Hi all,

I need help! I'm just wondering if I actually have a chance at getting a programming placement job in 3 months time since that I have applied over 40+ jobs and not a single one has even given me an interview. So I need people to check my skills see if I am really fit and ready for it or not...and possibly some pointers on what to do. Let me tell you what I know and have at the moment:

2 years experience with C++ programming in Xcode (Mac)
^ specialize in Audio programming learned from the University. (will get into bit more detail in that...)
2 years experience with Max/MSP (Mac)
1 year experience with Galaxy Editor + Galaxy scripting (starcraft 2 (Hobby))...
^ if interested or curious check(http://starcraft.wikia.com/wiki/Galaxy_Map_Editor)

The followings are all self-studied but not put into use in practical situation due to the fact that I don't own a personal computer at the moment, but new laptop (PC window 7)is on the way...so here they are -

Object oriented programming
VB.NET programming
**FMOD programming
Using visual studio

**Note: I'm studying FMOD because my ultimate goal is to be an audio programmer for video games. But for now I am willing to take up anything related to computer programming as long as I get experience.

C++ programming - I barely know Oject Oriented Programming and don't know anything about SQL/ASP.NET/Database/Software development/Game related(such as AI, graphics, core engine, not even audio engine). I believe those are the ones that employers are looking for but unfortunately my uni course do not teach any of those.

My current situation is that I just finished my university 2nd academic year and I have the option to do a placement year next year. Obviously an industrial placement experience is really good for programmer career so I'm aiming to get one. It is June now and I have about 3 months worth of time left to get a job, otherwise I'll be forced to go straight into 3rd year.

My audio programming experience including creating a polyphonic keyboard synthesizer (use by a physical midi keyboard) and an audio effect plug-in design. Here is an URL to see my codes for the delay plug-in unit - http://www.scribd.com/doc/93635338/C-Code-Example
I use this as my portfolio and try to use it to get a job, it's not great but that's the best I can show at the moment.

I've applied game programmer internships (at EA, Activision, ArenaNet...) and all kinds of junior/trainee software developer/programmer/analyst jobs at big/small companies in UK, Europe, US and Canada. Sometimes even game/software QA tester and yet no luck so far.

By the way, I can't afford to get an unpaid internship/volunteer job (unless Summer ones but still preferred paid) because I don't have any extra financial support from family, but relying heavily living on Student Loan. As of now I am working part-time and the amount of money I've saved up is just about enough for me to get through my final year without pressure. I'm not going to continue to work in my 3rd year because this year I've already struggled to get enough time for uni so that's not an option. If I get a full year unpaid internship/placement that means I'm going to have to use my saving...which I really don't want to.

I wish I can work at US or Canada, but I'm willing to work in UK (currently living in) and Europe as well. Maybe Asia but I really want to experience living/working in the western world (because I'm chinese and I've lived in HK for 10 years and got bored of it. Also I wish to have my future in the western world as well...again US/Canada is my dream...)(just incase if you are wondering, I can speak and read FLUENT ENGLISH(duhhh) and Cantonese,have lived in UK for 10 years as well, and I'm legal to live and work in UK/Europe/Hong Kong.)

I know some people will say try London but I know very well that working in London will make me struggle financially even if I get paid salary, this is due to the price for living expenses and rent is stupidly expensive...I heard many testimonies from friends about that so really extremely don't want to do that...

Finally, what do you think I should do? What am I lacking in terms of programming skills? Anyone got any useful recommendation?

Many thanks for help and reply.

Regards,
Amplify

P.S. sorry for such a long post but all the details here are given so I can get the best possible help and have you understand everything!

I have 14 years C++ programming experience and I still feel like a complete noob. I did a game dev degree and have still been turned down by EA/NetherRealms/Capcom/etc. Persistence and tons of working examples. I've kind of put it on the back burner for now to perfect my programming and work on some personal projects. If you can't get into a company, the next best thing is to either find an indie team you can join or try to start your own indie team and make some games that way. Part of the team that made Portal had made a small game using the concept when they got hired and made Portal. Just my two cents though.

I would never turn down the chance of taking a placement.

Experience is just as valuable as programming skills in a lot of areas.

Games developers are notoriously hard to get into. I've managed to get into one interview for a game developer and, despite requesting feedback, I never heard a thing.

Also, the games industry is a tremendously volatile and unsettled place to work. Don't be afraid to broaden your horizons and apply and non-games related companies.

There is no substitute for experience.

Okay thank you replying people.

I know fully very well that experience is very important which is why I mentioned that I am going to get a placement/job position!!

But I need someone to verify my skills are right for the industry and roles at the moment or not please.

I would invest in some technical interviewing books right away. You can't just get in without an interview...

I read Programming Interviews Exposed and it is excellent. I credit my current position to it. Cracking the Coding Interview has very good reviews. It's stilling on my shelf but I haven't gotten to it yet.

