1 hot tip to avoid burnout in IT Recruitment – career path for IT recruiters

Ahem! so here goes…

1. Become a Games Recruiter!

And that’s it! But bear with me a little longer, k?

You can always consider shifting to internal Human Resources, right?

But it’s also means onboarding, paychecks, work trips, and all other human resource management areas. So probably not the best deal for everyone, and def not for the people who would like to stick to sourcing and interviewing candidates.

So if you’re tired of an IT recruiter’s job and would like to change something in your career, switching to game dev is definitely an option that I’d recommend. (I did the same exact thing ;))

Well, I gave you a solution but let me explain why shifting from IT to gamedev it’s so damn good remedy for recruiter’s burnout.

Learn about new roles and new tech with gamedev recruitment

You’ve worked in IT so far – you know your way around IT guys. You def know the tech, but if you crave to learn more – you’ll have your chance.

In IT, everyone has a role in a project. The team consists of developers taking care of back-end and front-end, QAs, Team Leads, Project Managers, and Scrum Masters.

The gaming industry is similar. Every person has a role in creating a game.

And you’ll have to learn a bit more about each role to better understand the process of how games are being created and to better understand who your clients (studios) are looking for exactly. So if you’re looking for that kind of growth – you’ve got it. Getting to know about the process of how games are created is additional +10 points for every recruiter who is also a gamer 😉

Btw we have a series of guides to kickstart you on your journey to learn about gamedev roles:

Game Art Roles

Game Design Roles

New sourcing tools – what is the best place to find the most awesome candidates in GameDev?

As a recruiter, you use LinkedIn, Stack Overflow, Github daily, right?

As a game dev recruiter, you use the same sites, but depending on the job description and which roles you’re looking for, the scope of helpful sites might be a bit broader.

Art and Tech recruiters usually go for Linkedin as a first sourcing tool for both artists and programmers.

Then depending on if you’re looking for artists, you probably might want to check Artstation, DeviantArt, CGSociety, Behance, Dribbble, Drawcrowd, Pixiv.

If you’re focusing on the tech side, as mentioned before, Linkedin, but you don’t have to limit yourself to just this one. You should try Stack Overflow (especially if you have access to the premium version- StackOverflow Talent), Github – although it might be a little time-consuming and not 100% effective.

Reddit Groups, Meetup.com, Slack Groups, Discord server all connected to gamedev. You might want to dig a bit more to find a great candidate and broaden your knowledge about games in general.

Level up your network as Games Recruiter

Most IT companies feel uncomfortable with a fully remote work idea. The best you could hope for, in corporate recruiting, is the hybrid option. But this still limits your search to the best people available in that exact location, right?

Cause let’s state the obvious: The majority of candidates are not into relocation.

In the game industry, this is a bit different. Now there’re plenty of remote openings. And even if you can find companies that are adamant about staying true to the old way, we are trying our best to educate our clients about the pros of remote work (and the amount of talent they might lose by sticking only to the “on-site” model).

Games recruiter has this awesome opportunity to expand the network and look for candidates in different locations. And yes, my friend, this increases the chances of talent acquisition.

Game development ppl don’t have a stick up their butts

The game industry is a more informal community than hard IT.

So that means the approach to a candidate is way more different in gamedev. So forget about “Mr. Mrs.” (even when recruiting for a senior opening!). The more casual and more tailored message, the better. They really appreciate it.

Why is this good for you? This allows you to cut the distance between you and the candidate. So you can relax a bit more (while writing the first message or during an interview). And to start a relationship from a different perspective, with a more human touch.

The candidate feels better that way. Games Recruiter feels better that way.

You also have a better chance of getting a reply and not being treated as one of the million other famous annoying recruiters’ that messages are stuck in the inbox without being noticed.

Here you can read about our approach to the candidates and why we’re considering ourselves the best allies for them in the mission of building a stronger and healthier industry.

Let’s wrap it up

As an IT recruiter with experience and knowledge about different technologies, you have a solid head start to recruit for game development. Ya, rly.

This industry is unique, yes, but it might make your work more exciting and challenging.

If you’re passionate about recruitment and like playing games, but you’re tired of recruiting for IT, it’s an excellent opportunity to try something new. This might be the chance to slightly change your recruiter career path. It’s an opportunity to contribute to the development of your next favorite game with your recruiter skills.

It worked out for me. I hope that it will help you as well.

Do you have any questions about how we do it, how we work? Let us know.