An internship is likely the first contact you’ll have with the games industry – but how should you go about applying for one? What steps do you need to take, and how do you get started?
In this article, our recruiter Sandra Mondahl guides you through the 3 steps for applying for an internship at Massive, and shares some of her best tips along the way!
You’re interested in an internship at Massive? Then you’ve come to the right place!
For us at Massive, internship is a way to enrich your career and help you take the first steps into your professional work life.
We always aim to hire our interns after their internship – which is of course not always possible, but still always our goal!
In general, we have two types of internships at Massive: outside production or inside production.
Internships outside production are advertised on our career page when we have a need for support in areas like user testing and Brand – make sure to check our career site regularly if you’re interested in one of these internships, since they can be announced any time of the year!
If you want to be an intern inside production, we mainly find people through our collaborations with various schools. These are schools we know have great educational quality and understand our organization and life at an AAA studio – which brings me to the first step on your journey to a Massive internship:
1. Check your school’s collaborations
If you’re at a school in collaboration with us, make sure your coordinator knows about your interest in internship at Massive – they will then pass on your profile to us to have a look at.
And if your school happens to not have a collaboration with us? Contact your school’s internship coordinator to get in touch with us at Massive, and we’ll take it from there!
If you haven’t started your education yet but have an idea of which studio you’d like to intern at, I’d like to give you a little tip: check which studios different schools have collaborations with before even applying. That way, you can make sure you have a chance of getting into your dream studio when it’s time for your internship!
2. Let us know what you want to learn – and what you can teach us!
Writing an application for an internship is not very different from writing a job application: show us your resume, a cover letter, and your portfolio.
When you write your cover letter, make sure to tell us what you’d like to learn during your internship with us! At Massive, we see your internship as the final step of your education, and your first step into the professional world, and we want to do everything we can to make this transition as good as possible.
At Massive, we see your internship as the final step of your education, and your first step into the professional world
We’re also interested in knowing how your education can help you in your internship role, and what new knowledge and skills you can bring to the team (or even the organization as a whole!).
We believe that interns can provide a fresh perspective, and you will most likely help us see some things in a different light, which we really appreciate.
3. Give it time
I know it sounds boring and old, but it is important to give the whole process the time it needs. It should take time: you need to evaluate your different options, both when it comes to studios and roles.
Every studio has its pros and cons, and depending on what you’re after, you need to get an understanding of different aspects to make the choice that’s best for you and your future plans.
Two things I think are especially important to have in mind when choosing studio are value and culture. You have to get a good feeling about your future workplace, not only when it comes to the job you will be doing and what you can learn from it, but also what the studio stands for!
And one last tip…
The best tip I can probably give you is to talk to someone who has been an intern at the studio you’re interested in, and listen to what they have to say about their experiences.
Talking to someone who’s been in your shoes is the best way to get a real understanding of what life as an intern is actually like, and I believe that’s super important to know as you take your first steps on your journey into the game industry!
So, what now?
- Check your school’s collaborations!
- Before sending in your resume, cover letter, and portfolio, make sure to check out my top tips on how to ace your Massive application here.
- Give the process the time it needs, and research your options.
- Make sure to have a look at our career page regularly if you’re interested in an internship outside of production.
- If you’re interested in learning more about the intern journey from an actual intern, check out our Junior Level Artist Samuel De Vos’ story about how to (not) get an internship at Massive here.
