Looking for career change, need advice

[NardDog239]

I am a few months away from getting my Aerospace Engineering degree (Bachelor's) with a Minor in Computational Mathematics, and unfortunately the job market is looking quite bad right now. In the last few months I've been trying to figure out what to do as far as a career, and as an avid gamer, I of course started to think about perhaps getting involved in the gaming industry.

I took an introduction course to C++ during a couple of years ago and loved the class so much I even tutored it at our Academic Support Center for other students that struggled with the course. I did not delve into programming much more after that until just recently when I decided to start making simple games in Java just to see if I had a knack for it. So far I love it!

My main strengths are math and physics, and so far coding feels like second nature to me. I still have plenty to learn, but in just a few days I've been able to create simple animations and I already know ahead of time what needs to be done to complete my first project.

My main concern now is what my next step should be if I want to change my career. If I continue to practice making games, how far do I have to advance my skills for an entry level job? Will my current degree be enough, or will I have to go back to school and earn another degree? I would love to avoid having to go back to school... I'm not getting any younger and the student loans are piling up lol...

Any insight would help.

[tsloper]

Nard wrote:

1. My main concern now is what my next step should be if I want to change my career [into games].
2. If I continue to practice making games, how far do I have to advance my skills for an entry level job?
3. Will my current degree be enough,
4. or will I have to go back to school and earn another degree?

1. Start reading up on the game industry, and build a portfolio. Subscribe to some newsletters and GD magazine. http://www.sloperama.com/advice/links.htm
2. Far enough that you have a decent portfolio to show for it. http://www.sloperama.com/advice/lesson27.htm
3. No, nothing is ever "enough." http://www.sloperama.com/advice/lesson49.htm
4. No. http://www.sloperama.com/advice/lesson41.htm

[Rybo5000]

My question is: is this career change permanent? Is it worth the time and expense of getting a degree for a career you plan to drop out of once this other industry has an opening?