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Companies & Internships
Companies and Internships - PFP Assignments
1. What companies do you currently find inspiring? List at least three companies you could see yourself working at, under the right circumstances. Make sure at least one of these is a smaller company (under 150 employees). In addition to their website, find an article or film online about the company, preferably one that tells you something about the company's "culture." What kind of personalities do their top managers hae? What kind of employees do they recruit? What do they value and reward?Describe both what they do (products and services) and how they do it (company culture).(2 paras per company x 3 companies)
Nintendo: This is the classic video game company that everyone either knows or remembers. They deliver innovative game products which have lately been geared towards more community- and family-based gaming. They predominantly deal with console and handheld gaming, having fathered revolutionary innovations in both fields (with the releases of the DS and the Wii). They produce consoles as well as develop and publish games.
The only thing I could really find about the "culture" of the company was their own Corporate Philosophy on the treatment of their customers and employees: "We feel an equal commitment toward our employees. We want to maintain an atmosphere in which talented individuals can work together as a team. Commitment and enthusiasm are crucial to the high quality of our products and support services. We believe in treating our employees with the same consideration and respect that we, as a company, show our customers."
Atlus: Atlus U.S.A., Inc. is a privately-held company and subsidiary of Atlus Co., Ltd. based in Tokyo. They are a game publishing company (their mother company is also a developer, though the US branch is strictly a publisher) and have been behind titles for every major console on the market. Some of their larger titles include: Trauma Center, Odin Sphere, Magna Carta, Touch Detective, Bomberman, etc. They develop games in a wide variety of genres, and some of their more recent titles have been rather innovative in terms of gameplay. From my experience, their games are always strong on story, as well.
Again, I couldn't really find much on their "corporate culture," or the types of employees they look for. The only thing even remotely related was an article at GameSpot that detailed profit losses in 2005 leading to a layoff of 30 employees (10% of their total workforce at the time). That might be a red flag, but I doubt it's terribly significant.
Garage Games: Garage Games is an independent (from what I can tell) developer with about 60 employees. They've been in business for a little over 15 years now, from what I read, and they primarily pound out puzzle games and simulators. If I were to seriously consider taking the "serious game" idea anywhere, it would probably be an independent company like Garage Games first, where people are more likely to enjoy their jobs and be open-minded since they're not a massive corporation that already has a set "motif" of games they produce.
As far as the culture of the company, I couldn't find personality types or anything, but each employee does have their own profile on the company site, as well as the ability to post a personal blog hosted on the site. They all seem rather satisfied with their jobs, and that's a good sign to me.
2. Find at least one formal student internship program, listed on a website, that you could see yourself doing either during one of your summers at UAT or on graduation. Describe the details of the internship here. Is it paid? If so how much? How long? What student experience/backgrounds and personal qualities are they seeking? Copy and paste their key language into your description. What is the application deadline? Call or email them to get these details if they aren't listed on the website. (3 paragraphs)
I found an internship opportunity with Electronic Arts (EA). They offer paid internships, with salary rates depending on skills and work experience. I can't find any indication of how long the internship would last for, but I'm sure it would be at least an entire semester.
Taken directly from their page, this is what they're seeking in Software Engineers: "Interns will be responsible for creating C, C++, C# or Assembly code and/or Java code as a part of game teams developing features or tools for various consoles, PC, and online products. Potential interns typically pursue a degree in Computer Science, Computer Engineering or Electrical Engineering with a strong mathematical background. Candidates should have solid programming experience in various languages. Other desired skills include bit-mapped graphics, 3-D graphics, device level, artificial intelligence and physics. Game development experience is helpful but not required. Candidates should also have strong interpersonal and problem solving abilities."
This is another excerpt from their page, directly from the interviewer regarding what he looks for in candidates: "
I also tend to nail interviewees with lots of debugging questions. You'll spend as much time debugging as writing for a while, so I'm looking for deduction and critical reasoning skills. These are also key when understanding code written by other people. This is something you might not learn in school, but you'll spend a lot of time doing.
As for other, specific skills: yeah, math and physics are important, and yeah, understanding networking is important. However, everything is all-important and you can't know it all. What you want to show me is how FAST you can learn new things. A classic interview question I ask is "Give me an example of something you picked up and learned on your own quickly."
My own personal bias is also towards people that are well rounded. If it comes down to someone who has a 4.0 and no external interests, or someone who is smart but has also done non-computer stuff, I'll go for the latter. Especially important is experience working in large teams and interacting with people who are bringing different skills and ideas to the table.
In summary, I'm looking for people who know how to write code, read code, and learn new things. I'm looking for people who love games and play them. I'm looking for people who understand technology, but also understand that communication skills are just as important.".
