As the gaming industry continues to expand in the next decade, the demand and competition for top talent are also expected to increase. As we reported in how to hire top talent in the gaming and extended reality industry, the year 2021 saw a record number of people playing games in the U.S. Through 2025, the video game and mobile gaming industries are expected to grow significantly, with Statista reporting projected growth of the global gaming market from $178 billion U.S. dollars in 2021 to $268.8 billion U.S. dollars annually in 2025.
Your company may have a variety of roles to fill across various levels of seniority. Here’s how to target top talent ranging from entry-level workers to executives.
How to Hire Entry-Level Gaming & Extended Reality Professionals
A great way to find entry-level gaming talent is to connect with local community colleges and 4-year universities. Many students are looking for internships, so sourcing from local schools can help you build a talent pipeline of young web developers, digital designers, special effects artists and animators, and software developers.
For entry-level positions, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reports employers typically look for the following types of knowledge and skills. You can feature these on job descriptions and look for them on resumes.
- Web developers and digital designers: Application creation and testing, programming language, collaboration, graphic design, computer science, communication, creativity, problem-solving
- Special effects artists and animators: computer programs, animation and computer graphics, interactive media, game design, visual effects, artistic talent, creativity, time management
- Software developers: User needs’ analysis, software modeling, software design and development, software testing, usability and functionality, analysis, communication
If you have an internship program, help interns learn the skills that are needed for your entry-level positions. Let them know what you look for in a gaming portfolio, so they can continue building theirs. Keep in touch with former interns and other workers on LinkedIn so you can reach out when there are open relevant positions.
Also, early on in the hiring process, rethink whiteboard and art testing requirements if you want to expand your hiring pool. Offering alternatives can make your hiring process more inclusive for candidates who face barriers in these testing environments.
You can also use a gaming recruiter, social media sites like company LinkedIn and Facebook pages, and online job boards to spread the word about open entry-level positions at your company. You can also create an employee referral program that rewards employees for successful long-term hires.
How to Hire Mid-Level Gaming & Extended Reality Professionals
Mid-level gaming and extended reality professionals may be in positions where they’re leading teams or supervising other employees. For these positions, in addition to technical knowledge, qualities like leadership and management are important.
You have a few options for hiring for these positions. One is to create a career development plan with all your employees so you can promote from within and potentially increase your company’s retention.
There are clear benefits to promoting qualified employees to advanced positions at your company. A 2021 study of 1,000 full-time workers reported by “Forbes” found:
- 71% of employees think hiring from within benefits businesses that want to scale.
- Nearly two-thirds of employees view promoting from within as better than hiring externally.
- Employees are twice as likely to prefer being managed by someone who’s promoted from within compared to someone who’s hired externally.
- Employees who are passed over for a promotion for an external hire were 15% more likely to quit or consider quitting compared to when they’re passed over for a promotion that’s been hired internally.
Promoting from within benefits your business, because all employees see that you value investing in your team. They know there’s a clear path to career growth when they stay at your company. Employees are also more likely to be satisfied on the job, whether they’re the ones who received the promotion, or they’re being managed by someone they’ve worked with previously at your company.
If you’re posting mid-level gaming and extended reality roles externally, focus on people-leading skills, as well as experience. You may want to avoid requiring a set number of years of experience, especially since otherwise-qualified people may not apply for the job because they lack a year or two of experience.
Instead, focus on must-have requirements to make job postings more inclusive and widen the pool of applicants. Again, you can also work with a gaming recruiter that can connect you with the exact type of talent you’re in need of.
How to Hire Senior-Level Gaming & Extended Reality Professionals
Senior-level gaming and extended reality professionals cost more in turnover, up to 213% of an employee’s salary for C-suite positions, according to PeopleKeep. Because making the right hire matters so much financially for senior-level positions, many companies choose to work with a gaming recruitment firm to find the best candidates to make the match.
Some things to consider when you’re hiring senior-level gaming and extended reality professionals include:
- Why is the candidate looking for or open to a new position?
- What quantifiable achievements did the candidate make in their previous positions?
- How can the candidate’s unique skillset benefit your unique company?
- If the candidate will be managing others, are they a culture fit?
- Will the candidate’s professional reputation reflect well on your company?
These candidates may be more high-profile, so companies should research them online. Sites like Glassdoor can give you insights into the candidate’s previous company culture, which they may have helped shape. C-suite professionals may have been featured on blogs and in news articles, which can reveal more about them, too.
Your recruiting and hiring team can also tap into their LinkedIn network to learn more about candidates from mutual connections. Look at LinkedIn recommendations to see what other industry professionals have to say about the candidates.
Of course, while technical, managerial, leadership and creative skills matter for senior-level positions, you should also ask candidates about their actual past contributions and how they can innovate at your company.
Work with a Trusted Partner in the Gaming & Extended Reality Industry
One way to streamline your hiring process and gain more successful results is to work with a gaming recruiter that can tap into top talent for your open positions. At ggLocators, we build relationships with the best gaming talent, so we can connect relevant candidates with fulfilling jobs.
If you’d like help hiring entry-level through executive positions, contact ggLocators for a free consultation.
