Eutechnyx is one of the UK’s leading game development studios. Our placement program – Level Up - is based on the in-house mentoring of students as they work on real, commercial game projects.
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UK, USA, Hong Kong and China.
We would regularly hire newly-graduated students from the local universities’ game development courses. Although they were equipped with excellent theoretical skills and were talented developers, they had no practical experience and we still needed to instil specific behaviours and teach a number of specialised skills to new employees, something that took a lot of time and ate into valuable development time.
Our approach was two-fold. We began by acting as advisors on the content and curriculum of each university’s course, encouraging a more practical approach to game development (rather than the more theoretical approach found in most courses.) We also instigated a placement program in which we could help nurture and develop the students taking part so they would be better equipped to work in commercial game development. This was the origin of our Level Up placement program.
Level Up
Arwen Duddington
Level Up began as a response to an issue we faced when recruiting new staff from university. Although technically skilled and highly educated, the students had no practical experience and their courses focused primarily on theoretical development or taught skills that were not applicable in practical game development.
Initially we sought to help by contacting the local universities and advising on course content. We also gave lectures and hosted open days for students as a way to help create stronger ties to the universities and encourage students to consider working both in game development and working for Eutechnyx.
We decided that it would be advantageous if we were to start accepting students looking for undergraduate placements, as this would give them an insight into development but also allow us to shape their talents and encourage the development of skills, abilities and philosophies not taught at the more theoretical-led universities.
The approach was simple: give the best, most promising students a 12-month placement during which we’d mentor them and help develop their skills. They’d learn invaluable tips from some of the country’s top developers, get to work on an actual commercial project and in return, we’d be able to hone their abilities and prime them for working full-time at Eutechnyx, should they so choose to accept post-graduation.
The program has expanded over the last couple of years to also include a pastoral aspect, with Eutechnyx helping students further by arranging accommodation, setting-up buddy programs (where students may work with other placement students or even arrange to house-share to avoid them living alone), helping the students integrate by organising social events and more.
As previously stated, although the game development courses available at universities around the country provide an excellent grounding in core theoretical skills, there are some practical skills and attitudes that can only be developed in the workplace. We therefore decided that an undergraduate program in which we were able to shape and nurture the work ethics, skills and general attitudes of the students involved would be a massive advantage.
We get to work with the country’s upcoming next generation of game developers, teach them our business practices and mentor them to develop their skills as developers and productive employees. This then means that should we wish to continue working with the student post-graduation, they’re already primed and understand not just our internal operations but also the game development industry. We have a 90% take-up rate with students taking part in Level Up, so it’s clearly a program that works!
We have around a 90% uptake rate from students who have taken part in the Level Up program. This illustrates the fact that the program is a success from both sides: we find students we wish to employ and the students find working at Eutechnyx to be something they’d like to continue on a full-time basis.
One student who began on the Level Up program Three years ago is now lead programmer on a Triple-A project, has had articles published in game development magazines and gave a lecture at the 2008 GDC. This clearly shows how well the program works and can help a student develop over a short period of time.
As stated above, one key aspect of the program is that we look beyond the 9-5 elements of the placement and look at ways to help the students that don’t necessarily relate to the workplace.
For example, we will help students find accommodation or introduce them to other students taking part in the program who may be interested in sharing a house with them. Initially this was not something we gave much consideration to but realised that a number of our students faced a two-hour commute every morning from their current location and that by offering them the opportunity to relocate to the area we could help make their placement more enjoyable.
It’s vital to give consideration to the non-work aspects of the placement too and how that can be improved, as this will ensure your students are more productive and willing to take part in the program.
We’re looking to expand our catchment area to include additional universities and develop stronger links to various sites around the country. Currently our Level Up intake is predominately based around students from our local universities, but we’ve recently widened this net and will be looking to strengthen our ties with universities further afield.
Following the tremendous success of the Level Up programme in the UK we are also looking to roll this out across our international offices next year.
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