The International Student Blog

Many international students have decided that their love of video games is a great basis for a career and have begun studying video game development in the United States. While many economic sectors have faltered in recent years and recent college graduates are left scrambling for any interview for which they will be considered, such is not the case in the video game industry. The video game industry is flourishing, and many popular titles have production budgets over $30 million. However, when it comes to deciding which applicants to hire (or in many cases, even consider for an interview) those international students who wish to remain truly competitive when selling themselves on the job market would find it wise to secure a video game development internship for the academic year or a video game development summer internship in the off-months.

In fact, given the exceptional reputation of video game development degrees from institutions in the United States, internships are a key means of distinguishing between applicants when competing for the same position. International students who have held video game development internships are hands-down favored over those international students who have not. A video game development internship on a resume (especially a responsibility-heavy video game development summer internship with a well-known developer) can really make all the difference in landing an interview and career-track job. An international student who has held a video game development internship demonstrates his or herself to be both capable and experienced, as well as actively engaged and passionate about working in the field of computer science.

There are resources to help international students take on the task of finding a video game development internship available to them, as well as the steps they must take in order to procure them. The two best resources for locating video game development internships will be video game developers’ websites and the websites of particular video game development program departments. Video game developers like EA Games, THQ, Volition Inc, Rockstar Games, and Lucasarts all offer information and applications for video game development internships on their websites. The video game development departments at many institutions have affiliations with development studios with whom they put their students in contact with about video game development summer internships.

Additionally, looking to the career center on your college campus can also be a great place to find help when trying to land your dream internship.

If you are an international student who has decided to pursue video game development as a career, keep in mind that an internship can set you ahead of the competition and there are many outlets available to find an internship that will peak your interest and bulk up your resume.

This entry was posted on Monday, August 22nd, 2016 at 9:20 am and is filed under International Student, International Student Study Section, Study in the USA. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

Written by Bryanna Davis

Bryanna joined EIC in 2011 after returning to the United States from teaching English in China. Her interest in international education, sparked initially by her own study abroad experience in Wales, led her to the company. Bryanna is originally from Missouri and is a graduate from the University of Central Missouri.

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