Skomantas Kupciunas
US 1010-008
What is one possible career field that you are interested in? Why does this career field
appeal to you?
I am highly interested in getting a career for game design. Ever since I was little, I used to
play video games, and while playing them I constantly found bugs and glitches. I started
thinking that I can make something as good or even better than the games I played and
started trying to find out what makes games work. As I was researching coding, I grew
more and more attracted to it, as I found out that I really like code.
Describe the working environment, job duties, and responsibilities of this career field?
There are multiple ways to make games. As I intend to be a solo publisher, my work
environment would just be constant sitting at the computer, doing research and planning
my own schedule. I will need to create a basic idea for the games I want to make, start
writing the code, create the sprites for the game, do playtesting, and compose sounds all
on my own or by getting a little help from my friends. If I decide to work for a major
publisher, I will mostly sit at the computer working on set tasks assigned by a team
leader together with my co-workers to meet strict deadlines.
How does this career field align with your personal values?
Personally, I think that one should work to enjoy life. Becoming rich is surely a shortcut
to enjoying life, but one should not lose the idea of having fun. I enjoy coding so in my
case this is a very win-win situation, not to mention that I really like creating stories and
sharing them with others. I value amenities and am happy to be creating more of them.
What is a major that UNO offers that would potentially lead to a job in this field?
The major that leads to a job in game design is IS&T which also has a concentration in
game design. I am currently enrolled in this major while also taking the game design
concentration.
What are some activities, organizations, volunteer opportunities, etc. that you could
actively pursue that would help prepare you for a career in this field?
There are annual game jams and ones that occur a bit more frequently that help get your
name out in the industry and also give professional feedback based on your game, also
exposing you to other game creators in the industry and their games.
What are some local employers that would hire for this career field?
Anvilhead studios is a game making corporation based in Omaha that is still hiring and
seems like they will for a while.
Does this career field align with your Strengths? Why or why not?
Yes, I have a keen interest and understanding in technology. People constantly go to me
when there’s a problem with computers. Other than that, I really like coding. Many
people consider coding to be an extremely monotonous task, but for me, I really enjoy
spending hours doing nothing but staring at and typing code that tries to accomplish
tasks.
What are your next steps to continue to explore and learn more about this (or other)
career fields? What campus resources and people can help you in your career
exploration process?
My next step is getting experience. Though I have a fundamental understanding as to
how the process works, I have no experience. Also earning more coding knowledge is
essential, as I do not have the expansive coding versatility that would highly help in
making games. On campus in there is the creative production lab in the library that has
individuals experienced in all sorts of things, including quite a few people who have
published their own games making them a valuable asset to learn from and make
connections with.
