what you enjoy, so you can shift your focus to work more on it.
Pivot – What would you do if you could not or did not do what you did today?
This is in relation to what you are currently doing but different, using some of your skills and talents. It can present potential opportunities for sideway moves with a little upskilling on the side.
Unconventional – Are there any wild dreams you have had or have, that you would do if judgement was not an issue?
This can help to generate more ideas to consider and explore. Consider writing down all these ideas that come to mind for this scenario so you can refer back to them if you change your mind on a certain path.
Consider what you would do that is considered unconventional, as a career path.
STEP 4 – UNDERSTAND YOUR FUTURE WITH SMALL EXPERIMENTS
“We learn through practice, not in theory”
David Epstein – Author in Philosophy
There are several ways for you to develop your skills through experience. Below is a list of options that could you to further work on your future self: –
Network
Look for others that are working towards the same career path as you as they can give you a better understanding of certain aspects of the work. Networking is a great way to understand the different career types that are available and get a clear insight on what each role would entail. Using this information, you can decide whether or not that career path is for you or if you would prefer to do something that would be more rewarding for yourself.
Ask them these questions
- How they got to where they are today?
- What is it like doing what they do?
- What the pros and cons of the job?
- What advice would they give to someone trying to obtain this job?
Take a class
With the growth of technology, there is more opportunities than ever before. We do not have to rely on books or paid classes for information and knowledge, because it is all at our fingertips. Use sites like LinkedIn learning (Paid) that will give you certificates to showcase to future employers, attend webinars that have a panel of people that work in the industry you’re trying to get into and lastly, YouTube. There are many tutorials online that are simple to follow and develop your skills in.
If you end up not liking it, you can always try another course or find something entirely new. If you do like it, continue to practice and learn. Exploring different topics can help you to find what interests you. There is plenty of learning material out there for free that you can commit to without handing over your card details.
Try before you buy
You can gain professional experience in many ways. Opportunities can lie within your own network and asking around can help you to gain the experience you need. Consider volunteering in your free time, or perhaps job shadowing someone short time or on a small project at work. And lastly, personal projects; although we don’t often find the time for personal projects, their success can have a huge impact on our life. Consider the game developers that made a fun little game on their days off and ended up quitting their day job to peruse it full time when they started to gain money from it.
Personal projects, such as my current one here, can help future employers know your dedication to your passion and provide a portfolio that reflects your knowledge of the craft and how you have progressed working independently.
Understand what you can control and influence
Ask yourself this: in 5 or 10 years time from now, what decisions are you going to wish you had made today? What would be the coolest thing I could be doing with my life in 5 – 10 years.
You are not responsible for the things you cannot control.
My information was provided from today’s webinar as well as http://www.lingo.cool; I would highly recommend checking out this site to help develop your personal skills and change yourself for the better.
Soft Skills for Career Development – The Data Lab Community Event
01/03/2022
“This was a useful webinar that taught me how to use soft skills not only within the workplace, but also in day to day communication. It was hosted by the Data Lab with a panel featuring: Abel Aboh (Data Management Lead at the Bank of England), Delphine Rabiller (Data Scientist as a free agent), Sara Orr-Saiz (Placement officer at the Data Lab), Euan Vance (Executive Consultant at MBN Solutions) and the host, Hazel Jane. This panel had such a variety of members from all backgrounds and workplaces. This is what I learned from the webinar.”
Soft Skills for Career Development
Some are better than others when it comes to soft skills, “people will never forget how you make them feel.” So it is important to remember to have great communication skills when it comes to your work life and personal life.
One of the panel members brought up how the army chooses their leaders based on how their peers trust them. You can’t lead a team if you do not have the trust and respect of the people you are managing. I found this to be insightful, as it puts it into perspective on how other career types look for leadership in their applicants.
Emotional Intelligence
Asking your network, “What is it you’re good at?” can help you to understand the skills that you excel in. Do the research on the job you’re applying for, not only the companies history but also the type of applicant they are looking for. Look out for the buzz words in the type of candidate they are looking for and update your CV accordingly.
It is best to bring your natural personality to the interview; it can be nerve racking and take others a while to warm up, but being calm and confident can show the interviewers what type of applicant you truly are. It can show them that your communication skills shine through your personality and can set a good tone for what you would be like to work with.
