Preface: This is a part of a series discussing the state of play for a graduate game designer in Sydney. Whilst this series of articles focuses on game design graduates many of the observations and underlining principles are still applicable to other fields and situations.
The reality of the graduate
As graduation gets closer for many students the reality of finishing school kicks in. The fear of the unknown, the doubt and uncertainty of being able to make it in the industry can hit hard. Let's try to tackle the reality of the marketplace from the position of a graduate looking to attain full-time employment as a game designer.
Since there is no reliable data, I could find on this so I will use pseudologic to illustrate the prospects of a graduate game designer.
You are a .
In a class of say 10 students who graduate . . . . . . . . . .
Let's suppose there are another 20 schools of the same size across the country, this gives us 200 graduates.
.......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... ..........
Let's assume that 50% of the previous years graduates are looking for work (100 graduates)
.......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... ..........and 25% of the year graduates two years earlier are looking for work (50 graduates)
.......... .......... .......... .......... ..........add 50 graduates from the four years before that who are still applying for work
.......... .......... .......... .......... ..........Let's take into account international students and junior professionals looking for a job on the local market, let's say it is 100 job seekers.
.......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... ..........and let's say around 50 junior professionals from related fields are huting for similar roles.
.......... .......... .......... .......... ..........Total: 559 active job seeking competitors
.......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... ..........This number is only valid for the year you graduate and will go up the next year when more students graduate. Of these 559 candidates around 20% maybe suitable to do the job and will apply. This means an employer will need to find their diamond among 112 candidates!
.......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... ..As you can see for a graduate getting a job in the field can be hard and if you are not armed with the right information, tools and approach it becomes a lot harder. So in the next set of articles lets take a look at what we have to understand in order to improve our chances and widen our options.
P.S: Some will be critical of me being painting such a bleak picture, but I think it is our fiduciary responsibility as mentors and teachers, to be honest about the state of the industry and the reality of finding a job not just in games but in many fields. I find myself compelled to share the reality of the situation so anyone wanting to enter the industry understands what they are getting into, what they will have to do and what they may have to sacrifice to have a chance, "If it were easy everyone would be doing it."
When confronted with an argument such as this it is important to remember what got you started on this journey and honestly evaluate if the fire still burns in the belly.
I recommend you go through the "Fear setting" exercise as directed by Tim Ferries https://tim.blog/2017/05/15/fear-setting/
So what if your passion still burns and your desire is unwavering. If this is the case, then you should feel empowered by the information presented to you as you can develop a strategy to address the state of play and effectively work towards your goals.