Recruiting for Gaming at Anderson
About Emily: Emily Fan (’23) is originally from Vancouver, BC Canada. She graduated from McGill University with a business degree and concentrations in Marketing and International Business. After graduation, Emily moved to Los Angeles to start a career within the advertising world. She began working in a multicultural media agency as a Media Coordinator and ultimately became an Account Manager at Mindshare Singapore. Emily has worked in prominent agencies in both LA and Singapore and across high profile brands such as Toyota, Chanel, and Lionsgate. At Anderson, she seeks to pivot from agency onto the brand side as a Product Marketing or Brand Manager in the video game industry. Emily is passionate about entertainment, games, diversity and inclusion, and global communities.
Anderson boasts great resources for folks aiming to recruit for one of the fastest growing industries within digital entertainment and tech – gaming. Despite the significant industry growth, gaming remains a relatively niche career path among MBA recruiting. As such, I will outline the general recruiting parameters (i.e. timeline, job postings, interview structure) as well as the key resources available at Anderson to help you succeed in this space.
TOP RECRUITING PARAMETERS & TIPS
- TIMELINE: Unlike consulting, tech, or other on-campus recruiting, gaming is much more unstructured. Job postings can become available as early as September to as late as May/June depending on the company. Consequently, gaming folks may consistently have interviews starting from October onwards until late April of your first year. Other than a few of the larger companies (PlayStation, Blizzard, Riot Games), most companies will on begin posting until after January/ February. The peak of the interview timeline is during March. Pro-Tip: Make sure you begin prepping for interviews as soon as fall quarter begins – you never know when your interviews will start.
- JOB POSTINGS: Now, where can you find job postings? Unfortunately, Parker’s MyCareer database does not typically feature gaming postings other than those of the few big companies listed previously. And so this is where “Beyond Campus Recruiting” really kicks in – it is your responsibility to source job postings to apply to. Luckily, Anderson has a great gaming community of 2nd years (and eventually incoming 1st years) who will post any job postings they find within a Slack group. This team effort makes sure that you don’t miss any job postings. Separately, LinkedIn will be your best friend – most gaming companies will make job postings on LinkedIn. Pro-Tip: Set up LinkedIn job alerts like “MBA Internship Gaming” to ensure that you receive alerts/remain updated on all new postings. When searching for a specific role, it might be beneficial to include the “Posts” filter on LinkedIn as well – this will allow you to see any connections/professionals talking about this job posting and may help you in identifying who to reach out to to learn more about the role.
- INTERVIEW: Gaming interviews are generally behavioral with “case-like” questions. This means that the case questions are usually gaming-specific, which are slightly less structured than consulting/tech case questions and much more conversational. Pro–Tip: If the interviewer asks you what you’re playing now – that’s a case! This is your chance to talk about the game’s business and monetization strategies.
ANDERSON RESOURCES
- ANDERSON CAREER TEAMS (ACT): Your ACT team is your support system – this is filled with 5-8 classmates who are similarly passionate about a career in gaming. Anderson having a specific team dedicated to gaming is a huge plus. Your ACT Coaches are 2nd year students who have dedicated their time to build a curriculum about the industry for you and help you succeed. They will teach you the general terminology, concepts, and trends within the industry. Your coaches will also be available to chat whenever you have any issues or recruiting questions.
- INTERVIEW PREP TEAM (IPT): After moving on from ACT, you will be assigned to a gaming-specific interview prep team. Your IPT Coaches can be your existing ACT Coaches or other 2nd years who volunteer specifically to be IPT Coaches. You will meet with them weekly in smaller groups than ACT and practice mock interview questions and cases. Your IPT Coaches will be able to answer any specific interview questions/advice that you may have when prepping for an upcoming interview.
- ALUMNI: One of the most valuable resources Anderson offers is its extensive alumni network within entertainment, and specifically, gaming. Reaching out to alums on LinkedIn typically yields high response rates. I have had over 30 coffee chats and a wealth of valuable information about specific companies and roles/functions. They are also usually happy to refer you to any internship postings. Alums will also participate in mentorship programs and panels hosted by the Entertainment Management Association (EMA), allowing for students to build closer professional relationships with alumni.
Final Pro-Tip: Last but not least, trust the process. Gaming is a tough industry to get into. It will no doubt get tiring with such long recruiting timelines, especially when all your friends/classmates are done recruiting. But don’t give up, you’ll make it as long as you rely on the Anderson support system!
Student Blogger: Emily Fan ‘23
Undergrad: McGill University (’14)
Pre-MBA: Account Manager, Mindshare (CHANEL Account)
Leadership@Anderson: President, Asian Management Students Association; VP of Admit Weekends, Admission Ambassador Corps; VP of Conferences, Entertainment Management Association; VP of Social, Japan America Business Association
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