Careers in Digital Media

There are a ton of careers in digital media that I can pursue upon graduation, but since I am most interested in game design I'm going to focus on those positions now. Some major game design studios are currently hiring for a variety of positions.

Funcom, who makes Age of Conan and is working on The Secret World, is hiring for their Olso, Norway office. They have other offices in Durham, Beijing, and Zurich; but are currently only hiring for translator, coordinator, or customer service personnel.
In Olso they are hiring for in a few main categories.

Animation
Animators, Motion Capture Animators

Art
3D Artists, Assistant Art Director, Concept Artist, Environment Artist, Interface Designer, Senior Character Artist, Technical Artist, Web/GUI Artist,

Design
AI Designer, BCC Designer, Content Designer, Gameplay Designer, Quest Designer, System Designer, Writer

I am leaving out the sections for Programming, Production, and Quality Assurance; but I wouldn't be opposed to working in programming if the right opportunity came along (like their 3D Effects Programmer position).

Blizzard is another huge gaming company where I would love to work. Their job opportunities can be found at http://www.blizzard.com/us/jobopp/
I would probably most be interested in the 3D environment artist job (I spent a lot of time working on realistic grass in Maya and enjoy the challenge).

Another less artistic position at Blizzard is the Game Balance Designer working on Starcraft II.
http://www.blizzard.com/us/jobopp/designer-game-balance.html
This job sounds right out my alley since I've played Starcraft I and Warcraft III extensively, and have a real love of real time strategy games, math, and am basically OCD about organization and balance. I am constantly working with the organization of complex data and find it fun and challenging.

Sony Online Entertainment (SOE) has a massive library of open jobs that are searchable at http://www.station.sony.com/sonyonline/careers.vm
Most of their work is located in San Diego, Seattle, Austin, and Denver.

One of their jobs that I would be most interested in is their Game Designer position that would be working solely on the game, Everquest. Below is the description.

EverQuest Game Designer- Content
Job Title: Game Designer (Content)
Location: San Diego, CA

Sony Online Entertainment LLC (SOE) is a recognized worldwide leader in massively multiplayer online games, with hundreds of thousands of subscribers around the globe. SOE creates, develops and provides compelling entertainment for the personal computer, online, game console and wireless markets. Known for its blockbuster franchises and hit titles including EverQuest®, EverQuest® II, Champions of Norrath®, Untold Legends™, and PlanetSide®, as well as for developing Star Wars Galaxies™, SOE continues to redefine the business of online gaming and the creation of active player communities while introducing new genres on various entertainment platforms. Headquartered in San Diego, CA, with additional development studios in Los Angeles, CA, Austin, TX, Seattle, WA, Denver, CO, and Taiwan, SOE has an array of cutting-edge games in development.

Interested in joining a team of motivated and talented people building a new world intended for a much wider market than traditional games? We’re looking for someone to help build a virtual world full of humor, excitement and fun.

Primary Responsibilities:

• Create design documents for game content from scratch.

• Analyze and improve upon implemented content, including content designed or developed by others.

• Communicate design goals to other team members, including artists and programmers.

• Help to deliver a finely tuned massively multi-player game using proprietary tools as well as direct database access.

• Assist in the development of game areas, including scripting and quest creation.

• Development of game fiction, scenarios and back story.

Requirements:

• Experience designing content for massively multi-player online games.

• Experience playing massively multi-player online games.

• Working knowledge of Word, Excel and other office software.

• Excellent written and verbal communication skills.

• Ability to work alone and in a team environment.

• Experience working with common and/or proprietary programming or scripting languages preferred.

The only experience I don't have for this job is "Experience designing content for massively multi-player online games" but I do meet all of the other criteria. I am an avid gamer and played Everquest for about a year, and have played one of their other games, Everquest2, since November of 2004. Even if I had to work as their Administrative Assistant: Public Relations role in order to get my foot in the door at the company, that is a job in which I have a lot of experience.

I think what I find so intriguing about the Game Designer role is that I'm not solely responsible for one part of the game. I'm not working only on animation or character rigging or coding. I would get to be involved in most of the roles, and become more familiar with each job. I'd also be able to work on writing lore and back story, and as a HUGE fantasy fan from a young age this would be great! I already work in a team setting at my job and since I am rather senior in my role, I am also responsible for all reporting and presentations for the client. I'm used to making sure all of the widgets are working and pulling together a project to a central point. I think this would be a great position for me.