Karen Lee Hall is the Founder and Chief Executive at Heroic Interactive based in Toronto, Canada. Heroic Interactive is a digital media and game development company on a mission to produce high-quality, memorable interactive experiences for an audience of all ages. Karen met with David Smith of Women in Games Jobs at Game Connection in Lyon, France in November 2010. Karen gave some advice to women who would be interested in joining the games industry. “My feeling is as with any industry, you’ll get work if you are proficient at the skills required. Obviously, the first stop is to acquire proficiency. If you are a girl, it starts there. If you are at school and you are good or interested in math think about the fact math could turn into a question of making games. If you love games also, the women in this industry who are spokespeople speak about their passion for games, they personally love them. The passion will take you to where you need to go and don’t be shy about stepping in there if someone says ‘Interesting you want to do games’. You just nod and say yes, isn’t it? Don’t let anyone stop you. ”
Martin Carrier, VP/ Studio Head at WB Montreal met with David Smith of Game Careers and Interactive Selection at the Montreal International Games Summit ( MIGS) in Montreal in November 2010. Prior to joining WB Games, Carrier served as, Vice President, Communications and Corporate Affairs at Ubisoft Montreal, Vice President, Marketing and Communications at Bluestreak Technology and also worked as a technology industry consultant. His advice for job seekers looking to apply for a job with his studio is: “If you want to apply for a job at WB Games, you have got to be persistent and persevere in your process. Make sure you send your CV to WBGamesJobs.com. That is the start of the process and make sure to follow up on that and let us know you are a great candidate.”
Denis Dyack is the Founder and President of the Canadian games developer Silicon Knights. Denis started Silicon Knights in 1992 by developing real-time strategy/action hybrids for the PC, Amiga and Atari. Since then, they have focused on developing new ways to make non-linear content in games with an aim to completely engage and immerse players into the game.
At Montreal Game Summit, Denis met with David Smith of Game Careers and Interactive Selection to give his advice on how to get into the games industry and as well as work for Silicon Knights. “I would give this advice for any jobs not just Silicon Knights, go and apply at a place that you like what they make. If you want to make sports games go to EA who make sports games and there are other good place that make sports games. If you want to do creative original work on high quality AAA games, then come to Silicon Knights because that is what we do. If you want to make games like Eternal Darkness, Legacy of Kain, those types of action adventure games, that is what we do. We are known for story and content, if you are interested in these that will get our attention.” Watch this clip for the full interview.
Steve Couture, CEO Frima Studio in Quebec City, Canada met with David Smith of Game Careersand Interactive Selection at the Montreal International Games Summit ( MIGS) in Montreal in November 2010. His advice for job seekers looking to apply for a job with his studio is: “Like everyone probably says, we search for the best talent in the world. We seek passionate people about video games about talent for families and kids. Also at Frima’s Headquarters in Quebec, we search for other different positions with people who have expertise and experience in business intelligence, marketing, and brand management. This is different from what we see with other Quebec based companies that are most of the time bigger companies with marketing efforts done outside Quebec. We need to find the best people to position our brands everywhere in the world. So we need the best people in that specific field. There are positions that are difficult to find in Quebec City.”
AJ Morales and Sandeep Bisla of Longtail Studios met with David Smith of Games Careers.Biz at the Montreal Game Summit. Longtail Studios create games for the Nintendo Wii, Xbox 360, Nintendo DS and the iPhone/iPod Touch. Sandeep, Technical Director, advice for getting a job at Longtail Studios, “If you can, try to give us demos, portfolios, that kind of thing, we are looking for examples of work. Of course we are looking for people who are passionate about video games. So apart from a technical skill set we are looking for someone who is a good fit. We really encourage people to apply and to be really enthusiastic about games.” AJ, Creative Director also added his thoughts about applying to Longtail, “Really demonstrating a serious passion for games. We are looking to take the medium of gaming to where it is right now and push it further. Talk about not just making games for everyone shovelware but making games for everyone that really raises the benchmark of quality for the medium as a whole. We have a lot of ambition and want people with similar ambitions.”
Craig Morrison met with David Smith of Games Careers at the Montreal Game Summit. As the Executive Producer at Funcom, Craig heads up a large team working on the MMO Age of Conan: Hyborian Adventures. Craig advises the following about how to get a job at Funcom, “In practical terms, you can visit the website to see what positions are available. In general terms it is important to stress to people to be passionate about games and work hard. There are lots of people who started like myself in MOD communities or different online teams and working in game as purely for the passion as a hobby. As a volunteer in the MOD community, doing it academically as a student or to learn about games to get a degree will allow you to apply. What we really look for most in applicants is that passionate dedication to the craft and the real desire to improve yourself with everything you do in games.”
