A little about me:
I have been an active hiring manager in level design for about 3 years, which entails reviewing junior to mid-level candidate applications and portfolios. I have been involved in many interview panels across a range of roles, and cultural fits. There is still a ton I am learning myself, but hopefully some nuggets of insight will help those feeling like they have been stonewalled or cut short at the application stage. Hopefully this won’t read like a ‘top 5 steps’ corporate style either… ‘tries not to vomit’.
The Role
So, you have spotted your dream job in level design!
Here are a few things that might be lesser known to you:
Junior roles (Assistant, Associate) typically do not provide a work permit or relocation move outside of the UK for applicants in Europe and beyond. Things have become a little more complex since the post-Brexit world we live in, so do make sure you check the position you are applying for, and if it offers support in this regard. The reason might sound unfair, but there is a cost to hiring, and a lower salaried bracket for a junior position is commonly unsupported in this manner. There are always exceptions of course, and a junior applying might be what we call a ‘unicorn hire’ in that they have such a special set of skills that this condition can be overruled. For this reason, I would say don’t be put off and apply anyway, project requirements can move very suddenly!
If applying for a mid-level position, a studio will tend to expect to see some professional experience on show (usually 1-2 years). This is because a mid-level (Level Designer) is afforded a larger degree of autonomy and is expected to have a stronger understanding of inter-disciplinary communication and be able to drive smaller features by themselves. A mid can also be a fill-in buddy for a junior designer to help them with their day-to-day work. This level of experience is more commonly supported for visa and relocation support.
There has been a shift for some game studios to offer a permanent remote option, which should help junior applicants that live in a country with little to no game industry presence. To caveat it may still come with a work visa requirement so do double check.
The Application
To some of the more experienced folk this may seem super obvious, but I think in this digital age it’s still something worth reinforcing:
Cover Letters – Yes, they are still a thing.
We do love a cover letter, as it gives you the opportunity to summarise yourself and role fit in a lovely succinct way (that means do keep it as short as you can).
My recommendation for format is:
About you
Current work and goals
Knowledge of studio
Role fit
(Portfolio link) < - Please do this.
If you are applying to multiple studios and want to avoid the kiss of death, double check who you are addressing your application to! I have read many a cover letter addressed to another studio ☹. There are no shortcuts!
CV
Now this is an interesting one to debate over. Fancy themed and arty CV’s are a lovely expression of your passion and personality ‘but’ just remember it is always a risk to lead with a CV covered in game art and coloured fonts. Like most arty situations, the visuals can get in the way of the important stuff we need to access or read.
Some examples why I think you should keep it simple and clean:
Extra work to maintain when you need to update it.
Broken profile and portfolio links.
Font and colour hard to read. Just like the games we make we need to ensure our creative work is accessible and as far reaching as possible.
Recruitment software such as Jobvite can get a bit confused and incorrectly format your page, moving images and text around when re-sizing.
Save your creative energy for your portfolio!
I am not quite sure when this started to occur but applicants listing the level of their proficiency in software… I am 36% good at using Unreal. I mean how did you work this out? Plus, I have seen some wild bar graph version that spirals into madness.
Just keep it simple and only list the software you have spent the most time with. Don’t feel stressed that you need to present yourself as this walking developer machine.
Your Portfolio
This section will not be a 100% breakdown of the perfect portfolio but do feel free to reach out to me if you want me to review your portfolio. As you may have spotted, I have one too, and due to being in the industry for a number of years now mine has become more project focused and lighter on how I did things at this stage. In near future I will be using the blog space to talk about this in more detail!
Here are some insights into what we look for:
This might seem like an edgy response but ‘everyone is a game designer’. If you are applying for a specific arm of design, such as a level design position, then your portfolio should be a laser beam of focus on this role if you are serious about landing an interview. Our industry is never straightforward because of the rate of knots in which it progresses so I will list some guiding points to work within below.
