Following the success of our first student placements this summer we’re planning ahead for summer 2020.

We have four open positions for students to join Playground Games’ engineering department across our Forza and RPG teams.

Eligible students should be at university studying towards a degree in Games Programming, Computer Science or similar. The placement would be for 12 months commencing in Summer 2020.

You can find out more about the placement scheme, and apply, here.

To give you an insight into the Playground Games placement scheme we asked our current placement students John, Josh, Lauren and Tim some questions.

John	Josh
Lauren	Tim

What’s the best thing about having your placement with Playground Games?

John – Being around so many people that are so talented and passionate about what they do, has really helped me improve as a programmer. Every day I’m learning new things and I’m very often in completely different areas of programming. I’ve done a lot of things from batch scripts to writing hlsl since getting here. Which has been a really interesting experience.

Lauren – It’s a tie between the project and the people, the project is incredibly exciting and everyone who I work with I feel like I have a genuine friendship with. Not only during working hours with them helping with day to day work problems, but after work playing ping pong and at the various clubs.

Josh – The best part of working at PG is the amount you learn. Its more than I could at university, and it happens while getting priceless industry experience among some of the most friendly and passionate people anyone could meet.

Tim – The best thing about doing a placement at Playground Games is that you are given a lot of ownership and responsibility over your tasks. It is a great way to improve both your technical and professional skills whilst working on an amazing project.

Is the placement what you expected?

Tim – So far, the placement has been great, and it definitely exceeded my expectations. Everyone has been super welcoming, friendly and the overall atmosphere at the company has been exceptional. The first weeks of the placement there is a lot of time to get used to the way things work and I felt settled in in no time.

John – I’d say yes, this is what I was expecting; I’m constantly getting challenged and improving at what I do which is an amazing experience.

Josh – From the outside, working here seemed like a dream and everyone here was some sort of deity. The fact that the placement takes place in a studio and the people here are so down-to-earth definitely subverted my expectations. Even still, I could never have expected how much I would learn here and just how much more passionate about games this placement would make me.

Lauren – I had no idea what to expect, but I have a lot more responsibility than I thought I would have and it feels like a proper job rather than just being a placement student who’s only here a short time.

How was the interview process?

Josh – The interview process was amazing – as far as interviews go. I received a warm welcome each time and was always made to feel comfortable. Holly did an excellent job of distracting me from my nerves and, once I was in the room, Tom kept everything flowing amazingly well so I didn’t have time to panic. This is definitely a reflection of how Playground treat their staff. Use the interview to learn as much about Playground as they use it to learn about you and don’t forget that everyone here plays games.

Lauren – The interview process was more and more exciting every time I got further along. The first interview was more of a conversation about what I do at university and what I do outside of university to support my studies and of course what games I play. The code test is where it got to technical ability; the first question was relatively simple, but in the moment, I was nervous so it seemed harder than it was.

Tim – Though the interview process was quite challenging I think it provided me with a good view on what interview processes might look and it has taught me a lot about how I can approach these kinds of interviews in the future.

John – The interview process was slightly daunting, as you’d expect for a AAA games company; but the first interview was quite relaxed. The code test wasn’t the awful, but I definitely made some dumb mistakes due to stressing myself out; and the last interview was again quite relaxed and I really felt I had the freedom to ask any questions I had and to really understand the role beforehand.

How has your overall experience been so far?

Lauren – Overall, it’s been an unforgettable experience and has really cemented my desire to work in the games industry. Every day I look forward to going in to work to carry on working on whatever it is I’m doing that week. Of course, it’s not all easy, there’s some days where you could be stuck on something for a while, but that’s the same wherever you’re working

John – Amazing. I get to work with a team of amazing programmers, on proprietary systems, and I’m constantly getting feedback that’s helping me get better and better. I feel like I’ve grown so much as a programmer and as a software architect since I joined, and I really think this experience will stay with me for the rest of my life.

Josh – Working here has been one of the best experiences of my life, my only complaint is that it is passing far too quickly.

What advice would you give students looking to secure a placement with Playground Games?

Tim – The best advice I can give is to be yourself and to be honest, if you don’t know the answer to something don’t be afraid to admit that.

Josh – Anyone here can talk to anyone, and everyone here wants it to stay that way. You won’t succeed on programming ability alone. Show your passion and don’t be shy to ask your own questions!

Lauren – Play lots of games so you’re able to talk about them, keep your attendance up at university because you never know when you’ll have a lecture on a subject that you’ll be asked about at interview or even use when working and don’t be afraid to ask questions in your interview- they don’t expect you to know absolutely everything!

John – Make sure you read up on and have a good knowledge of design patterns and a C style language, such as C# or C++, or Java. Along with this you’ll also want to have well laid out portfolio that shows all your best work, so that the recruiters and leads can look through it and see what you can really do.

If you’d like to apply for our 2020 Student Placements, please click here.