Video games industry is the latest cash cow in the world of business. This industry is making more than $10 billion and that’s more business than what Hollywood is presently doing. With phenomenal sales records being the order of the day, the industry is ever on the look out for fresh talent.

To be a typical video game professional one should have the skills of an artist and present day computer skills. Generally speaking, the following are the broad categories of jobs that are available in the industry:

Audio: The field of audio is relatively new to the video game industry. This part has so far been neglected and the industry bigwigs are now slowly recognizing the importance of a good audio to make a video successful. So, Sound Engineers and Composers who can strike the right chord are in demand.

Designers: Designers are the bread and butter of this industry. Depending on the specialization, people are designated as – Game Designer, Lead Designer, Level Designer, and Screenwriters. These are those people who bring a game alive.

Production: Being a Producer requires multi tasking, analytical skills and decision making under stress. It’s a difficult role and further categorized as Project manager, Associate Producer, Game Tester & Lead Tester. To bring out a game successfully, Production team works come hell or high water.

Programming: It’s natural for any one who thinks of a job in the games industry to go in for software skills. Yes, Programming is the core of the games and here too specialization is the name of the game. Jobs begin with being a Junior Programmer, Lead Programmer, Tools Programmer, Graphics Programmer, Artificial Intelligence Programmer and Multiplayer Networking Programmer.

Visual Arts: This is the niche field for the Artists who have the traditional hand skills and have mastered or specialized in the various animation software. Depending on the skill sets and experience, jobs are designated as Intern Artist, 3D Model Builder, 2D Conceptual Artist, 2D Texture Artist, 3D Cut Scene Artist, 3D Character Builder, 3D Character Animator, Level Builder, Art Director and Art Technician.

Miscellaneous: This means the “support staff”- people who handle accounts, administration, marketing, public relations and system administrators are always in demand as no business can ever be run without these people.

Skills are more valid in this field than degrees. Most of the companies don’t insist on a degree if the job seeker proves his skills. Skills are not acquired over night. It’s only with repetitive and continuous practice that one gets to master the crafts. So, all the technically qualified people should hone their skills if they ever dream of getting recognition for their skills. Those gifted and skilled people are apt to find instant world wide recognition for their work here in this industry than anywhere else. Just as one gets instant recognition for a good work, the pay too is extremely good in this field. For all kinds of jobs, the average pay for a person with an experience of 1-2 years is $50,000 and going up to almost $ 300,000 for the specialists. Yes, the glamorous video games industry is keeping its doors open, welcoming all those young whiz kids.