Programmer Portfolio
From Gamedev.org wiki
| Table of contents |
What's all this, then?
A Programmer Portfolio is a set of content that you can use to show prospective employers your chops. Ideally, it should be on a demo CD available to send along with your CV or displayed at an interview. They are similar to the Artist Portfolio, except somewhat more interactive.
What should be in it?
- At least one semi-completed game
- Perhaps some examples showing you can grasp various algorithms and concepts
- Previous commercial projects, or at least videos of such.
- Obviously, avoid highly offensive/controversial content. Consider sanitizing your game assets if the game in question is a gore-fest and you're applying to an educational game company.
What platforms should it work on?
- Most, if not all, development studios run a modern version of Windows XP with decent acceleration prospects.
- My demo CD consists of Mac and Windows versions of all of the games, which helps cover my bases in case the HR person checking it out only has a Macintosh. Plus, it makes me look smart when it comes to cross platform development.
Special Tips
- In the past, I worked with someone whose portfolio had consisted of a GBA flash cartridge connected to a GBA with a few of his demo games. The interview mostly consisted of the lead programmer, enraptured, playing the game while the interviewee sat quietly with his hands folded.
- Consider learning how to handle AutoRun (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Autorun) in Windows so that your CD automatically launches to a nice Flash introduction when it is inserted to the drive; that extra touch is really slick.
I'm an employer, what portfolios are good?
If you're not a programmer, it's hard to tell what programmers are good. Some stuff to look out for:
- Knowledge of functional programming languages. A game developer who can program in F#, Haskell, Lisp, Scheme or Erlang is pretty likely to have had more experience than the average.
- Fun games. Not all programmers are artists; their games may be extremely ugly, but fun or technically competent.
- Unique initiative. Creative gameplay is a good indicator that you should sit down and talk to them.
- Tools. It is often difficult to find good tools programmers, so having a programmer who feels good enough about his tools to include them on the CD is a good candidate for an interview.
- Large body of work. The more varied the software a programmer has worked on, the more likely it is that they've picked up techniques and knowledge from their experiences that are globally applicable. Or at least they'll have good stories.
Don't forget to ask other developers, or invite them to the interview. Often the best indicator of another programmer's performance is how well they can communicate with their fellow developers.