@moorecm

If I can't even score an interview invitation...how would I have a chance to show off my interviewing skills?

That's where the problems are. I don't even get ANY interviews at the moment, and I think is because the current skills that I have is not suitable for any jobs that I am currently applying for.

Which is why I started this topic to ask people to check my programming skills and see "AM I GOOD ENOUGH FOR A JOB".

But I need someone to verify my skills are right for the industry and roles at the moment or not please.

Again, the games industry is notoriously difficult to get in to.

All you have to do is take a look on the Gamasutra jobs board and you can see what sort of skills they're looking for. If you barely know object orientated programming then it's something you'd need to bone up on because, as far as console and PC gaming goes, C++ is industry standard and a lot of that is because of its OOP programming approach. Another prerequisite is maths. If you don't have any maths skills, you probably won't get looked at. Even if both of those are met, employers tend to ask for people with 3-5+ years of experience who have shipped at least one or two AAA titles. The Catch-22 of this is that people can't get that experience due to those job requirements.

The best advice I can offer is to not pick and choose and, as I said above, don't specifically chase games jobs. The UK doesn't have a particularly strong games sector (yes, we have a few major studios knocking about and some smaller ones, but it's nothing compared to say the U.S. or Canada), so be ready to apply your skills elsewhere.

To me, the most desirable trait in a programmer (and the one I think has helped me most) is the willingness to 'wear many hats'. If you label yourself as a certain type of programmer for a certain language, you're only pigeon-holing yourself and placing serious limitations on your career choices. A good programmer will be ready to learn new things, pick up new languages and adapt through their own initiative.

@ihutch105

Thank you yes but I already mentioned that I'm applying for position such as QA tester, software developer, Audio visual programmer...etc because I already knew I won't be able to land a game programming/related jobs that easy. I am not that naive.

You mentioned maths, that's something I'm good at since I got a B in GCSE maths in only year 10, 1 year ahead of other people so that should show something. Regarding to those experiences, yes I know I read all kinds of those requirement which is why I know how to smartly look for titles with words such as "entry level", "junior" or "trainee" and actually check carefully about the experience required. In my case that is obviously 0 year commercial experience.

I know those are the skills and knowledge required to do those certain position.
But this is my real question at the moment- with my CURRENT skills (listed in the first post) can I actually land a junior/trainee programmer job in software development/analyst/engineer (coding-based job)etc? I know I can just try QA test engineer but if I actually have a chance to get a developer position then why shouldn't I try? So I am obviously prioritize applying for those position rather than QA.

So summary: I am currently open and willing to applying for QA, software developer, AV programmer, different language job (e.g. java,C# as long as they accept the fact that I have absolutely no experience in those) or simply whatever programmer that is NOT RELATED TO VIDEO GAMES. I know, understand and I do want any possible programming experience as long as I will get them. If you tell me to learn new programmings then well said I 110% agree with you. I am 1000% happy to learn anything new, why would you think I'm studying a degree for? (lol) However you have to understand I have only 3 months to get a job so not alot of employers would be happy for the fact that I only have 2 months max (self-studied) of this, this and that programming knowledge + experience. Sure I will learn some on the job but I already applied all the jobs that specifies training provided. But I am still not getting anything.

I hope that is clear enough.

Without experience, you are relying on education to get past H.R.. It has very little to do with skills. The best thing to do is continue pursuing your degree.

The alternative is to take a less-skilled position and work your way up through the ranks within a company. Then, you'd have development experience, and could potentially move to another company. However, H.R. is still likely to rule you out with out the "required" degree.

@moorecm

Yeah I have considered that. I guess you maybe right so I think I'm not going to expect anything much from all of my applications for jobs. Still I will be applying just so I might be lucky enough to get one.

Well I am currently studying BSc Creative Music Technology, where next (final) year I will be able to study FMOD (YAY!!). So I actually have a shot to be an audio programmer for video games since I (will) have a great understanding in audio signal processing and actually specialize in such programming. Of course I am going to learn more than just merely FMOD. Wwise and Unreal is what I plan to study myself.

I've been to various open houses for large companies in the software industry. What I've been told every time is that you just need to get past HR. HR, from what I've been told, has little to no technical experience so they are looking for a set of skills/education/experience. Basically, you need to make your resume look good enough that a non-technical person will be impressed, and also have it impress the technical team.

Last place I was at told me the process is as follows:

HR gets your resume, looks for basic qualifiers. If that passes, you're put in a list of people who qualify. From that list, they trim it down to best, we'll just say 50%, and then that is sent to the technical team. From there, each team lead looks over the people and sees who they want to bring in for an interview, which I guess is actually quite a bit of the ones they see. But, they are also looking for actual work they can see. A website with some of your work (downloadable exe and source code) so they can see what you like doing and what you're good at.

So basically, your resume goes through a few steps before you'll even get a call for an interview. So it has to look better than the average person.