If applying for an internship Level Design position, in my opinion it is perfectly fine to show other skills, because when you are starting out there is a lot of awesome routes you can take in the industry and I expect your brain will be figuring this out still, both technically and creatively learning how games are made. If you want to increase your chances when applying for a specific role, always remember that a hiring manager in that field will be looking for examples from you that proves your passion and aptitude in this area, so do bare this in mind when thinking about how to present your work and the job you are applying for.
If applying for junior level design roles (Assistant > Associate) we start to get a little pickier about structure and details on your portfolio. If you have drawings, 3d Art, fancy tree models etc then do make sure you structure your site in a way that keeps this separate. Like I mentioned above, level design work should be the first thing you smack a hiring manager in the face with.
Mid-Levels take a pinch of the above but with a section on portfolio titled ‘Professional Work’. A breakdown of work is still valuable to show but can and will get less of a requirement the longer you work in the industry. I still think its important to show where possible.
So what do we get excited about?
Successful candidates that consistently land interviews for level design applications show specific examples of:
Level Design work – Woah really?
Breakdown of design intent explaining what and why. Yes text! We don’t want to just see screenshots.
Challenges overcome in your map design and what you did to iterate on solving the problem when playtesting with real people!
Bonus: Examples of working with other disciplines to realise your dream such as game jams, uni projects, map modding e.g. working with an environment artist.
What makes us sad inside?
Why a hiring manager for level design may click the reject button:
Lots of pictures but nothing describing or explaining your design intent for the space.
No top-down scribbles or overhead maps showcasing enemy placement, items, player start positions etc.
Lots of unfinished levels. Use your portfolio to show the best work you are most proud of. (3-5 great pieces rather than 10 meh ones will really improve the quality of what you show).
Check your links work; nothing is worse than a portfolio link that gives a 404 error.
Your portfolio is on ArtStation (as a level designer). This makes us nervous because 9 times out of 10 when we click it our fears are realised and you have lots of pretty screenshots, hand studies, portraits etc. It gives us no insight into your design process, map flow, metrics, mark up and so on. This also tells us that you would rather art the maps than design the maps to work for gameplay.
A front page that tells us you are a game designer, tech designer and programmer.
This is a slightly bigger problem that stems from the way games courses are taught in terms of how they prepare and setup students for job applications. More wearing of hat examples or the ‘walking dev machine’ can quite easily go against your application because your content on show becomes very scattershot, which in turn makes us confused about where your passion really lies.
Closing Thoughts
Phew! Got there in the end. Here are some closing thoughts:
Speed level design. This is art, not design. Please do not get lured by fancy YouTube videos showing another post-apocalyptic city done in 30mins. Pretty things are nice but excellent art is a craft that takes a lot of time and effort. We want to understand how a player moves through it? Why are they there? What are the threats? How do they interact with the space? How does art support the players goals? It’s aggravating to not have answers to those questions.
Game Jams are great for getting experience but don’t forget to detail exactly what you did if solo or in a team. It is not enough to just share an itch.io link and go there you go.
Showcase your best work. Many a person I have worked with has does one thing and done it well and landed a job.
A blog page is different from a portfolio. Be professional and pour your creativity into the map design. Keep it simple and clean. As much as it makes us laugh, we really don’t want to see a celebrity lighting up across your entire banner header, or your face looking creepily back filling the entire front page.
While an excellent learning experience, building things from scratch is incredibly difficult. I don’t think I mentioned it, but games are hard to make. For level design especially, I always recommend you find a popular game with a well-supported community and level editor and make + publish a map within that. Find your feet in level design here and from there you can supplement your portfolio later with more ambitious ideas.
And to actually close.. Putting together a portfolio and trying to keep money coming in is hard work. I know after spending 9 years of my life in and out of retail. Do keep your horizons open and jobs in QA are nothing to scoff at. QA is the perfect microcosm to meet people, get references and learn the ropes without putting you into the frying pan right away. Plus, you can slowly wear down a lead level designer into taking you into the developer fold 😉.
Hopefully not too waffly,
Good luck and hope to see you on the other side!
Henry Tofts - Lead Level Designer https://www.splashdamage.com/careers/