2020 is a pretty crappy year for a lot of folks, especially for those looking for a job. Anyone who specifically needs a job in video games, especially in Malaysia and Singapore, would probably need a heads up for this sort of thing.

Luckily, we’re here to help. Rather than relying on the usual job portals that can allegedly be rigged, how about going straight to the source and points of contact instead?

Here are a few humble suggestions from yours truly. Why? Because we would like nothing more than our current video game industry to thrive and stay healthy, while also having them return the favour with awesome video game experiences.

Get Educated With Level Up @ Schools

Link: https://www.levelup.my/schools/

Level Up Schools is an initiative by MDEC to provide exposure to game development skillsets to high school students to learn ideation, creation, and completion of digital games. The initiative offers two days worth of game development workshops using industry tools and nation-wide game competitions.

If you are a parent who would like to see their sons and/or daughters be awesome game developers in the future, consider bringing them for this. Ditto for the teens & YAs.

Above are the schools & universities supporting this educational endeavour. So yeah, it’s a big deal especially for those who want to see a future prospect in Malaysian game development.

Show Up For Level Up KL, Online

Speaking of Level Up KL, you should sign up for 2020’s iteration. This is happening next week; so go sign up online and check out the schedule here.

• 16th -29th November: LEVEL UP KL @ Play Day
• 28th – 29th November: LEVEL UP KL @ Play Day performance/lucky draw/esports finals

Also, check out the #MYDigitalWorkForce initiative where the platform matches digital career opportunities to potential talents. That also includes video game developer/programming/art jobs all powered-up by renowned recruiting firms like Hays and WOBB.

Gaming Communities: Check Out Games HQ

GamesHQ is a non-profit Facebook group that aims to bring together Malaysian game development students, hobbyists, academics and the industry together. Its bulletin board is a neutral venue where job-seekers can refer to and for companies to post up positions that need filling up.

You may need to filter out obvious content creator spam, but generally, there’s a few noteworthy jobs and local game initiatives buried amidst the dirt.

Budding Writers, Freelancers, & Journalists: Ask Your Local Game Sites

Being a fledgling games journalist & critic is fun and has its perks, but be prepared for relatively low pay, lots of sleepless nights, and lost hours spinning stories and breaking news. International game sites only rely on a tight-knitted freelance writer pool, so your chances to get noticed are very, very slim.

Why not hone your craft with local game sites? Go check out the career emails for GamerMY, MyGameOn, and so forth. Their emails & contact points are ripe on display on their main sites, but if you do not have time to click on pages and searching for small print and tabs, we’ll lay it out for you:

• Gamer Matters/Malaya: gamermalaya.my [at] gmail [dot] com
• MyGameOn (Bahasa Melayu): https://www.facebook.com/mygameondotmy
• Salty News Network: https://www.saltynewsnetwork.com/contact, info@saltymedia.biz

We aren’t sure how our peers at the sites mentioned earlier conduct their vetting process, but at Kakuchopurei, the interview starts with the first cover letter email. How you introduce yourselves, your interest, how you came to know about said site and of course, whether you are able to turn a mundane email into something interesting and worth the read.

We also recommend doing your homework by getting to know the folks you want to work with (and for). Social media is your best friend. An email seeking for a job which starts with “To whom it may concern” belongs to the bin. Just kidding. Or not.

Oh, and you can also email us for freelancing opportunities: kakuchopurei [at] gmail [dot] com. We’re always on a lookout for evergreen features & write-ups.

Top image credit: LevelUp KL