Professional Skills for the Digital Age The Ultimate Guide to Success in the Game Industry & Life

Interview with Rob Coble:

 

Co-Creator of Website Networking Nerds and Career Advisor/Industry Outreach at Full Sail University Shares Insight on His New Book for Aspiring Video Game Developers, Networking Nerds: Professional Skills For the Digital Age, and Why He is Passionate About Networking.

 

By Michael Thompson

 

At some point in life the all too familiar question gets asked of us, “What do you want to be when you grow up?” As we get older the same question can haunt us as the answer turns from a cool conversation piece for childhood friendships and becomes the inward demand of our adult selves, “What am I going to do with my life?”

 

For many who long to leave their current day jobs to explore the exciting waters of a career in video game development, learning what it means to be part of the teams who create those hours of enjoyment can be a daunting task. How does one even begin? Is going to school to become a software engineer the right answer or does it need to be a program geared towards gaming specifically? Should I wear a suit to my first interview?

 

If this is you than relax, because in this day and age the mysteries that shrouded such answers before are now lifting. The answers are out there and soon they will be in your hands. Now more than ever before there are powerfully allies standing in your corner, who help people succeed at achieving the same dream every day.

 

One of them is Rob Coble. Serving for years as a music industry executive in Los Angeles, Rob had returned to the East Coast and Florida becoming a career advisor for Full Sail University’s Game Design and Development Degree. Serving as a main conduit between students and employers in the video game industry led him to create the website, Networking Nerds, a place dedicated to seeing goals reached by connecting people with the right people and resources.

 

As he put it, “I love meeting new people and getting their take and opinions…. I think I’m fortunate that I realized a lot of my dreams quite early in life. I was a regional director for Universal at thirty-five and that was beyond my wildest dreams. So for me now I get my kicks sitting back and watching other people realize their dreams. There’s nothing that makes me happier than seeing someone get their dream job.”

 

However, a website for networking game developers is only the iceberg’s tip to a much larger dream. Early last year Rob began writing a book called Networking Nerds: Professional Skills for the Digital Age - a textbook with one goal: to debug, once and for all, the myths surrounding how to break in to the world of video games.

 

The book could not be coming out at a better time. Steadily rising each year over the past decade the game industry is expected to be worth over 100 billion dollars by the year 2020 and employs hundreds of thousands globally. If you ever thought about pursuing a career in video games now is a good time to start making that dream happen. That is what the book is all about.

 

The scary part is the interview almost never happened. My meeting with Rob was set for 9 AM in Longwood, Florida. The drive from Jacksonville, Florida down the coast to the state’s muggy interior and Orlando is normally easy. Today, in dark, treacherous rain, staring at the pair of dim red brake lights ahead for guidance, the going had gotten a little rough. Torrential amounts of rainfall had made the uneven highway slick and harsh winds off the nearby ocean served to buffet my small Toyota from all sides. In hindsight it was a little exhilarating.

 

I walked into the restaurant at 8:59 a little waterlogged and ready for breakfast. Rob and I ordered some pancakes and then broke bread over his book, his website, and his passion for seeing others succeed.

 

ME: Networking Nerds is a website you co-created to help bring professionals in technology driven industries together. It is obvious that for you networking is a passion?

 

ROB: Everything I’ve been able to accomplish in my life has come as a result of relationships I’ve had. I think back to my very first job working in a record store. I applied and had a good friend who worked there, who was able to put in a good word for me. Subsequently, every job I’ve had since came through being able to find out about the position from someone I knew who had put in a recommendation for me. So yeah, I think networking is really important because statistics prove that ninety percent of the jobs available in the game industry, probably in every industry, are not posted anywhere. Those opportunities are all going to come through who you know or through a referral. The majority of the jobs that are out there, about seventy percent, are gotten through referrals.

 

ME: You always hear that old saying it’s not what you know, but who you know.

 

ROB: (Laughs) I say that all the time.

 

ME: I’ve always wondered because I think a lot of people misread that to think it’s not what you know at all as long as you know the right person.

