Education vs Self teaching
“Should I got to university, or take the time to teach myself game art?”
Self teaching is great - it shows a company that you had the skills to pick up something by yourself, showing initiative. You’ll be able to learn exactly what you want in a timeframe that suits you.
Having a degree is superb because as well helping to protect your future, it will show a prospective company that you were able to complete a series of tasks and deadlines set by others - and to an ability level good enough to get awarded a degree. These days however there are very few courses that teach you exactly what you need to know to get a job. The courses are becoming more relevant, but university courses have to cater for a wide range of possible career choices, so they don’t seem to offer a direct path to a job making games.
So you could do both - go to university, get a degree in SOMETHING, and teach yourself art at the same time.
Tags: education, Games Industry, self teaching
May 21st, 2007 at 9:28 pm
I think it depends on the individual. Some people thrive through self-discovery while others need the structure of a school to maintain focus and direction. In the end, depending on the country you are working in, it’s the skill you are bringing to them that matters.
December 19th, 2007 at 2:37 am
I suppose, getting the best of both worlds would also be another choice:
Getting a degree in the field of Arts and Technology ;).
May 26th, 2008 at 2:30 pm
[...] being able to get a job (and the resulting furore surrounding it), I thought I should revisit my short post on Education vs Self teaching. Previously I had had stated that I thought education was becoming more relevent (but not there [...]