10 Overlooked Ways ALL Video Game Studios Could Improve
3. Internships Over Degrees
About ten years ago, you couldn’t get any games industry job without at least a degree, but times are-a-changin’.
It’s not that degrees have inherently lost value, but more and more people have them these days, and so standing out takes a liiiiittle bit extra*. Whether that’s a particularly creative portfolio or a really cool High School Musical-style dance routine, a degree isn’t a golden ticket to success any longer.
So, I believe it’s time to start taking on more interns. Internships used to be more prevalent than they are now, and with the level of graduate saturation, I believe it’s time for a resurgence.
Think of university time as your driving theory, and an internship as your practical test - they’re both completely different beasts, working towards the same goal.
In my opinion, you can study for years and still not be ready for time in the industry, but a few months hands-on can really help both a company (and the individuals themselves) discover if a game development job is for them.
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*Don’t just up and quit your PHD though. If nothing else, you can still stand up when someone screams “is there a doctor [of Computer Sciences] on the plane?!”