How To Find A Career In Gaming

You don’t need to be the next Ninja, or major influencer to make a dime in the world of gaming & esports. It’s a lot easier than you think, let me explain. With Gaming & Esports garnering so much interest in recent years, the industry is growing at absurd rates and is becoming a very attractive destination for new investment and new business. What this means for you is that every day there are existing companies that you may/may not be familiar with, opening up real jobs that relate to the world of gaming & esports. Beyond that, there are new companies that pop up even more frequently, with the sole purpose of providing value to the world of gaming & esports, ultimately providing even more jobs. Now these jobs won’t be handed to you on a silver platter as the competition for these roles is at an all-time high as well, so here are my 3 tips on how you, can find a career in the world of gaming & esports.

Create the Job You Want for Yourself

You might be wondering… it can’t really be that simple… can it? Now this can be done one of two ways, either by approaching the organization you already work for, or a new one that you would love to help get into gaming. The first option tends to be much easier than the second, however the same principles apply. If you see an opportunity in the market for an organization to tap into the world of gaming & esports and have a clear vision on how they can do it – tell them. The key here is to propose this idea in a way that doesn’t add any additional work for the person you’re asking, and to find the right person in the organization with the ability to make something like this happen. Plenty of people I have met in the industry work at household named companies that you wouldn’t expect to be involved in gaming and decided to propose these ideas to their superiors – and ultimately after seeing clear business benefit, they were given the opportunity to pursue these new projects. The best part is, you are usually given the opportunity to manage these new endeavours for the company and become the expert at your organization for gaming & esports simply because of your passion.

Set Yourself Apart from The Pack When Applying

Ya ya ya… you hear it time and time again when applying for any job. But seriously, with how competitive these awesome jobs are, sending off the basic resume template in Microsoft word isn’t going to cut it if you want your dream job in this industry. Now I am not asking you to re-invent the wheel here, but you have to be willing to do something that the other applicants are not. This can be a number of things and the amount of effort ranges, but how badly do you want that job? This can be something as simple as reaching out personally to your potential boss, or the hiring manager and expressing additional interest (via email or even LinkedIn) – ask them for a quick meeting, or if they would be willing to lend some time. Stepping it up would be to have a credible person co-sign you or refer you to the position that you want, your network is your net worth in this industry and simply by attending events meeting new people and making connections could be your ticket to your dream job. The most effective but hardest way is to create something that exemplifies your capabilities and your drive without bribing your potential boss (sending them doughnuts is great, but it doesn’t work). An outstanding example of this that I saw recently was a kid named Ivan Ye (@ivanye_ on twitter) who is about to graduate from Western University in Canada. Ivan went above and beyond by creating a YouTube video (can be found here: https://takewhatsnotgiven.com/) that was directed towards the founder of 100Thieves (one of the largest and most popular gaming organizations in esports at the moment) via twitter. His request was simple, his dream was to work at 100Thieves, and he let the video speak for itself. This video now has 80k views on his YouTube and the tweet itself garnered interest from the biggest names in the industry who went as far as to say that if he didn’t hire him, they wanted him. He wasn’t and isn’t an influencer and didn’t pay to promote it at all, he simply was creative and authentic. The morale of the story is, find a way in a world of stacks of resumes, to be unapologetically yourself and stand out.

Play Most of the Cards in Your Hand from the Start

 I know this might go against what you’ve been told but trust me on this one. The fact of the matter is, the majority of the people that will be doing the hiring for these positions will not know much about gaming. If you are given the opportunity to be interviewed, this is your time to showcase your passion and expertise for the world of gaming & esports (NOTE: DO NOT BE AFRAID TO GEEK OUT A LITTLE!). These interviews will be structured very similarly to any job you’ve applied for in the past, after all of the filtering questions to make sure you are a hard worker and aren’t a psychopath, they want to hear how you will make an impact or how you can improve the business. Do not hold back when given this opportunity – this is your time to shine and showcase what you know about the industry and gamers as a whole. I encourage you to come prepared to the interview with feasible ideas that can have a genuine impact on the organization you are applying to. Because as much you think they know, if you can provide them with something they haven’t heard of before, or an idea that simply just makes sense and is clear, this is typically a shoo-in for any applicant. Your first day starts in the interview, show them you are the expert in this department.

Recap

I know that may have been a lot to digest all in one go, but that is okay. The good things in life don’t come easy but trust me they are always worth the effort. In short, if you truly are passionate about gaming, and want to make money from it, it is up to you to get out there and create your own path. Set yourself apart and take action on your dream job at your dream company (or start your own!) – you definitely won’t get the job if you don’t even try.

I would absolutely love to hear how you guys are planning on getting out there and fighting for your dream jobs. Hit me up on social media or via email (davidbellocchi@gmail.com) with your ideas, or if you would like some help with your own.