Exhibitors hail "fantastic" Career Fair

The GamesIndustry.biz Career Fair, which took place last week in both Leeds and London as part of the wider Eurogamer Expo event, has been hailed as a "fantastic" success by exhibitors who agreed that it had been better than ever.

"It's fantastic, it's been a great turnout - a great response to a lot of the postings that we had," said Pauly Schiavone, producer at Canada-based Other Ocean. "One of the things that we're all agreed on here is that the level of talent we've seen come out of this Fair... we've been here for a number of years and we've hired people every year - it's been a fantastic show for us, and we've been happy with the results every time."

And he added that his team were also pleased with the standards being demonstrated by those they talked to - standards which continue to improve.

"We've noticed is that the quality of the entry-level and mid-level applicants has definitely been much higher this year than in the past - it's a nice trend to see."

Meanwhile, Robert Nyberg, HR manager at Starbreeze Studios, added: "Absolutely, we're pleased with the attendance. There have been lots and lots of people, we've been looking at resumes and portfolios all day long - it's been great.

"We came here last year and it's certainly better - we've met interesting candidates, and we've changed our own procedure a little bit so we can better handle it. We're based in Sweden, so this isn't our core recruitment centre, but we're still interested to bring people over from the UK if we find the right talent."

And Crytek's talent co-ordinator Britney Leverette said that her company was also pleased to see so many people attending the event.

"It's been great - a lot of people have come by, a lot of students or people fresh out of university," she said. "As far as starting their career or finding out what they want to do, it's been a great atmosphere for them.

"A lot of great companies are here that can really give them some feedback and help the young minds to really understand what they want to do with the games industry.

"It's important that new blood is coming in, because of the fresh ideas and new experience. And because they have a lot to learn they can really bring a lot of potential to the table as well."

As well as the Career Fair, the Indie Arcade also drew the crowds - something which Hello Games MD Sean Murray was delighted with as it gave companies like his, and Introversion, the opportunity to personally showcase new titles to their core target demographic.

"It's our first public showing of Joe Danger, so it was incredibly nerve-wracking before we arrived," he admitted. "We've never done anything like this ourselves, because normally at a bigger company others get the job of showing the game.

"But it's been amazing so far for us - despite initial nerves - people seem to be enjoying it.

"Obviously it's not necessarily what people come to the Expo for, but we try and nab them when they come past - they seem to have been enjoying it."