The guest lecture we had this week was Si Donbavand, Development Director at Fabrik Games Ltd, he visited the University of Bolton as a guest speaker. He discussed his career with us and giving us advice how to achieve a good future in our fields. It was a very interesting talk in which he spoke about the game industry and the in outs of the but there was this one point that he made that which piqued my interest and that was ‘Generalization vs specialisation ‘.

 

‘In short, many modern businesses, including games development studios are looking for well-rounded specialists, with a broad understanding and experience of e.g. teamwork and communication, as well as some critical thinking and project management skills, and a deep understanding of one specialism, which can be a combination of both a discipline (such as art) and one system (such as 3ds Max).’ (TIGA, 2014)

 

What this shows, is that not only in the games industry but in any field that you may go into, it would be better for you to have a larger skill set than focusing on just one or two. It will be a great asset in your arsenal of skills, regard to you getting yourself hired because you are a Well-Rounded specialist, what the employers are looking for in their employees is that they have management skills to overlook the project the communication skills to lead your team to achieve the set goal. This is because when you are skilled in more than one area of expertise, you are more likely to get hired due to the fact that you have more to offer than you who has the very specific skillset. I am not saying that the people who do have skills specific in one area are not hireable, it’s just that they would probably have a wait a little longer to find the job that they want because the demand is higher for people with a more generalised skill set. So, in conclusion, I believe that it would be more beneficial your someone to have a more generalised skill set because it boosts your heritability, this does only apply to the gaming industry either as being proficient in more skills makes you an asset to the company you go to.

 

References

 

TIGA. (2014). TIGA LEAP 2014. [ONLINE], Available at: http://tiga.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/4182-TIGA-Leap-Report_SCREEN.pdf [Accessed 12 May 2017]

The Studio Liverpool, (2014). Si Donbavand [ONLINE]. Available at: http://thestudio.northernschoolstrust.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2014/06/si-donbavand.jpg [Accessed 06 March 15].