Calling all Game Designers!

[toyoka]

Hey there, Im doing a school project concerning careers, and as you may know it... Im striving to be a Game Designer! Well anyway, I need to interview a currently-working Game Designer and its due by this Tuesday! So if anyone would be so kind as to answer these questions (preferably thorough/detailed). Thank you in advanced (Note: please do not answer / reply to this topic if you are not a currently-working Game Designer, unless you know someone who can be interviewed, with all do respect )



1. As a teenager, what did you think your career/job would be as an adult?

2. What was your first paid work experience? Was it during high school or thereafter? How many hours a week did you work? What did you get paid?

3. What three things did you learn from that job? Did these experiences help shape your career and current job?

4. As you continued on your educational and career path, did you have a mentor who inspired you to approach the working world in a certain way? Please explain.

5. Can you please provide a brief description of your current job position and your employer? Did you ever expect to be working in this job?

6. How many jobs have you had before this one? What were they and how did these experiences prepare you for your current job?

7. Did you need any specific education or training in order to qualify for your current job? If so, what was it? If not, what skills or education do you wish you had? How did you get that education and training?

8. What do you enjoy most about your work, and what do you find most challenging?

9. If you could give one piece of advice to high school students about planning their careers, what would it be? Be specific.

10. What would you have done differently in high school, knowing what you now know about careers and work experience?

11. What sort of problems do/did you face during your career and how did you get by them.

12. Final question! If you could start over again and choose a different career, would you? If yes, what would it be? If no, why?



Thank you for your time and interest in this project and I hope to see some answers soon Answers may either be posted here, PMed to me or e-mailed to toyoka@live.com

[toyoka]

*Bump* Would like if someone would help me out here

[james.portnow]

Originally Posted by toyoka

Hey there, Im doing a school project concerning careers, and as you may know it... Im striving to be a Game Designer! Well anyway, I need to interview a currently-working Game Designer and its due by this Tuesday! So if anyone would be so kind as to answer these questions (preferably thorough/detailed). Thank you in advanced (Note: please do not answer / reply to this topic if you are not a currently-working Game Designer, unless you know someone who can be interviewed, with all do respect )



1. As a teenager, what did you think your career/job would be as an adult?

Rockstar or Game Designer...

Originally Posted by toyoka

2. What was your first paid work experience? Was it during high school or thereafter? How many hours a week did you work? What did you get paid?

I scrubbed dishes in college. I got paid next to nothing and worked more than I wanted, but I got free food out of the gig and they let me have my headphones on while I worked...

Originally Posted by toyoka

3. What three things did you learn from that job? Did these experiences help shape your career and current job?

I learnt more from my experience leading a band, so I'm going to talk about that.

1. It taught me a lot about leadership and trust. Very few things worth doing can be accomplished alone.

2. It taught me about the amount of effort a human being can put out if they are doing something they really love.

3. I taught me that nothing's impossible, it's just a matter of understanding what needs to be done.

And yes, all three of those things come up every day in my life as a game designer.

Originally Posted by toyoka

4. As you continued on your educational and career path, did you have a mentor who inspired you to approach the working world in a certain way? Please explain.

Not a specific one. My college education was focused on "the classic" so honestly, most of my inspiration came from very old books.

Originally Posted by toyoka

5. Can you please provide a brief description of your current job position and your employer? Did you ever expect to be working in this job?

I am currently employed as CCO of Divide by Zero Games. I've expected to have this job for some time now, it was just a question of figuring out how to get it. It is by far the hardest thing I've done in my life...

Originally Posted by toyoka

6. How many jobs have you had before this one? What were they and how did these experiences prepare you for your current job?

Research the area you want to go into, formulate a plan and the execute. Don't worry about the number of steps, just make sure your plan is realistic.
(I know this doesn't directly answer the question but I think it's more important to say)

Originally Posted by toyoka

7. Did you need any specific education or training in order to qualify for your current job? If so, what was it? If not, what skills or education do you wish you had? How did you get that education and training?

As a game designer the one thing you learn every day is just how much you don't know. I got a bachelor's in classics and a masters in entertainment technology and I don't know how I would have done it with any less, but that's just me.

Originally Posted by toyoka

8. What do you enjoy most about your work, and what do you find most challenging?

The answer to these questions should be the same thing. If not you're in the wrong line of work. For me it's the fact that I face new challenges every day.

Originally Posted by toyoka

9. If you could give one piece of advice to high school students about planning their careers, what would it be? Be specific.

Have agency in your own life! Form a plan and execute. Don't let your life just roll by.

Originally Posted by toyoka

10. What would you have done differently in high school, knowing what you now know about careers and work experience?

Spend more time practicing guitar.

Originally Posted by toyoka

11. What sort of problems do/did you face during your career and how did you get by them.

Anything can be solved by hard work. One of the barriers to entering this industry is the fact that it requires you to have experience. The only way I could figure around that catch 22 was to go get a master's, so I did.

Originally Posted by toyoka

12. Final question! If you could start over again and choose a different career, would you? If yes, what would it be? If no, why?

I'd be a rockstar. Short of that there's nothing better than being a game designer...

[toyoka]

Thanks for the reply James Il be sure to take your answers into consideration.