Daniel Hind

Computer Games Technology student Daniel Hind is currently working as a Code Intern at Rebellion. Daniel decided to do a placement to gain industry connections and to learn about the inner workings of the games industry.

Tell us more about your placement and what it entails

My role is a traditional C++ focused games industry programming role where I work alongside other members of the Rebellion team to not only make games but to maintain and improve their in-house game engine and tools.

What are you hoping to gain from doing your placement?

I wanted to do a placement in order to get some vital industry experience and learn how skills taken from the Computer Games Technology course can be translated into the workplace. I also saw taking a placement as a good opportunity to create some connections within the industry and hopefully increase my chance of finding employment after graduation.

So far at my placement I have greatly improved my C++ skills and learned a lot about the inner workings of the games industry. While on my placement I am also hoping to find some inspiration for my final year dissertation.

What was the application process like?

The application for Rebellion was very standard. I sent off my CV and cover letter in October 2018 then received an online programming test to complete in November. It took a while to hear back after that but eventually I was offered an interview in February which was made up of standard interview style questions and then another longer programming test followed by a studio tour.

How did the university support you whilst you were looking for a placement?

The Computer Games Technology team were great in supporting me through the interview process. Dr Carlo Harvey had set up some mock interview sessions with a range of traditional programming questions which really helped me prepare. 

What are your future career plans and how has your placement affected this?

My placement has cemented my plans to continue exploring a career working as a programmer in the games industry. My placement so far has been a great opportunity to experience the wide range of specialisations and skills within programming for games. It has also given me time to improve my C++ programming skills and have some extremely valuable experience which I can leverage going forward.

What placement advice do you have for future students?

I would say that getting started early is crucially important. Even if a studio isn’t openly advertising positions yet, don’t hesitate to send them an email showing that you’re interested. I found that many places that weren’t advertising placement positions still actually had positions available to those that got in touch. I ended up creating a spreadsheet to track all of my ongoing applications and I found this to be a good way to keep track of progress. 

I would also say that it is a good idea to keep your options open while looking for a placement. By that I mean making sure that you apply to a wide range of different placements and don’t get too invested into any single application as you might miss out on other opportunities.

The final (and probably most important) piece of advice I’d give is to just be patient. Applying for a placement can be an incredibly slow and tedious process where it can take months between getting a reply to applications or emails. I found this bit to be particularly stressful as there were long periods of silence followed by weeks having multiple interviews or tests back to back. So most importantly stick with it and don’t give up!