Looking for a job is stressful in any field. Unfortunately, the esports and gaming industry has a few extra layers of complications. Normally, we can rely on degrees and internships to build our resumes. There’s a formal dance of cover letters and protocol that we learn from a young age. There’s no degree for “gaming” — not yet at least. We can study game design, business, or marketing and have some applicable skills, but companies aren’t always looking for that. Internships are few and far between with real experience hard to gain. Job openings are often at start up companies and esports orgs. They require huge leaps of faith and promise little stability or longevity.
Finding esports and gaming job opportunities
The first step: how do you find these jobs? Standard job sites like Indeed, Glassdoor, Ziprecruiter, and LinkedIn can have relevant postings, but they are hard to find. Tags like “gaming” either don’t exist or give you casino related jobs. These sites often show more corporate and established jobs, which can be a good place to start practicing applications and interviews. It is harder to find specific esports jobs and niche gaming opportunities. There is another site called Hitmaker Jobs that exclusively posts jobs for the gaming industry, with a heavy focus on esports. Job postings here can be hit or miss (with many of them looking for volunteers). Working for exposure or building a portfolio is no longer an excuse — you should be paid for your time.
Stable corporate jobs are great, but what if you want to work in a specific gaming scene or with a smaller company? Social media can and will be the best access point for job openings. You have the ability to directly communicate with the people looking for applicants, rather than communicating behind a “jobs@randomgamingcompany.gg” email address. Unfortunately, social media can be a hard way to job search. Tweets disappear quickly in our feeds and we can’t follow every company out there. This is where networking can be invaluable. Let people know you are looking and available for new opportunities. Hopefully people will see postings and tag you, effectively giving a recommendation and pointing out jobs to you. Follow a few well established people, companies, news sources, and content creators in your field of interest. These accounts usually retweet job opportunities and are eager to help other people break into working in gaming.
Now the hard part: how do you apply?
So what is the road map for applying to jobs in the gaming industry? For developers, coders, and artists, the how to apply is fairly standard. For those of us who are looking to create content, run social media, and/or manage influencer programs, we have a to be more creative in our applications.
Our resumes usually list education, job history, and relevant skills. Nothing changes when it comes to gaming jobs, it just might be harder to classify hobbies as a job history. Content creation on YouTube, Twitch, or personal blogs is relevant experience. Custom overlays, alerts, and emotes are parts of a graphic design portfolio. Interview and talk show appearances are noteworthy live on camera experiences. OBS, photoshop, and video editing count as relevant skills. Gaming may be a passion project or a side hobby, but the experience and time invested counts as valuable resume and cover letter content.
Embrace waiting.
It may be challenging to find a full time position immediately. Freelance work and small collaboration projects will add lines to your resume and build a network of professionals who might be looking to hire full time in the future. Even if you find amazing full time opportunities, it could be weeks (or months) before you hear back and make it through the interview process. Some jobs may be postings where they already have a hire in mind, others could be to gauge interest or gather resumes for future positions.
Non traditional jobs sometimes require non traditional methods. All job searches require patience, flexibility, and tenacity. In the end, the effort will pay off when you join a world surrounded by people as passionate as you, and you forget you are even at a job at all.
Want to grow your network to start the job hunt? Join the LvlUpDojo discord and start talking with other streamers and content creators today!
