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How Gaming can Prepare you for a Career in IT

I got my first Commodore 64 in the early 80’s when I was around 7.  The Commodore 64’s manual came with code samples for the basic programming language so I would type the code in myself to see if I could make a balloon move diagonally across the screen.  For some reason I remember it was white on the blue background with what I assume was a “C” in the middle.  This was my first taste of programming and how I could use a computer to make a game (although not a very fun game, just watching a balloon move.)

Flash forward to my college years when I got my first “modern” pc with the windows 3.1 operating system.  Anyone who has tried to install a pc game knows there are sometimes major problems that you need to resolve before running World of Warcraft, Counter Strike or Spore.  Problems like the wrong version of direct x, incompatible video card drivers, and lower than needed machine capacity like memory.  Microsoft has made some advancement in this area with Windows XP and even the much disliked Vista, but there are still plenty of crashes during game play to deal with.

Working through these issues to get a game running gives you a lot of the skills you need to become a desktop support technician in an IT job.  The main responsibilities of this job are to troubleshoot pc issues, install software and make hardware changes like adding memory.  A lot of the best IT people I know are also gamers.  This is a great entry level IT job with many paths to grow.  From this job you can advance to higher level desktop support, move into server support or become an IT manager.  The options are endless and lucrative.

If you’ve ever attended a LAN party you’ve seen the networking skills that are required to get everyone networked together to play.  This is a path to a Network Engineer.  These are the people responsible for among other things connecting all pc’s, servers and other hardware together through a network.  This is another great path with many ways to grow in the job.

This next one is in my opinion the most difficult path, it is to learn programming languages to write your own independent video games.  There are some amazing indie games out there.  I would love to work for Rockstar Games and attach ping pong balls to horses for motion capture, but I did not go that route and do not have the skills.

All of the professions listed here will take some extra training, but the skills you have 
already acquired put you ahead of anyone trying to get the same position without the experience gained from your passion for playing video games.

Remember when someone tells you that you’re wasting your time playing video games, you are also building some valuable skills that can lead you into a future career.