“Be your most authentic self”
This was quoted within the webinar and I believe it to be a true statement. Being authentic in interviews is the best way to sell yourself. Being something you are not can have its repercussions if you managed to get the job, don’t sell a lie, sell yourself.
Your non-verbal communications is most critical when leading others; be authentic when appropriate. What I mean by this is that your online self can cause conflicts in the workplace it if relates to political viewpoints.
DO NOT BE A YES MAN
Have the confidence to disagree with others. You do not have to be onboard with every decision within the company; speak up if you feel like it.
When it comes to your LinkedIn profile, employers are not looking to see your soft skills, it is the interview where they will see them. Your profile is there to show your qualifications, skills and hard skills.
In conclusion, soft skills can help you stand out in a job interview, thrive and success in your role and help you to be considered for leadership rolls. It is best to possess the correct communication and teamwork skills as these can be fundamental in certain role types. A wall street journal survey of over 900 executives argued that soft skills contribute to career success just as much as hard skills do. The survey found that 92% of the respondents believed that soft skills were as important as technical skills, yet 98% found it very difficult or somewhat difficult to finding new hires with the required soft skills.
Always improve on your soft skills, speak to your network to find out what skills you already posses or even ask previous employers what soft skills they saw in you. This will help you land more jobs, succeed in your career and help your communication skills in day to day life.
Business Analyst vs Project Manager
21/02/2021
“This was a course I studied via LinkedIn Learning that I found quite useful; these types of roles are quite common within the gaming industry and understanding what the responsibilities of each can be vital in a projects success. This is the information I gathered from the course”
BA and PM can attribute to project failure, due to their key roles within the industry. It is key to have both roles communicate with the stakeholders whilst also collaborating with each other. It is good practice to have your stakeholders have as much involvement and engagement throughout the project’s production.
Changing the priorities can be the key failing point, it also points back to stakeholders’ involvement within the project. The PM and BA should both be heavily involved in the managing the priorities of their stakeholders and should influence the stakeholders’ unprioritized areas of the project.
Changing requirements can have its pros and cons; embracing this can lead to a competitive advantage if the changes are a result of learning more about what the customers and user’s needs are. If the project can’t deliver anything due time delays and constant changes, this can lead to failure. The deliverables of the project can be managed in increments to meet the requirements change less risky, whilst also leveraging change for a competitive advantage.
The are many factors that can be considered on why a project is successful or not; it could be sticking within the budget, delivering the product on schedule, results in a working product, or meets the business intent. The PM and BA’s best approach is to collaborate with the stakeholders to define the success of the project. The business intent can be to beat a competitor to market but sacrificing quality and cost. Time is considered the most important to success, or the product working to a quality level that the users are satisfied with. Most companies want cost, schedule and quality while meeting the expectations of the customer. However, it is important to know which one is leading the success equation.
Project Manager: Delivers a project’s work within the budget, schedule and quality means.
Business Analyst: Ensures the deliverables are valuable and meet business and customer needs.
“Without a Business Analyst, you risk building the wrong product. Without a Project Manager you risk exceeding your budget and schedule.”
Depending on the project and methodology, various factors and roles can influence these dynamics. Each project is different, and the context can change everything. For example, some projects can follow a traditional approach, with aspects like formal plans, formal documentation and the size / complexity of the project can be a huge factor.
The larger the project is, the more a Project Manager and/or multiple Business Analysts will be required. If the project is quite small however, one person may be able to play both roles. Having both these roles represented well is critical and can hopefully lead to some healthy conflict when what needs to be built, conflicts with the budget and schedule needs. Having both a Project Manager and Business Analyst on board your project can provide a healthy balance for the project and lead to its success.
PROJECT VS PRODUCT
Many tend to confuse the terms of project and product. A project is a temporary initiative to create a product, whereas a product is something that delivers value as a result of the project. They can be used interchangeably in conversation, but in project work, it is essential to differentiate their meanings.
Customer Relationship Management (CRM)
CRM is a process in which a business or other organization administers its interactions with customers, typically using data analysis to study large amounts of information. It is a combination of practices, strategies and technologies which businesses / organizations use to manage and analyse customer interactions and data throughout the customer’s lifecycle. Its goal is to improve the customer server relationship and assist in the customer’s retention whilst also driving sales growth.
Demi Mark - Zed Zinc 