1. Unit 13 – Understanding the Games Industry
Skills, action plan, CV’s and Selling yourself

2. Aims and Objectives All Most Some
Understand their interests, strengths and personality traits ready for creating job applications.
Understand the different types of skills categories and transferable skills
Find a aspirational job in the games industry
Most
Assess yourself against your chosen Job.
Create a career action plan to gain the skills necessary to successfully apply for the job
Some
Will start creating CV’s relevant to their chosen job.

3. Starters Tick anything that you consider an interest on the worksheet
Complete and consider strengths worksheet
Tick anything that you consider a personality trait on the worksheet
Using the information gathered use the worksheet provided to list your top 7 interests, strengths and personality traits

4. Skills Functional: Industry specific: Communication Numeracy skills
Technical Knowledge
Working Procedure and Practices
Health and Safety Knowledge

5. Transferable Skills & Behaviours
Interpersonal Skills
Problem Solving
Time Management
Team Working
Determined
Flexible
Independent
Honest
Leadership
Team Player
Creativity
Dependable

6. Game Developers: Finding Jobs Games Industry: jobs.gamesindustry.biz
jobs.gamasutra.com
gamesjobsdirect.com
mcvuk.com/jobs
Spend some time looking at the jobs available.
Choose one that interests you.
Game Developers:
dsdambuster.com
rare.co.uk
codemasters.com
fullfat.com

7. Assessing yourself and action plan
Assess yourself against your chosen job using the handout provided.
Include:
Skills, qualification and experience needed for this job.
My own skills, qualifications, further/higher qualification and experience.
Skills, qualifications, further/higher education I need to develop.
Fill in and complete the Career Action Plan

8. CV stands for curriculum vitae, which is Latin for ‘course of life’.
Why do you need a CV?
CV stands for curriculum vitae, which is Latin for ‘course of life’.

9. You’ve got 30 seconds to make an impact
Your CV advertises you to a potential employer
A CV is like an advertisement, but it is selling a person rather than a product or a brand.
TV adverts have just a few seconds to grab our attention and persuade us, and the same is true for CVs.
Employers may take just 30 seconds to skim a CV and make a decision about whether they want to interview a person

10. Can you think of any ways that can make a CV stand out like TV adverts can – but without using gimmicks?

11. E-mail address’s in CV’s
Something as simple as an inappropriate address could put an employer off from inviting you to an interview.
is always the safest bet
If your name has been used add some random numbers or variation to the address. Make sure it’s clearly your name though and doesn’t make reference to your age.

12. Play be the Boss interactive whiteboard game

13. What goes into a CV?

14. What should go on my CV? Your name and contact details
Skills that will help you do the job well
Qualifications
Past jobs and work experience
Interests that show the ‘whole person’
Referees – people who can back up what you say on your CV

15. How should I organise my CV?
Chronological (starting with the most recent)
Benefits:
Highlights your qualifications and jobs
Shows your experience

16. How should I organise my CV?
Functional or skills-based
Benefits:
Highlights your skills and qualities
Shows your ability

17. Write a personal statement/profile
Draft a personal statement that highlights your best skills and personal qualities.
Use your exercise sheets from the lesson to get an idea of what could go into the statement
Read your statement back to yourself, thinking about what an employer might think of it. Will it grab someone’s attention and give them the right impression?

18. Complete your CV’s using a templateDo
Be positive and sell yourself
Highlight your relevant skills and experience
Use evidence
Be brief and to the point
Check spelling and grammar
Change your CV to match each job you apply for
*Employers cannot ask for these or base decisions on them.
Don’t
Lie
Use more than two pages or cram it all into one
Include your date of birth, a photo, if you are male or female, or if you are married*
Leave gaps in your school or work record
Have any spelling or grammar errors
When you apply for a job, you need to prove you’ve got what it takes. Your CV is your chance to show an employer your strengths, skills and abilities – you at your best. Follow these tips and make sure employers know you’re the right person for the job.
Do: • read the job ad and find out what the employer is looking for • be positive and sell yourself • make your most relevant skills and experience really stand out • use evidence – show what you achieved • be brief and to the point • check your spelling, grammar and punctuation • set out your CV neatly using a computer • write your covering letter/ carefully, making sure you explain why you want this job • make sure your address reflects the professional you
Don’t: • lie or make things up • just list your tasks or duties • send exactly the same CV to every company: adapt it so it’s clear you wrote it with a particular job in mind. For some jobs an interactive CV such as a video, website or portfolio might help ensure you stand out in the crowd • include your date of birth, a photo, whether you are male or female, or whether you are married (employers cannot ask for these or base decisions on them) • waffle or repeat yourself • use more than two pages or cram everything into one page • leave gaps in your work record • make spelling or grammar errors • use inappropriate layouts or fonts
Guide and support students as they complete the rest of a sample CV using the format of their choice (chronological is easier, starting with the most recent elements) • Help them use active words, like ‘produced’, ‘helped’, and ‘achieved’ • List a good range of skills and positive qualities, drawing on notes from previous activities. • Pay attention to accuracy and spelling • Challenge students to highlight and emphasise the skills they identified in their job adverts at the beginning of the lesson in their draft CV

19. Alternative ways of presenting a CV?

20. Alternative ways of presenting a CV
Portfolio of work(Could be in conjunction with a CV)
Website
Video format
Create a game/interactive CV!
Volunteer

21. Summary
You should:
Understand your interests, strengths and personality
Understand where to find relevant jobs
Know what a CV is for and be familiar with two common formats
Understand that a CV should highlight the skills, qualities, qualifications and experience for which a potential employer is looking for
Have begun or completed a draft CV

22. What is a covering letter?

23. Covering letters
This is your opportunity to explain why you want the job and the benefits that they can bring to a company, whereas a CV provides information about their skills and achievements to date
Although many job applications are made online, they still need a covering , which serves the same purpose. Applications that are made using an application form won’t need a covering letter
Based on the job you have chosen spend 10 minutes making notes on what you think should be included in your covering letter?

24. Covering Letters Continued
Highlight key points from the CV
Explaining why you want the job
Acknowledging where you found the job advertised