Internship in geymdev: to be or not to be? The first experience of the Krasnodar studio Plarium

The gaming industry is replete with narrow specializations, so it is sometimes more expedient to grow a professional than to look for a ready-made employee. Of course, this requires a lot of resources, but with the right approach, the results will undoubtedly justify the effort expended. When you need a unique specialist who is as loyal to the company as possible, is full of enthusiasm to work and develop in your company, you should consider taking an intern.

Who is the intern and how is it different from the junior

First of all, it should be said that the intern vacancy in the Krasnodar studio Plarium does not exist. The company is not engaged in a targeted search for interns, but in some cases it may offer this position to the applicant. For example, several months before the launch of a large project, managers plan to increase the staff, hire prospective employees and train them. They are also ready to accept as an intern a talented person if he wants to work in our studio, but does not possess the skills that are required for a junior level job.

In general, an intern is known to call an employee with minimal or no experience, who has the great potential, personal qualities required for work, and shows a keen interest in the profession. At the same time, his loyalty to the company, strong motivation and willingness to learn are extremely important. In the personnel hierarchy, the intern precedes the junior (junior specialist) and, after successfully completing the probationary period, may be promoted to this position.
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Consider the training programs for the interns of the Art Department and the Support & Community Department of the Krasnodar studio Plarium. In each department, the leadership determines the difference between the concepts of “intern” and “junior” and forms the responsibilities of applicants for these positions. The main difference between the two posts lies in the level of independence and responsibility: at each stage of the intern’s actions the mentor controls, while the junior fully performs his work and is responsible for the result.

What conditions are needed for training interns

During internship practice in the Art and Support & Community departments, a number of steps were identified that can help prepare a competent specialist from the intern.

• Step one: find a mentor. An intern can be trained by a senior specialist if he is patient and attentive, and is also able to transfer knowledge. It is necessary that he be interested in the success of his intern and understand the importance of the process both for him personally and for the company as a whole.
• Step two: create a system. Internship training should be conducted according to a special program and include effective methods for testing knowledge. In addition, practice shows that the best results are achieved if each mentor oversees only one intern and fully controls the process of training a specialist.
• Step three: provide resources. A comfortable workplace and modern equipment are needed to organize internship training. It is also important that the mentor can devote enough time to his intern.

How is the selection of interns

The first stage of selection, due to which the candidate has a chance to prove himself, is a summary . Attention recruiter will attract well-formed portfolio, a convincing cover letter, information about attending additional courses and a unique experience. As an example, the following situation can be cited: a candidate who knows the peculiarities of the Asian mentality will be particularly interested in the Community Division, since it will be able to work with the audience of social networks in this region.

Interview - the most crucial stage of selection. Only through face-to-face communication can HR managers and department management reveal the candidate’s strengths, understand his motivation and determine whether he will fit in with the team. In some cases, a pre-interview is scheduled before the test. For example, to find out which direction of work will suit an artist candidate.

For the Community Division, the communicative qualities of the applicant, perseverance, creativity and knowledge of the specifics of working in social networks are primarily important. The Support Division welcomes experience in technical support, analytical thinking, as well as attentiveness and patience. For those who want to join the Art Department team, specialized education is a definite plus, but self-taught artists also have a chance to get into the company. Candidates who have learned how to draw independently can be very talented, and some of them are already working in the Krasnodar studio Plarium.

Training interns in the Art Department

The internship program at the Art Department is largely determined by the need for narrow specialists. If we do not have the necessary personnel in the labor market, then we prepare them ourselves. It is sometimes easier to train a candidate with good basic skills, but who has no experience, than to retrain an artist with an already established style. For example, the guys who worked on casual, cartoon games, hardly switch to realism, so we can offer them an internship in a direction where the usual style will not matter much.

Sometimes the intern cannot decide in which direction he should work. Then we give him the opportunity to try himself in different areas, until it becomes clear where his abilities will be fully revealed. However, from a competitor with a certain potential, one can prepare a narrow specialist to perform specific tasks.

Following the curriculum, intern Art Department, specializing, for example, in creating icons, works with metaphor, volume and color in graphic programs and becomes familiar with the visual style of the project. In this case, the results of the intern's work are not used in games, and only the mentor sees them. As a final exam, a novice artist creates a specific art object. If it meets the requirements, then the trial period is considered to be successfully passed, and the object itself can be used in one of the projects.

Training interns in the Support & Community Department

As you have already noticed, there is an internship in the Support & Community Department in two divisions: Support Division and Community Division. In contrast to the Art Department intern, the Support & Community Department begins work on a project during its training. Mentor gives the client the feasible tasks and monitors their implementation. The system of training in this department is represented by a set of tests and a special curriculum for both one person and a group of interns.

In addition to the verification of professional skills, a final examination of the project is mandatory. It takes place in two stages: preliminary testing and final. The Support Division staff must know the project thoroughly, and the interns of the Community Division have slightly less stringent requirements.

As a rule, during the probationary period, the employee acquires enough experience and skills to rise to a new level of career. But if the intern didn’t have enough time to figure out the characteristics of the job, then he has the opportunity to remain in his previous position until he reaches the junior level.

results

The experience of working with interns in the Art and Support & Community departments of the Plarium studio in Krasnodar is extremely positive. Almost everyone who came to us grew up professionally, became part of the team and strengthened it. Cases in which, after the probationary period, we were forced to part with the employees, are rare.

What is even nicer, along with the intern, his mentor also improves his skills. For an internship teaching employee, the opportunity to try yourself as a leader, gain management experience and improve communication skills. The mentor shows the best ways to carry out assignments, organizes the workflow of the subordinate, critically evaluates the results and gives useful recommendations. At the same time, he combines internship training with work on his own tasks.

In conclusion, let us say that, although the Krasnodar studio Plarium does not plan to open a vacancy “intern”, we still pay attention to talents and are ready to consider promising guys. We hope this article will be useful for companies that want to try to train employees from scratch, and for beginners who want to get into game devs.