Mapping the games industry to support your job search
We’ve all heard the saying that “looking for a job is a job in itself”, and even though we do our very best at Hitmarker to streamline the process and guide you through it, it’s still important to approach the job hunt with a plan. Doing so will make your search more efficient and get you into work sooner.
That’s why we recommend that people map the industry based on their own needs and circumstances.
Mapping the industry means creating a visual or written representation of all the companies in an industry that are relevant to you — in this case, those that might help you land a job in games.
Listing companies who are actively hiring is a clear first step, but it should also be followed by creating alerts on job boards, utilizing Google and Linkedin, as well as connecting with professionals who are well tapped into the industry.
So, here’s how we suggest mapping the games industry to give your job search the best chance of success.
1. Create two lists of companies: those that are near you, and those you would relocate for
While remote jobs are wonderful, your physical location still plays a big role when job seeking. If you have gaming-related companies in your own city or those nearby, then note these down in one list. In another, list the companies you could realistically (and happily) relocate to.
If there’s no relevant companies around you, list all of the remote studios in your time zone or that lie within a four hour time difference. While location may not be a requirement in some remote jobs, time zones often will be, so cast your net small to begin with.
2. Add tags to your lists
How you action this point will vary a lot depending on your goals, but we suggest adding tags to the companies you list based on size, the genre they work in, and/or published titles. You can also categorize these on other merits such as if they have open roles, how much you like the company, stance on remote working, and more.
The aim should be on adding context to the list of companies you create. Therefore, you should use tags that matter to you. Really interested in working for a company that has employee profit sharing, for example? Then make sure this is one of them.
3. Create company alerts
Now that you’ve compiled your list of companies, you can begin keeping tabs on their movements. On Hitmarker, you can filter for any company in our jobs feed, search for and select the company in the search bar, click “Save Search,” and then toggle email alerts to alert you when that company posts a new job.
You can name these filters, too, so a good idea would be to have separate alerts set up for a) the companies or studios near you, b) those that you’d relocate to, and c) the remote companies that are located near to your timezone.
This kind of feature isn’t limited to our site, either. You can also set up alerts on LinkedIn and even Google News to stay abreast of any new acquisitions, investment rounds, and recruitment drives. All of these are bound to lead to a spike in hiring, which is where the value of doing this really becomes clear.
4. Connect with or follow industry professionals
A really good way to stay up to date and engaged with the industry is by following the hiring managers of the disciplines you’re interested in. These are the people that are usually the first to share new vacancies on their team when they open up. Besides that, you’ll also learn a lot about their work and the skills their company looks for. You can do this on LinkedIn or X.
Another suggestion is to connect on LinkedIn with the recruiters or HR managers who hire directly for the companies you’re interested in. Then when they use LinkedIn Recruiter, which we’ve explained when talking about optimizing your LinkedIn profile, your profile will appear first as you’ll already be connected.
5. Check company career pages periodically
Beyond just seeing when new jobs pop up, it’s valuable to visit the career pages of the companies you’re interested to work at. Some of the larger game studios will have videos or articles that talk about the recruitment process, like this one from Naughty Dog.
Plus, you’ll sometimes see job listings titled “Speculative” or “General application”. These are used by companies that hire regularly and want to build a pipeline of talent. Familiarize yourself with the company, what they look for, and then submit your own general application. If the time comes when they’re hiring and your profile is a perfect fit, you might even get a message—and, hopefully, a job offer—without needing to search yourself.
Tools to map the industry
So we’ve told you what goes into mapping an industry like gaming, but what tools can you use to actually do it?
Pick your map:
- A valuable map resource for anyone in the UK or on a timezone similar to it.
- A broader, global map of game studios where you can click into your country and those around you to see which companies are based there.
- A global, interactive map that lets you scroll around the globe and see a list of gaming companies in different countries or regions.
Free project management tools:
It’s a lot easier to manage your job search and your process of mapping the industry when using a professional project management tool. Here are some suggestions:
With that, you should have what you need to map the games industry to support your job search. All that’s left to say from us is good luck — we’re all rooting for you here.