 

ROB: I’ll answer that like this: I tell potential game industry folk if they lead with their person—in other words the more people know you and like you and feel that you're a person they would want to be around for ten hours a day—the more opportunity you are going to have to show off your technical skills in the first place. Nobody is going to come up to you and say, “Oh you’re a game developer, okay, let’s see what you got.”  But if someone really connects with you and says, “Wow, I could see myself working with this guy...” Okay, so now you are going to have to prove yourself. Software engineers or artists or game developers are a dime a dozen. There are a lot of them out there. Getting the opportunity to show off what you are capable of doing comes as a result of you being able to make connections with the people that can influence whether or not you are going to get that opportunity in the first place. Always lead with your professional skills and you will have a lot more opportunity to show off your technical skills later.

 

ME: Have you always felt this way about networking when you started almost twenty-five years ago in the music industry? Or did a later epiphany in your professional career kind of lead to this passion?

 

ROB: It’s a little bit of both. I always knew networking was really important. When I started working in record stores I got invited to a lot of various listening parties or backstage events. When I realized I wanted to make a career out of music I knew I needed to attend these things because I needed to meet the people involved and I needed to be seen. I needed to show people I was a nice guy. At the same time I was scared; I was very nervous because I was intimidated by a lot of the people I was around and always felt like I had to know everything. I couldn’t be around them without pretending I didn’t know everything that was going on. In hindsight I realize that I should have taken those opportunities to ask questions and to learn from them. It’s ok to let people know you don’t know everything and let them mentor you. But at the time I was very insecure and very nervous about being around them mostly because of intimidation. After awhile when I went into my executive positions in the music business I still felt that way around certain people. There were others I used to be intimidated by that I realized, you know the old saying, they put their pants on one leg at a time as well. They were just people like me. I learned to be a lot more genuine and that it was ok to ask questions because that’s how people learn… Just as long as you’re not constantly asking the same question over and over and over again.

 

ME: Never learning.

 

ROB: Yeah exactly.

 

ME: I’m sure that’s not uncommon for many to feel that way, especially when they first get started. What did you do to conquer those insecurities so you could reach your full potential?

 

ROB: I guess it took awhile, but then I learned a little more about humility. I’m probably not the most humble guy in the world, but at the same time I’ve had a lot of people tell me in the game industry that you should be prepared to be little more than a full time student for the rest of your life. Things change so rapidly; technology changes, production methodologies change, and you have to be adaptable. I guess for me when I stopped thinking I had to know it all and I became more willing to learn the light bulb went off. It became a little bit easier for me to accept who I was and my role in it all. So yeah, I always tell people you got to have confidence, and not confidence that you know everything, but confidence that you can find the answer. That means in order to be confident you got to have equal parts humility because you’re not afraid to admit that you don’t know, but you’re willing to do what it takes to find the answer. Sometimes that means admitting you don’t know and asking questions. It’s ok to fail. I always tell people that if you don’t fail than you’re not trying hard enough. You got to get out there and take chances while at the same time not be so strong-willed that you already know what’s best. You’re constantly learning. It is a constant evolution as you go through your career.

 

ME: It’s no longer about getting what you want no matter what as it’s about working together as a team.

 

ROB: That applies to all things whether it is a movie or a video game. There are hundreds of other people out there who have opinions and you might feel strongly about your own, but you’re not going to win all the time and your idea is not always going to be the one that gets chosen. You’ve got to be adaptable and learn when it’s time to walk away and try someone else’s idea.

 

ME: Do you cover a lot of this in your upcoming book, Professional Skills for the Digital Age?

 

ROB: Yes, I think the book is going to pull it all together. The advice we give in networking nerds is not just us sitting there and thinking about what we want to say, but what we have pulled as a culmination of what the industry has told us. That’s the cool thing about the book is it’s not just Rob, James, and Michelle saying do this, but instead it’s Rob, James and Michelle saying this is what the industry is looking for, this is what the industry is asking for, and this is what is expected of you. It’s not just the technological skills that you have. It’s the professional skills that you bring, which are equally as important. If you ask anyone in the game development industry what are the most important characteristics for a game programmer or artist they will lead with things like teamwork, communication, and passion, over the technological skills every time.

