71: Resume, Cover Letter, and Getting a Job with Sonia Michaels

Sonia Michaels - “There are a lot of really qualified people out there and so when I have three people that have similar degrees, similar qualifications, and similar experience. You're going to hire the one that seems like they're going to be the best to work with because no one wants to work with a jerk.”

Sonia Michaels is a senior lecturer at Digipen where she helps students create outstanding career search materials, develop their professional networking skills, and launch their careers in the game industry. Under her guidance, students and alumni have earned positions at Blizzard, Riot Games, Bungie, Microsoft, Amazon, and many more.

Keypoints:

She didn't know there was a job opportunity for teaching communication within the game industry, until she began preparing her students at DigiPen to launch their careersThere is no awesome job called Game Idea GuyCritical thinking is essentialUsing custom resumes and cover letterHow to do phone interviews Important to explain how you will fit in with the company and what you will contributeAwesome people are helping to reduce crunch time practicesAvoid using a premade templateAdd your personal branding into your resumeNo one wants to work with a jerk!Excited about more narrative driven gamesAnd much moreConnect:

EmailL [email protected] / [email protected]Twitter : @soniaghmLinkedin DigiPen Institute of Technology Career Consulting - soyouwanttomakegames GDC Sonia Michaels: Get Noticed & Get Hired Resources:

GDC Conference Associate Chris Deleon GamkedoGame developer Resources by David Arcila Trello Kate Edwards Former IGDA Exec. Director and now does Game Culturalization on Geogrify.comGDC Mata Haggis: Storytelling Tools to Boost Your Indie Game’s Narrative and Gameplay PeopleRemember that knowledge is only Potential power, Execution is the game. I highly encourage you take what you learn and put it to good use. Don’t let it go to waste. Connect with my guests and ask them questions, they are willing to help. Comment below to share your thoughts and experience because I read every single message. Subscribe to the podcast to hear more inspiring stories. Thank you for your time! www.gamedevloadout.com