Week 19: Edumaction

Hmmm, this is a troubling subject and as a start I thought I'd go wandering around game sites and seeing what jobs they had avaliable. For Sega, all the jobs in the last 12 months ask for experienced applicants. Its a tough thing to ask for experience when those fresh out of college and uni aren't going to have any. They have the skills able to move out into their respective fields and yet can't for another 2 or 3 years because its hard to find a job unless they've worked before. Blizzard require those who have worked for a minimum of 3 years to work on WoW or a next gen MMO that they are in production with. Both LucasArts and Blizzard have added an additional requirement of having produced some games in the past. I guess it wouldn;t be too hard to meet the requirement for this in those 3 years you have worked though.

So to be honest, it is a tricky subject for educators to handle. I'm sure the smaller companies would enjoy having those individuals who are very creative to give employees some idea of what to model for the game in question. Inversely, other companies may want this creative person to imagine and create a full model of their idea.  
Therefore it becomes essential for those tutors out there to consider what it is that helps students be creative and gear a course towards that. Somewhere along the way it does help to give a basic or strong knowledge in the standard software for the industry. (In ours it would be 3DSmax/Maya, Photoshop and something like Zbrush). An understanding of those programs is sure to give students an upper hand when it comes to finding a job even if it isnt something an employer looks for. It is merely a plus and shows that a person is alot more adaptable to any job or task they are given.

On the other hand, the creative hand, it is something that is hard to teach. If you tell someone exactly what they are meant to be doing, 
you haven't taught creativity in the slightest. You need to get the right balance of pushing someone in the right direction to get them 
going and helping with ideas along the course of the process. "Who is this/ what do they do/ where do they come from" are questions that can begin the process and give the idea of research. In essence, it is research and seeing things that inspire creativity. Somebody could see a plant one day, be completely inspired by it and adapt it into a weapon, for example. Then when you can do this for any given objective that is when creativity is achieved. Alot like enlightenment, A grades and jobs.

I suppose, as the point of this task, it is pretty hard to give somebody the qualifications to apply for all the game-y jobs straight away, especially with the hierachy, but if you can give them fundamentals and then some, they are sure to have options open to them. Of course once these options are taken, it is then up to the company and individual to provide further technical education in the industry.