 

ME: The best part about that is you’re publishing a guide, which will dispel many of the myths surrounding the question, “How do I break into the gaming industry?”

 

ROB: I think it’s needed because, especially right now, young kids are being influenced and growing up where the majority of their communication is being done online. It’s being done from their computers, from their smart phones, via text, via instant message, and there’s a tendency to abbreviate a lot, a tendency to get right to the point; a lot of slang and stuff like that, but when you talk to someone face-to-face they are not really sure how to handle it. I’ve had people comment at my university that we should have a class on how to shake hands. Eye contact is important, being able to talk a little bit about yourself and being able to find out a little bit about the other person and what makes them tick. Being able to understand body language, all of those things are extremely important and we lose a lot of that when we communicate via technology.

 

ME: If there was one piece of advice you could give to young people what would it be?

 

ROB: I guess I would say get involved. You know we have the luxury of being able to network from home. Twitter is this generation’s water cooler, we can talk to anyone… But have something to say. Just because you connect with someone doesn’t mean that you’re networking. If you’re standing in a group of people and you’re not involved in the conversation than you’re not networking. What is the new saying, don’t lurk, network. (Laughs) I know it’s kind of goofy, but… you know, get involved. If you’re passionate about this stuff don’t be afraid to go to IDGA meetings, don’t be afraid to go to the Game Dev Meet-Ups, and be friendly to people and ask them what they do. How can you get involved? If you want to be a game developer than make games, get some friends together and make games. There’s so many things you could be doing out of passion. Get involved; meet people.

 

ME: How excited are you to be going to the Game Developers Conference in San Francisco tomorrow and the networking opportunity it presents each year?

 

ROB: This is one of my annual trips that is my favorite every year. I say it every time; GDC is like Disneyland for nerds. It is without a doubt the happiest conference I have ever been to and I learn a lot by going there. I’ve met a lot of people I now call friends by being there and being visible. It’s a great opportunity to learn and it's a great opportunity to share passions with other like mind individuals. In addition to a lot of lectures and various booths to check out it’s great to reconnect with a lot of people, some of them I only see once a year at GDC. We’re all there for the common goal; it’s all about networking and keeping up with what’s going on in the industry. Knowledge is power, you got to know what your industry is up to and this is the place to do it while connecting with the people that are doing it. These people all have similar interests and you never know who’s going to be where next year. You might meet someone who’s just getting started and next year he might hire you and be your next opportunity. Don’t go there because you have to network, go there because you want to network and make friends. If you love talking about games and making games than this should be a no brainer. Go there to have a great time and the rewards and the dividends that you’ll receive will pay off in spades in the long run.

 

ME: That’s a concept of networking that often gets lost. People get this mercenary attitude, what’s in it for me and who can I meet that will advance my career, instead of just looking to make friends.

 

ROB: You can tell when people aren’t being sincere and have the what’s in it for me arrogance… They’re really doing more harm. The industry is small and word is going to get around fast that you’re a guy who doesn’t care about other people. You know, a friend of mine, Grant Shonkwiler, was asked once in an interview what teamwork meant to him and he said it was making sure everyone else knew that he cared about what they were doing and I love that because it wasn’t just about him it was about the team. The best way to meet people is to help them. You might be new to the industry, but you might have an insight into something that someone else doesn’t and if you take a genuine interest in other people that’s where the bond comes from. If you’re in it only for yourself people are going to notice and it’s not going to work. Sincerity is important, once again, do it because you love it. It’s funny, I see people who come into the school all the time. Most people who enroll into my game development program don’t know each other until they start so you’ve got about sixty game developers in a class room and they don’t know each other, but they are going to travel together for the next few months. They come to the school not knowing one person and by the time they leave the program I ask well how many people do you know now and usually the answer is in the two to three hundred range of people they know by name. Those people go out into the industry and often times are asked for their recommendations and they remember the people they went to school with. For instance I had sixteen graduates who all worked on Red Dead Redemption when that game came out and I believe twelve of them were all from the game development program. All twelve of them graduated within a two-month period of each other from my university. So they knew each other; they got their jobs through recommendations and referrals. There were probably a lot of other people from those same two months who applied and were told no; this guy is bad news or you don’t want that guy. He’s tough to deal with, he doesn’t get along with other people, and he’s arrogant. So you got to be sincere and you got to remember that even while you are in school you should start thinking about those professional skills now. That’s a lot of what the book is all about. You have that time period between two to four years of getting your degree and your professionals skills don’t start when you graduate they start now. Start thinking about those things because you’re establishing a reputation for yourself and that’s what’s important.

