Having an Online presence.
| What is an online presence and how to start ? |
An online presence refers to people of any industry having something that is theirs online that promotes themselves to any that see it.
This can take the form of social media, where you communicate with others in your interested field of work and in doing so recognize you. Websites where you put up a Portfolio so anyone with interest can read about your achievements and career path. And Source control platforms such as Github that allow you to allow people to see under the hood of the digital work you’ve done.
This page will brack down the advantages for each method of haveing an online presence I do hope you’ll find it usefull.
- Discord:
Discord is a well-used social media platform primary used by the consumers of the games industry to form groups and talk to friends via voice calls to play together, but in recent years it has become a good place to start your online presence.
One of discord groups is “IntoGames”, a none profit community ran by “Declan Cassidy”, “Susi Bauer”, “Rose Tan” and “Brandon Cole”. All these individuals have experience in the industry and started back in 2019 to give people from any background the help and support they need to make it in the industry.
Whether that be online resources, talking to the community on your perfectional interest, finding out about events and putting up your portfolio for recruiters to look over and give you feedback on what to improve.
Another is “Games jobs live”, Ran by “Colin Mcdonold”. Who after covid, started up “Games Jobs Live” to help young people find work. and focuses on hosting recruitment events online for those to attend and potentially find employment. - Linkedin:
“Linkedin” is another social platform but focused on connections then general use. It is used professionally to make connections with likeminded people in the same industry. Those that add someone on Linkedin are seen as someone of note that have skill in a field, and this can also be seen by people looking for new hires.
Linkedin can be used to create and display a portfolio to show off their work, Aswell as take part in discussions over a subject in their field.
| What platforms help you have an online presence. |
“Linkedin” and “WordPress” are commenly used sites to display a portfolio for any feild of work. While Linkedin is more used to connect with peaple in their feild of work, WordPress is a free website creater and has not only been used to porfolios but for story writers, bloogers, Bisness sites and so on.
“Itch.io”, is a good site to post up small working games. This is not just good for potential work opportunity’s but can also be a good source to get yourself noticed by the consumers if you were to try and go freelance.
| How to get yourself noticed |
In the creative industry’s there are many ways to promote yourself. Both actively and objectively.
- Actively: You can go to events both in person and online. Speak to those in the industry and add them on Linkedin. The others attending an event can also be a source of work as they might want to start up their own studio or need someone of your talents to complete a project.
Spending time in Discords created for those looking for work in the industry such as “IntoGames” and “GamesJobsLive” can also get you noticed when having formative discussions, helping others out with problem solving and even showing off your own work. - Passivly: Useing a portfolio on a site like WordPress, you can work on a game project and display your working by putting a link to your Github account. Employers and interested party’s can see how you code and how you manage updates and scheduling.
You can also post games on platforms such as Itch.io and Steam to show your finished projects. If you make it that people need to buy your game to play it you can also show the success of your games.
| What can you do to stand out from others? |
In the creative industries, especially with recently graduated students, Alot of the work and knowledge can be the same. So showing what isn’t commonly done can help you stand out.
Showing your code working with a source control software is defiantly one way to stand out as most people looking for work in the game industry wouldn’t think to use Sorce control software such as Github to show off their code. As most would assume that a screenshot of it would be code enough, where employers want to see your skills and at solving problems which you will run into.
Another way to stand out is to have a working, published game on a platform such as “Itch.io” or “steam”, where they can see you are making the effort to try and make something out of the work you do.
HomelyZacombie 