Melissa Chaplin
Professional Contexts - Week 2
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I was so happy that Melissa was the first speaker we had. Her talk inspired me because I can relate to some of her struggles and seeing how she overcame them also gave me hope for my future.
About The Speaker
Works at: Game if you are – marketing and PR agency specialising in indie games
Position: Head of the client strategy
She takes on new clients and decides if a game is a good fit for the company.
She also sets up marketing strategies and helps with sales.
// I have to learn how to make companies excited about my project
Background - Getting there
Her story surprisingly starts with something completely not related to games.
Melissa started with a Bachelor’s of English language and literature and then went on a teacher training with kids and teenagers // a job which she did not enjoy very much//
Trying to change something in her life she started a four and a half year PhD in Intercultural Communication. Those were hard years for Melissa as she struggled with anxiety and depression. Also during those tough years, she thought of the game industry as a career path for the first time.
// Struggling with depression most of my life hearing a story from someone with similar problems about their journey to success is more than inspiring. The first time that I ever thought about joining the games industry as something that I want to do in my future was after I played ‘Life is Strange” by Dontnod Entertainment. I completely fell in love with the art style of the game, the story, and how the game can make you feel so many emotions. At that moment in my life, I knew I wanted to create those types of games and I was so surprised to hear that Melissa had the same start as me - both inspired by the same game.
Later she started working in the fashion industry as a community manager. It was not her dream job and it was a bit risky because the company was a start-up and was not completely financially stable, but in the end, she gained very valuable skills that helped her in the future.
After the fashion company failed she moved her CV to the games industry. She made sure that her CV and portfolio were bright and colourful and then she began to completely rebrand herself. Starting with her social media by making matching business cards she started to change her online image to be more professional.
✨THE POWER OF NETWORKING✨
Melissa travelled to EGX to network and tried to put her name out there. Fortunately for her, one of the people she spoke to took her under their wing and became her mentor - introducing Melissa to the gaming world.
Tips to make yourself look attractive to hiring professionals:
State who you are and be confident and ambitious.
Be active on Twitter.
The games industry is primarily housed on Twitter, and interacting with developers can lead to more opportunities.
Don’t wait until you finish your degree, start those interactions now
Build your community
Whether you use discord, twitch or youtube a big community makes you more interesting to possible employers
Be more conscious of what you are putting on the internet
Don’t post offensive material, try to keep everything relatively PG
Make your CV a bit more colourful
Show off your portfolio online
Reflections and what I learned
The most valuable lesson that Melissa gave us was about the power of networking.
Her story proves just how important making connections truly are.
//taking her advice to heart I reactivated my Twitter account and started following devs on Twitter - and as she said they like to communicate, I am planning to keep in touch with some of them, and stay active//
She also gave us tips on how to create an interesting CV and a strong portfolio. I have never written a CV before but after hearing what is important I feel like I have a good understanding of the structure, things I should highlight and in general idea how to write an attractive CV
// so the next step for me is to write one //
Portfolio
It is obvious that if I am going to apply for a designer job I need to have a strong and up to date portfolio. What Melissa taught us is how to put ourselves out there. She highlighted how important it is to build a community, doesn’t matter if it's on youtube, twitch or discord. Having a larger audience makes you more attractive to the developers.
// learning that I’m going to try rebranding myself online - I will try to put out more game design-related content apart from more traditional art//
After finishing Melissa’s lecture I realised that I don’t have to know all the answers now and that there are a lot more jobs in the games design industry than I previously thought.
Therefore there is no need for me to be scared of the future, I just need to stay positive and keep working hard.
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