Questions on appyling for a programming internship

[yaustar]

Original post: http://www.gamecareerguide.com/forum...&postcount=285

I know you guys recommend making many small programs, so I'm curious to what kind would be the best representation of skills?

Incorrect. I would recommend you make several high quality, finished and polished programs. As for skills, I don't know what your skills are or what type of programming you want to do in the industry.

Should I design my own 3d engine from scrath and use it for a multitude of small projects such as a shooter, fighting game or platformer? Or should I use something like torque and make some mods of classic arcade games like pacman or mario?

As I said above, it is about what YOU want to do in the industry. If you want to be a graphics programmer, then I expect a demo or several demos representing your skills and interest in graphics programming. E.g A fully customisable particle system editor.

I applied to around ten of the larger companies this summer, but didnt advance past HR contact most likely due to my lack of a demo and game-related experience.

How did you know this? Did you ask for feedback? Did you chase up on your application? Persistence is needed when applying, you can't simply apply and forget.

Is employment at a "named" yet business oriented company still worth something in regards to the game industry?

If you are working on commercial software then yes, it is professional programming experience.

You also mention targeting your resume specifically towards a company. This is a little bit more difficult with internships. What does that mean beyond using the specific position and company name for a generic programmer internship? And what should I stress when applying? I've never been sure about the ordering of education, skills , experience and other work.

I wouldn't worry that much. Just make the resume and covering letters covers what the role descriptions ask for. Since you are applying for an Internship, on the resume I suspect the order would be: Contact details, Education, Skills, Previous Experience.

[dzeligman]

Thanks a lot for the response.

In regards to what type of programming I want to do, I'm not sure yet. I may actually end up wanting to be more on the production/project management side of things.

But if I were to choose at this point it would definitely be something in regards to Gameplay, AI or Graphics. The reason I was kind of general with my skills based question is the majority if not all internship postings I applied to were pretty general themselves requesting C++/Dirextx Experience and were smiply programming positions.

I could definitely be a little bit more persistent with my applications. I emailed each company whose address was readily available and called those who I could find in a directory, but usually always hit a machine.

Thanks again.

[yaustar]

Are there any listed phone numbers for the companies you have applied to that you can use?

Admittedly, you are a bit late for Internships this year. Most people apply at the beginning of the year. All you can do at this stage is keep trying and hope you get lucky.

[dzeligman]

Yeah I applied to those who I could last September and whenever else they became available. I'm posting this as I'm currently working at my current internship.

The only company who listed a public number on their careers/contact site that I applied too was Midway. I used a business directory lookup I think hoovers or something to find a few other numbers from companies such as EA. The only email contacts I got were from a generic HR email or from a specific person telling me the position had been filled.