The Portfolio
In order of importance, here are a bunch of things that would impress me in a student's design portfolio. Naturally, other designers might have other ideas to contribute to the list or disagree with me outright. Take it all with a grain of salt.

• Internships in the game industry
• A few, playable digital games (remember those free game development tools)
• A digital game or level produced by a team with clear evidence of your contribution
• A few, playable non-digital games of high quality
• An intelligent, insightful and obviously updated blog.

There are two caveats I'll reserve for everything in that list above: 1) one item from the list isn't enough, and 2) if it's not good, don't show it. Solicit feedback from people who are comfortable giving you honest feedback, and work your butt off.

Bonus points. Aside from the points I've mentioned above, there are other things that would impress me and help to solidify my belief that you are, in fact, serious about this design gig:

• Evidence of having read the same books most every designer in the industry has like Koster's A Theory of Fun and McCloud's Understanding Comics for starters.
• Evidence of having attended a game conference like the Game Developers Conference, Austin Game Developers Conference, or a local IGDA chapter meeting. While you're there, network yourself crazy. Darius Kazemi has an excellent series on networking that is a must-read.
• Evidence of programming or artistic ability, but programming particularly. For game designers, your life will be a whole lot easier if you actually understand how to code at least functionally.

Go make a game. You can get a job as a game designer straight out of college. I know people who are hiring them, and I have hired them myself. Truth be told, though, for everyone 100 of you reading this, maybe one of you will get the call.

For some, it will be a case of too little work, too late. You'll do exactly what's required in college and no more. That won't get you a job in many other fields, and it definitely won't get you into the game industry. Go to GDC sometime and see just how many talented people are wandering around. There are literally more than 10,000 people in line ahead of you if they want the job. You really have to work for it.

For others, it will be a case of mistaken identity. They'll send their resume to Blizzard under the mistaken assumption that they really can do everything required in the senior designer position even if they haven't shipped numerous titles. Things like this happen all the time. It reminds me of the person who leaves home saying they're going to be a movie star. Some do, I suppose, but the great majority don't.

So, target yourself appropriately. Get in where you can get in. Fight with the smaller dogs for now. A true anecdote: A programmer friend of mine graduated from a great university with a high GPA. He sent out 100 resumes to 100 developers. He received one bite from a geographically isolated and small company. Two years later, that company closed. So, he sent out 10 resumes and had 10 bites. Once he had experience, he had no problem at all getting a job. It's an important lesson.

Among those looking for a job, there will also be those who have a case of what I've come to call "lame syndrome," the belief that anything that's not triple-A and practically screaming polygons is "lame." I've heard it before. Serious games are lame. Casual games, cell phone games, flash games, and alternative reality games are lame. "Lame." Give yourself a chance -- and them, too. If you really believe those games are lame, man, you haven't looked close enough.

All this said, some of you will get that call. So go make a game. Now.

A version of this article originally appeared on October 19, 2007 on Brenda Brathwaite's blog. It is reprinted here with permission.