10 Misconceptions You Have About Working In The Games Industry
8. The 'Neighbours Kid' Dilemma
Universal PicturesOnce the introductory hurdles have been overcome, theres a good chance that the next question youll get will be about employment. Not your employment, naturally, for that would be far too sane and obvious. The question will be something along the lines of My neighbours son plays a lot of video games, could he get a job like yours? At this point, mired in this swamp of conversational misery, it can be tempting to seek refuge in sarcasm. You could make reference to the telepathic network that links all game developers into a single hive mind and explain that, having just performed a cursory assessment on the childs soul, you can tell that hes clearly passionate, but his rebellious streak unfortunately gets him fired in his fourth month after hes caught stealing office supplies. However witty this may seem at the time, do not actually do this. The universe is basically unfair and somehow, despite the insanity of the question, youll be the one who comes off looking crazy. Instead, take a deep breath and go for the trifecta of Generic Career Advice: the youth in question should work out what theyre passionate about and pursue it, they need to get good grades in school and they should try applying for an internship. This is often the moment youll find out that the wunderkind youve been discussing is still at pre-school and not actually the job-hunting teenager you expected. Yes, your career has just been equated to an amusing diversion for a toddler. Enjoy the party.
Universal PicturesOnce the introductory hurdles have been overcome, theres a good chance that the next question youll get will be about employment. Not your employment, naturally, for that would be far too sane and obvious. The question will be something along the lines of My neighbours son plays a lot of video games, could he get a job like yours? At this point, mired in this swamp of conversational misery, it can be tempting to seek refuge in sarcasm. You could make reference to the telepathic network that links all game developers into a single hive mind and explain that, having just performed a cursory assessment on the childs soul, you can tell that hes clearly passionate, but his rebellious streak unfortunately gets him fired in his fourth month after hes caught stealing office supplies. However witty this may seem at the time, do not actually do this. The universe is basically unfair and somehow, despite the insanity of the question, youll be the one who comes off looking crazy. Instead, take a deep breath and go for the trifecta of Generic Career Advice: the youth in question should work out what theyre passionate about and pursue it, they need to get good grades in school and they should try applying for an internship. This is often the moment youll find out that the wunderkind youve been discussing is still at pre-school and not actually the job-hunting teenager you expected. Yes, your career has just been equated to an amusing diversion for a toddler. Enjoy the party.