r/GameAudio • u/mockingquantum Pro Game Sound • Oct 10 '13

Wanna get a job in game audio? Here's what people are looking for.

http://www.gamesoundcon.com/#!tumblr-feed/c1v03
14 Upvotes

94% Upvoted

30 comments sorted by

1

u/AcousticArmor Oct 10 '13

Gah!! I didn't know about this conference otherwise I would so have made an attempt to be there this year. On my list for next year :)

0

u/mockingquantum Oct 10 '13

I've heard great things about it, but I've been told numerous times that if you can only make one conference in a given year, it absolutely MUST be GDC. I've had more friends get work out of that than any other industry event.

3

u/straius Oct 11 '13

My main advice for GDC is to not go with a mentality of "getting work" and lead with more of an attitude of "learn stuff, make friends"

GDC gets flooded with job seekers, many of which aren't really ready for jobs. Placing the pressure of finding a job at the conference will hamper your ability to network and build relationships. Nothing turns a busy professional off faster than "here's my card, my demo and do you have any openings right now?" When they may be taking a breather between sessions or wanting to catch up with old friends.

But the professional that you befriend and click with will remember your relaxed and easy going nature and appreciate that you didn't lead with "I'm looking for work."

In the end, that's a much stronger chance of getting work. :)

I made the mistake my first GDC of thinking I was supposed to walk away with a job, and all my others after that were WAY better once I dropped that expectation.

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1

u/AcousticArmor Oct 10 '13

Someone else mentioned GDC in another post of mine as well. I've got it marked on the calender. :)

1

u/alexx3064 Oct 10 '13

Those requirements seems so hard for me to achieve as a student who's majoring E.E.

1

u/kylotan Oct 10 '13

Yup. The market is saturated, unfortunately.

But some positions are still attainable (providing you beat the other 20 applicants), eg. this one:

  • Experience with CryEngine and FMod, and general knowledge of game audio and how it gets integrated into a game.

  • Has released at least one mod in the mod community or shipped one commercial game.

  • Some basic sound design skill, and strong organizational skills.

  • Huge passion for games and a love of game audio!

That lot, you can pick up in your spare time, for free.

1

u/AcousticArmor Oct 10 '13

I've definitely got the huge passion for games and love of game audio down :)

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1

u/bschmidt1962 Oct 17 '13

Are you looking for a game sound design job? or an game audio programmer gig? In the article (I'm the author of the article posted), I didn't include the job openings for audio programmers. There have been an average of about one a month for the past year or so, and as you'd expect, the listed requirements are quite differnet.

1

u/alexx3064 Oct 17 '13

actually not looking for a job yet, i'm still a student. Although I have high interest in both fields, majority of the colleges in Korea does not provide teaching in game design and audio programming, so I have to study them by myself. I was just overwhelmed by the requirements, nonetheless my interest is still there. I'm hoping one day I'll make it to GameSoundCon.

1

u/jruckaudio Oct 10 '13

Great resource! It is my checklist now...

1

u/manysounds Oct 10 '13

Wellllll nice to know that now that early registration is over...

1

u/Chippy569 Oct 14 '13

If you are an AES or IGDA or GANG member, there are discounts.

1

u/Chippy569 Oct 14 '13

If you've not already read the Ariel Gross article referenced in the OP's link, be sure you do. It's a great read regardless. http://www.gamasutra.com/view/news/173020/Opinion_Joining_Team_Audio.php

1

u/[deleted] Oct 29 '13 edited Oct 29 '13

My 2 cents: I took an online course on Audiokinetic Wwise (they also offered Fmod training), and I learned the software and the basic concepts of interactive music/sound, hoping that this course would qualify me for a game audio job. That said, even with this meager but useful knowledge, that still didn't qualify me for the positions that are out there (Senior Audio Director, Audio Artist, Sound Designer, Music Composer, etc). MAYBE it might qualify me for a Junior Audio Artist or an Audio Intern, but I've looked for those types of jobs in my country (Canada), which has a reasonably active gaming industry in BC, Quebec, and now Ontario -- and trust me, those Junior/entry-level Audio positions are FEW and far between. I went out and hustled EVERY DAY and tried to find jobs or freelance contracts. I searched the depths of the internet for every job posting every day, all day. And guess what, after dozens and dozens and dozens of resumes sent out (improving my demo reel as often as I could), I finally got a contract that paid me monthly. Wow! I was lucky as hell, but persistence paid off. I completed 9 small titles with this development studio, got paid a nice cheque every month, and I didn't even have to do any implementation/integration! After almost a year of working with them, I have improved my portfolio immensely. Now, when I shop my services to studios or developers, I feel a little more confident in my approach. I put together a (crappy) website, made it look semi professional, started spamming forums like reddit and other ones (hey check out my website btw, www.level-up-audio.com), and before I know it, I have people actually checking out my site, and 1 out of 100 of those people might email me and ask me to do a job.

Who knows, 1 year, 2 years from now, with the same kind of persistence, climbing up the ladder rung by rung (and not trying to jump and reach for that Senior position at Ubisoft right away), if I work with enough indie developers, 1 out of 10 of them might release a semi-successful game with my sound credit on it. Maybe I can use that semi-successful credit to climb one rung higher and get that Junior Audio Artist position when it comes up 1 out of 365 days of the year. Maybe......

This is the road I chose to travel. Who knows where it will lead?