If you're currently loafing about at university wondering what on Earth you're going to do with that game design degree, this might be the answer. The dates have been announced for this year's Game Grads events, two careers fairs aimed at getting graduates together with videogame developers and publishers. Last year, 500 students from 52 universities across the UK turned up for the programme of seminars. You can catch it in Manchester on April 24 and London on April 29. There are further details on the website.
Clearly the ties between the higher education community and the games industry have strengthened since I used to write the annual 'how to get a job in the games industry' booklet for Edge magazine. Back then we struggled to include a handful of videogame-specific courses - now a majority of establishments run some kind of programming or design strand aimed at students wanting a career in the games industry. At that time, the industry could be a little dismissive of dedicated games programming courses - loads of developers were telling me they'd prefer staff with a strong pure maths or physics background. It seems though, that the two fields are now working together to produce the next generation of UK talent.
To underline this, there's a Games:Edu conference running alongside the Game Grad event, specifically aimed at getting educators together with the industry, presumably to discuss what students should actually be learning. The likes of Rare, Microsoft, Evolution Studios, Foundation 9, Introversion and Blitz Games will be speaking during the event, which is split into Games: Edu North (Manchester, April 29) and South (Brighton July 29). There's more info at the dedicated website.