 

ME: Something we see a lot in the entertainment field is cynicism. While some people have paid really hard dues and deserve to be perhaps a little bit cynical when you allow yourself to become that way you get judgmental of others and then networking becomes very hard because instead of being open to others you then begin judging them instead.

 

ROB: I see a lot of people, who do that. Someone they know will get a job and they’ll immediately start trashing that guy, “Oh he got so lucky.” Well, I don’t know who said this originally but one of my favorite quotes is, “Luck is the residue of design.” (Baseball Legend, Wesley Branch Rickey) Think about that. Luck is nothing more than when opportunity and preparation collide. So you might look at that guy and think he’s lucky, but somewhere along the way he was at the right place at the right time and took advantage of it. That’s just how it works whether you like it or not. Welcome to the real world, you got to play by the rules.

 

ME: Keep trucking till you make it your own.

 

ROB: Yeah and a lot of people will say, “Well how long should I expect to wait to get a job after I graduate?” That’s entirely up to you. I see people who work hard to make connections and by the time they graduate they already have a lot of companies interested in them because of the way they have carried themselves through the program. I see others who graduate and don’t put forth any effort in going out and making those connections. They end up in their parent’s basement playing video games and not getting out there and becoming a part of that community that they so desperately want to be a part of. It takes a bit of effort, and once again, who you know is going to help you get your foot in the door as quick as anything else.

 

ME: So true and you know the greatest thing about networking is the inspiring people you meet along the way and the amazing stories you get from encountering them.

 

ROB: I have a good friend who is a programmer at EA right now; his name is Kerry Allen. He has got three really incredible jobs by networking his way through. We talk a lot about his story in the book in fact, but I’ll tell you a little bit about it here. The first opportunity he got actually came from the bartender at a pub he used to have dinner at a lot. He walked in one day and obviously he networked with his bartender and she knew he was trying to break into the video game industry. He walked in to have dinner one day and she told him about a table full of EA game developers that were sitting in the bar. And she told him, you need to make it a point to go over there and meet them. Sure enough he did, he went over and talked to them and spent a couple hours with them having dinner and introduced himself as a fellow game developer and simply asked if they minded him joining them. By the end of dinner one of the guys from EA said, “ Hey man, have you ever thought about working at EA?” And Kerry said, “Yeah I’ve actually applied a few times, but I haven’t been able to get any response.” So the guy said, “Here’s my card, send me your resume.” So Kerry got home that night and sent his resume and sure enough the next day he got a call from the recruiter at EA to come in for an interview. Again it was based on the recommendation from the guy at dinner, who referred him to the recruiter. Same resume they had on file, but this time it came with a referral and he got a call. This kind of illustrates my point from earlier too. He sat down with these guys and they all thought he was a nice guy and they probably said to themselves you know this is a guy I could see myself working with for ten hours a day. Because of that he got an opportunity to show off his technical skills.

 

ME: And all because he took the time to network with his bartender. That’s why it is so important to try to be friends with everyone and not just people in your industry because you have no idea when that one person you know is going to know the right person.

 

ROB: Man, it’s so true that you never know. Even at GDC I tell people all the time you never know who is going to be in the lobby bar or restaurant near the conference center. You’re going to be surrounded by game developers. So it never stops, you’re on all the time… You never know who you’re going to meet and just being nice to people is always a good start.

 

Networking Nerds: Professional Skills for the Digital Age is being published by Needle Rat Press and is set for a release date later this year. To read more about Rob Coble, his co-authors, and their amazing new book or for more encouraging words, inspiration, and advice for achieving your dreams please visit their website at www.NetworkingNerds.net.