Two Canadian game industry entrepreneurs have opened a female-owned and operated development studio. Experienced industry names Brenda Bailey Gershkovitch and Kirsten Forbes are the two execs spearheading the Vancouver-based Silicon Sisters Interactive. Brenda is the former COO of Deep Fried Entertainment, as well as a member of the GDC Canada’s Advisory Board, and chairs the Vancouver chapter of Women in Games International. David Smith of Interactive Selection and Game Careers. BIZ met Brenda at the MIGS conference in Montreal. Her advice to job seekers looking to work for her company: “Just come to our website at siliconsisters dot ca. There is information on any jobs we have available and just apply through job at siliconsisters.ca. We are interested in folks who connect with a female sense. You don’t have to be a woman but be able to think about how girls play games and how you would like to contribute to growing that market.”
THQ have announced its plans for talented game developer Patrice Désilets to join the company next summer to form a new THQ owned development studio housed within its video game development studio in Montreal, Quebec. “The best way we can deliver fresh, high-quality gaming experiences is by working with the best talent. THQ is delighted to have the opportunity to make a brilliant addition to our team next year with Patrice Désilets,” said Danny Bilson, THQ Executive Vice President, Core Games. “We expect calendar 2011 to be a watershed year for THQ, and adding developers like Patrice helps ensure our focus on new IP and great games charted by leading industry artists.” Désilets previously served as creative director on the Assassin’s Creed franchise, as well as Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time. THQ has the exclusive option to have Désilets work from the new Montreal studio beginning summer 2011. When he joins the studio, Désilets will be charged with the hiring of a new team that will develop new intellectual properties for THQ. The 39 minute video from the press launch is below:
The Montreal International Game Summit (MIGS) is an international event aimed at developing and promoting the skills and knowledge of video game professionals and, on a wider scale, of the interactive entertainment industry in Quebec, Canada. For seven years now, it continues to offer specialized conferences hosted by world-renowned experts in programming, arts, design, production and business; as well as offering social activities. With over 1400 attendees in 2009, which 26% came from outside of Canada, it makes for an excellent opportunity for professionals to network, exchange, learn and understand. It is held at the Hilton Montreal Bonaventure Hotel November 8th and 9th, 2010. Program
* Nearly one hundred courses and conferences grouped under five tracks: business, arts and visual effects, design, production and tech
* Renowned experts from the national and international scene
* Numerous social activities designed for networking: VIP cocktail, celebrations, specialized meetings
* An exhibition zone
* A Business Lounge, the best place for all formal and informal meetings between business people
David Smith from Game Careers and Interactive Selection will be attending MIGS. If you would like to meet him, please make contact through http://uk.linkedin.com/in/davidwilliamsmith
Can you think of 2 more prestigious institutions than the BBC and Edge Magazine? David Smith, MD of Interactive Selection, found himself live in front of BBC News anchors Simon McCoy and Carrie Gracie at 10.43 on September 21st for an interview about the games industry and the topic of start ups and jobs. For a full 3 minutes he fielded questions on the state of the games industry today, how it may fare providing new jobs moving forward and how the unemployed may want to find a job within computer games. For a more detailed report see the Games Job Blog.
On September 21st Edge Magazine’s feature Get into Games 2010 was published and David Smith again found himself the firts external recruiter to be interviewed in the history of Edge Magazine. You can click through to the full report: Get Into Games 2010: David Smith, Interactive Selection
2 questions about the role of the modern recruiter from the Edge interview are repeated here:
Edge: Thanks to things like forums, modding and trade shows, the game industry gets closer to its audience by the year. How does that affect the job of the recruiter?
David: You haven’t mentioned social networking, which is probably a bigger influence than the other three. Sites like LinkedIn are a godsend for internal recruiters in particular, as well as for people with their own LinkedIn profile who want to talk directly to employers. But in terms of the role of the recruiter – and yes, it’s changing all the time – I’d say that recruiters these days are much less a necessary middleman than a necessary guide or confidante, or even a trusted professional advisor. That can be for employers as well, not just jobseekers. We offer that extra bit of expertise in what is a very fast and changing market.
Edge: But aren’t developers trying to step into that mentor role themselves to an extent?
David: The difference between that and a jobseeker talking to a recruiter is that developers only have the one job to offer, which is with their particular company. Recruiters are paid to have a knowledge of the overall market and don’t just offer a portfolio of potential jobs – they can also talk to jobseekers on a job-by-job basis. If you’ve got a job with Quantic Dream, they’re not going to offer you a job at Ubisoft down the road – they’re interested in their immediate needs, so they’re never going to be able to offer the advice that we give, which is really to look after people over their whole career.
Trust Interactive Selection for your recruiting needs in Canada.
Can you think of 2 more prestigious institutions than the BBC and Edge Magazine? David Smith, MD of Interactive Selection, found himself live in front of BBC News anchors Simon McCoy and Carrie Gracie at 10.43 on September 21st for an interview about the games industry and the topic of start ups and jobs. For a full 3 minutes he fielded questions on the state of the games industry today, how it may fare providing new jobs moving forward and how the unemployed may want to find a job within computer games. For a more detailed report see the 
On September 21st Edge Magazine’s feature Get into Games 2010 was published and David Smith again found himself the firts external recruiter to be interviewed in the history of Edge Magazine. You can click through to the full report: 
