Nicholas Rathbone is an experienced games designer (in Car Handling) and is currently working at a Codemasters studio in the UK. Once graduated from the University of Bolton back in 2008, Nick found his first position in the industry at Climax Studios where he found himself working Wii title, Silent Hill: Shattered Memories.
Nick recently returned to the University of Bolton to give a guest lecture on becoming a games designer, discussing what work to expect, how development studios operate and also the steps he took to get into the position he is now. I saw this as a fantastic opportunity to further learn about my profession so happily attended.
I found the lecture to be extremely useful in that I could relate what Nick was saying to myself, being currently in the position he was two years ago. Ideas of what developers are expecting to see in terms of CV's, cover letters and portfolios were given alongside tips on what the best methods of creating them are. Nick backed up some items Arthur Parsons mentioned in an earlier lecture, discussing how to make CV's unique and how it can help attract a designers attention.
We were also given an insight into how a graduate secures a place in industry, how to manage any financial problems we may encounter and also what studios to contact and by what means. Nick spoke on the topic of interviews and how to handle the immense pressure some studios put graduate designers under, requiring interviewee's to think up game mechanics and plan out level designs in short amounts of time.
I feel the most important piece of information to remember from the lecture was to always be prepared. If I'm going to contact a studio and apply for any position, always research the studio and its heads, then send a copy of my CV, a unique cover letter, a link to my website and my portfolio on disk.
After the lecture I managed to get some one on one time with Nick to discuss the course and my portfolio / CV. Nick gave some good feedback on both, mentioning what I could alter and improve. This led to a complete overhaul of my CV, of which can be found in the downloads section on my website.
I very much enjoyed the lecture with Codemasters and felt some valuable information was given regarding the possible routes graduates can take to secure a place in the industry.
http://www.codemasters.com/?territory=EnglishUK