The address for the pages is http://jobs.ea.com/eaacademy
3. UAT currently doesn't have a formal list of what companies its alumni have gone to, by major. There is a general list of companies that have hired UAT students, which is available on UAT's external website however. Find this list, and select three companies you are particularly interested in either a) understanding better or b) possibly working at. What are these companies? Explain how you can go about figuring out who at UAT is now working at these companies, and how you will get their email. Extra Credit: If you get a name and email, post this info on our FD@UAT Wiki under Career Resources > Resources by UAT Major >> A. Company Leads or this Major.(2 paragraphs)
Ea Sports, Mythic Entertainment, and Education 2020, Inc. are three companies that have hired UAT alumni that I could see working for. If anyone is going to actively push the idea of serious games, it's going to be a company like Education 2020.
If I were really interested in seeing where students are getting hired, I would talk to my instructors. Ken Adams, Mr. Clark (whichever one it is that's the programming teacher, not the hacker), and especially Nate Bealor. They would be able to tell me who is being hired and by whom, and probably how I might get in contact with those people and the companies they now work for.
4. Write out a sample company inquiry email and paste it below. This email should be addressed either to
a) a UAT alumni who is working at one of your companies of interest, or
b) an interesting person who works at one of your companies of interest and whose bio (or a good personal article on them) is available online.
The objective of this email is threefold:
1) to briefly mention whatyou like/are impressed with about that company and about the person you are contacting
2) to very briefly introduce yourself (your background, skills, and interests)
3) to ask for information or advice (about internships, about some aspect of the company, about getting lunch, etc.)
Keep it short and sweet (three paragraphs max) and post it here. Include the email address of the person you will send it to below. Extra Credit: Send it, and post the response/discussion you get, if any, right here! (3 paragraphs)
Dear Brian Duncan,
I noticed your interview posted on the UAT website, and was intrigued by what I read. I find it interesting that you chose to work for a company that makes "serious" games, and I was wondering if you might help me.
My name is Steven Olender, and I am a current student at UAT, specifically as a game programming major. I'm rather interested in the idea of taking "serious" games to the mainstream.
I was wondering if you might be able to give me a little information about the company that you work for, Education 2020, Inc.? Or if you could point me toward someone who might be able to answer my questions. I was wondering if they specialize only in educational games for school-age children, and also who I might contact in order to apply for an internship or perhaps even a job. Any info you could give me would be a great help.
Thanks sincerely for your time and consideration,
Steven Olender
UAT 2007
1. What companies do you currently find inspiring? List at least three companies you could see yourself working at, under the right circumstances. Make sure at least one of these is a smaller company (under 150 employees). In addition to their website, find an article or film online about the company, preferably one that tells you something about the company's "culture." What kind of personalities do their top managers hae? What kind of employees do they recruit? What do they value and reward?Describe both what they do (products and services) and how they do it (company culture).(2 paras per company x 3 companies)
Nintendo: This is the classic video game company that everyone either knows or remembers. They deliver innovative game products which have lately been geared towards more community- and family-based gaming. They predominantly deal with console and handheld gaming, having fathered revolutionary innovations in both fields (with the releases of the DS and the Wii). They produce consoles as well as develop and publish games.
The only thing I could really find about the "culture" of the company was their own Corporate Philosophy on the treatment of their customers and employees: "We feel an equal commitment toward our employees. We want to maintain an atmosphere in which talented individuals can work together as a team. Commitment and enthusiasm are crucial to the high quality of our products and support services. We believe in treating our employees with the same consideration and respect that we, as a company, show our customers."
Atlus: Atlus U.S.A., Inc. is a privately-held company and subsidiary of Atlus Co., Ltd. based in Tokyo. They are a game publishing company (their mother company is also a developer, though the US branch is strictly a publisher) and have been behind titles for every major console on the market. Some of their larger titles include: Trauma Center, Odin Sphere, Magna Carta, Touch Detective, Bomberman, etc. They develop games in a wide variety of genres, and some of their more recent titles have been rather innovative in terms of gameplay. From my experience, their games are always strong on story, as well.
Again, I couldn't really find much on their "corporate culture," or the types of employees they look for. The only thing even remotely related was an article at GameSpot that detailed profit losses in 2005 leading to a layoff of 30 employees (10% of their total workforce at the time). That might be a red flag, but I doubt it's terribly significant.
Garage Games: Garage Games is an independent (from what I can tell) developer with about 60 employees. They've been in business for a little over 15 years now, from what I read, and they primarily pound out puzzle games and simulators. If I were to seriously consider taking the "serious game" idea anywhere, it would probably be an independent company like Garage Games first, where people are more likely to enjoy their jobs and be open-minded since they're not a massive corporation that already has a set "motif" of games they produce.
As far as the culture of the company, I couldn't find personality types or anything, but each employee does have their own profile on the company site, as well as the ability to post a personal blog hosted on the site. They all seem rather satisfied with their jobs, and that's a good sign to me.
