Ever wanted to get into games journalism? Then you’ll want to either attend or watch W.A.S.D, London’s all-new games show. At 16:00 BST on Friday, April 8th, a panel of writers from some of the UK media’s leading sites will offer advice for aspiring games journalists.
PCGamesN Editor Richard Scott-Jones will be joined by colleagues Jen Rothery and Joe Robinson, as well as GAMINGbible’s Imogen Donovan. Each of the panel has had very different routes into the business and a range of experiences since starting, and their sites approach games coverage in different ways, so the panel promises a rich mix of insight.
In a little preview of that advice, Scott-Jones urges applicants not to be deterred by the industry’s competitiveness. “We do get a lot of applicants for every vacancy because it’s an enjoyable job, but for the same reason, a lot of those applicants tend to be aspirational. You’d be surprised how much you can stand out just by getting the basics right,” Scott-Jones says.
“At entry level, we’re looking for people who can write well and who know PC gaming inside and out, as well as buckets of enthusiasm and drive. More advanced skills – such as SEO or social media techniques, or a book of industry contacts – are great to have, but it’s also our role to equip you with that. The fundamentals are much more difficult to teach; our editors can polish your writing, but it’s essential that you have a strong foundation already, and of course gaming knowledge should go without saying.”
Given the above, Scott-Jones is encouraging of applicants’ prospects. PCGamesN is hiring a Guides Editor right now and will have some entry-level roles opening soon, and we want to hear from you. But “pay close attention to the needs of every job advert,” Scott-Jones urges. “We see some applicants taking a scattergun approach, imagining that it’s a numbers game and that you’re bound to hit a certain percentage of low-effort applications. That’s never been true in my experience of applying or hiring, and I can’t imagine it is in anyone else’s. There’s a human being, not a random number generator, at the end of every recruitment process, and the fire-and-forget applicants are obvious.”
You can tune in to a jam-packed speaker schedule at the PCGamesN Theatre via W.A.S.D’s livestream below, including the game journalism talk at 16:00 BST on Friday, April 8th:
W.A.S.D is already underway at London’s famous Tobacco Dock in Wapping, but there are still W.A.S.D tickets available for today and Saturday if you’re in the area and fancy a last-minute trip to the UK’s newest gaming show.