Discovering which career path is right for you in video games and esports
Statistics show the video game industry to be the largest entertainment industry there is.
As such, it’s no surprise that we’re often asked by aspiring professionals, “What kind of jobs should I apply to?”
And, truth be told, we can’t answer that. But we can give you the tools and information you need to answer it yourself.
We’re Hitmarker, the largest video game job website. We have more than 10,000 live jobs from all over the industry, serving everyone from senior executives to first-time professionals.
And we know how frustrating it is when you know what industry you want to work in, but not the type of job that best suits you! Fortunately, we have a little process we’re going to run you through that’ll help.
We call it the three questions you should ask yourself.
Question #1: what do you want to do?
This is an important question, and fortunately it’s one most people ask themselves before starting their job hunt.
However, in the world of video games, it’s quite common for someone to say that they want to make games, which is much too broad. There’s so many facets that go into the process! Do you want to be the person coordinating the delivery of the game into the market? Or the person creating the characters? Or the person developing mechanics in the game engine?
Each of these is a job of its own.
Decide what part of the gaming industry interests you most, whether that be programming, marketing, or something totally different, and conduct your search in only those areas.
Here’s a few areas of your own life you can look at to help you answer this first question…
Your spare time
What do you enjoy doing in your spare time? Do you enjoy activities where you’re responsible for leading a group, or creating art? Do you love music and the technical world behind it, or writing stories? You can often extrapolate a key point from these interests to guide your job search.
Picture the greatest possible thing you could do in the gaming industry, and keep that in your mind. We’ll be drawing on it later.
After all, we’re focused on finding people jobs that they’ll love doing for years to come.
Question #2: what can you do?
Now that you’ve narrowed down your search to just the areas that you’re interested in, it’s time for the tough part. What professional skills do you have?
The answer might be none, and that’s fine! In that case, we’d suggest thinking about your schooling. What areas did you excel in? Was it an academic subject? If so, here are some of the jobs available that need strong specialism in the following core subjects.
English: Public Relations, Marketing, Editorial & Writing
Informations Technology: Cloud & Network Engineering, Security Analyst
Languages: Localization, Translation
Maths: Data Science and Analytics, Software Engineering, Game Development
If your strengths lay outside of academia, then don’t fret! Think about the activities you excel in. This could be leading a team, staying organized, or developing authentic connections with people.
The examples we gave there are all core skills in these three sectors respectively: Executive & Management, Project Management, and Human Resources & Recruiting.
The long and short of it is this: think about what activities, subjects, sports or anything else you can do really well. Then think about what makes you be able to do it well. Is it a skill you have, or a personality trait you’ve developed? Then take that to our website. Look over some jobs in your dream sectors and see if you have the qualifications or skills needed to apply for the role.
And when it comes to expanding your skillset, we always refer people to our partners at Skillshare. Their thousands of educational classes can teach you everything from Photoshop to concept art to interpersonal skills. It's a community for creative people to come together and share their knowledge, and you can make use of a 1-month free trial by clicking here and signing up with our link.
Question #3: what can you realistically apply to?
Now that you have the kind of job you want in your head, and have confirmed that you’re qualified for the role, it’s time to find a position with the right location, contract type, and seniority level.
Again, this can be a tough one — especially if you’re not based in an area with many opportunities, or if you’re just starting out in your career journey.
Remember that remote opportunities are your friend in this case, since you won’t need to relocate for them!
Relocation is also sometimes offered as part of a job, so checking to see if the company can assist you with joining them could open new doors that didn’t seem available at first glance! You’ll most commonly see relocation offered from companies in smaller countries, such as Finland or Iceland, as a means to attract talent.
These steps may take you some time, as applying for any job should, but Hitmarker has been set up to make it as easy as possible to filter everything you need.
You want to use our filters with the previous two questions in mind.
What do you enjoy doing? Try typing it in our search bar at the top of this page and see if anything comes up. If it does, that’s certainly a sector to keep in mind.
Failing that, what are you good at doing? Search for that core skill we talked about earlier, whether that’s leadership, maths, data, communicating, or something else.
Then look through the jobs that appear and ask yourself: would I enjoy doing something like that?
Once you have an answer to that question, you’ll be well on your way to finding a position in the gaming industry.
The task then becomes to find your first role. Internships and freelance positions are a great asset here, as they’re often more forgiving in requirements than full time jobs.
Make sure you’re using as many of our tags (experience level, profession, hiring company, etc) as you can, even if that leaves you with only a handful of roles to apply for. You can always widen your search later.
It can also be worth filtering to only the location you’re in, since this will let you know which companies are hiring near you.
Then you can go onto their company page on Hitmarker by clicking their name on a job post, and you’ll see what else they have available. Think of this as ‘working backwards’. You know they fit one requirement of yours (the location). So what else are they hiring for that might suit you?
You might also find a role that suits your skills that you may not have considered, or a role that catches your interest in an area of game creation you never knew existed!
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Phew. That’s a lot of questions we’ve asked, and a lot that we’ve asked you to ask yourself!
Hopefully though, among all of that, you’ve got a better understanding of where you want to be in the video game industry. Now we hope the question on your mind is “What can I do to become an X?” rather than “How can I get a job in video games?”
And guess what? We have articles to answer that, too. Check out our full career advice section to see all of our learning materials.
All that’s left for us to say is the very best of luck. Identify the type of jobs that will suit you, look into their requirements, begin building relevant experience, and we think you’ll find that dream gaming job before long.
We’ll be here to celebrate when you do.
Hitmarker 🧡