2. Find at least one formal student internship program, listed on a website, that you could see yourself doing either during one of your summers at UAT or on graduation. Describe the details of the internship here. Is it paid? If so how much? How long? What student experience/backgrounds and personal qualities are they seeking? Copy and paste their key language into your description. What is the application deadline? Call or email them to get these details if they aren't listed on the website. (3 paragraphs)
I found an internship opportunity with Electronic Arts (EA). They offer paid internships, with salary rates depending on skills and work experience. I can't find any indication of how long the internship would last for, but I'm sure it would be at least an entire semester.
Taken directly from their page, this is what they're seeking in Software Engineers: "Interns will be responsible for creating C, C++, C# or Assembly code and/or Java code as a part of game teams developing features or tools for various consoles, PC, and online products. Potential interns typically pursue a degree in Computer Science, Computer Engineering or Electrical Engineering with a strong mathematical background. Candidates should have solid programming experience in various languages. Other desired skills include bit-mapped graphics, 3-D graphics, device level, artificial intelligence and physics. Game development experience is helpful but not required. Candidates should also have strong interpersonal and problem solving abilities."
This is another excerpt from their page, directly from the interviewer regarding what he looks for in candidates: "
| As for skills, you should definitely know C and C++ very well. If you submit a portfolio of games you’ve done (or a website) provide notes that quickly communicate what skills each program in your portfolio shows off, how many people worked on it, and how long it took you to complete. For example, you could note: "This program helped me understand graphics," or "I was working on AI in this little program." |
As for other, specific skills: yeah, math and physics are important, and yeah, understanding networking is important. However, everything is all-important and you can't know it all. What you want to show me is how FAST you can learn new things. A classic interview question I ask is "Give me an example of something you picked up and learned on your own quickly."
My own personal bias is also towards people that are well rounded. If it comes down to someone who has a 4.0 and no external interests, or someone who is smart but has also done non-computer stuff, I'll go for the latter. Especially important is experience working in large teams and interacting with people who are bringing different skills and ideas to the table.
In summary, I'm looking for people who know how to write code, read code, and learn new things. I'm looking for people who love games and play them. I'm looking for people who understand technology, but also understand that communication skills are just as important.".
The address for the pages is http://jobs.ea.com/eaacademy
3. UAT currently doesn't have a formal list of what companies its alumni have gone to, by major. There is a general list of companies that have hired UAT students, which is available on UAT's external website however. Find this list, and select three companies you are particularly interested in either a) understanding better or b) possibly working at. What are these companies? Explain how you can go about figuring out who at UAT is now working at these companies, and how you will get their email. Extra Credit: If you get a name and email, post this info on our FD@UAT Wiki under Career Resources > Resources by UAT Major >> A. Company Leads or this Major.(2 paragraphs)
Ea Sports, Mythic Entertainment, and Education 2020, Inc. are three companies that have hired UAT alumni that I could see working for. If anyone is going to actively push the idea of serious games, it's going to be a company like Education 2020.
If I were really interested in seeing where students are getting hired, I would talk to my instructors. Ken Adams, Mr. Clark (whichever one it is that's the programming teacher, not the hacker), and especially Nate Bealor. They would be able to tell me who is being hired and by whom, and probably how I might get in contact with those people and the companies they now work for.
4. Write out a sample company inquiry email and paste it below. This email should be addressed either to
a) a UAT alumni who is working at one of your companies of interest, or
b) an interesting person who works at one of your companies of interest and whose bio (or a good personal article on them) is available online.
The objective of this email is threefold:
1) to briefly mention whatyou like/are impressed with about that company and about the person you are contacting
2) to very briefly introduce yourself (your background, skills, and interests)
3) to ask for information or advice (about internships, about some aspect of the company, about getting lunch, etc.)
Keep it short and sweet (three paragraphs max) and post it here. Include the email address of the person you will send it to below. Extra Credit: Send it, and post the response/discussion you get, if any, right here! (3 paragraphs)
Dear Brian Duncan,
I noticed your interview posted on the UAT website, and was intrigued by what I read. I find it interesting that you chose to work for a company that makes "serious" games, and I was wondering if you might help me.
My name is Steven Olender, and I am a current student at UAT, specifically as a game programming major. I'm rather interested in the idea of taking "serious" games to the mainstream.
I was wondering if you might be able to give me a little information about the company that you work for, Education 2020, Inc.? Or if you could point me toward someone who might be able to answer my questions. I was wondering if they specialize only in educational games for school-age children, and also who I might contact in order to apply for an internship or perhaps even a job. Any info you could give me would be a great help.
Thanks sincerely for your time and consideration,
Steven Olender
UAT 2007
Steve_Olender |
Latest page update: made by Steve_Olender
, Dec 17 2007, 5:07 AM EST
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