After coding games and demos on my own for about 3 years throught high-school, for my first real CS internship, I had the luck of getting accepted at Ubisoft Montreal. I'll be starting in 2 weeks (I'll work with Unreal engine, IA/gameplay... this year's Christmas break has to be the longest of my life!) I'm really excited and especially grateful about this opportunity, plus I got some pressure from the people who helped me get in. Basically, I want (and need!) to be as good as I can (and being here today, I believe I have the potential to do so.) I'm the type of person that don't talk much about what I do but just does it; in the past, I believed that a good game programmer is just someone who works hard, do overtime, shows a real passion, etc. Now, I'm starting to think that attitude and the more human/social aspect could also be major points of interest. So, after this long prelude, my question would be: what kind of attitude an intern should adopt to be appreciated, be successful, impress, make a good impression, open doors for future opportunities, etc. Any kind of advice would also be appreciated. I want to make sure I enter this 'world' with the right mentality and that I put energy and efforts in the right places. Thanks for your time!

The only attitude you need:

You know absolutely nothing.

Listen and learn is the way of the Intern. People will accept you and respect you the more you listen and learn.

It's important to make a good first impression. Be aware that your quiet nature could be interpreted by some in the workplace as being snobish or superior, so try at first to be open and friendly. Some coworkers may be threatened by your hard work ethic and willingness to do overtime, so play it cool until the time is right to really buckle down to work. You are on the right track by exploring this subject now. As you continue your education, include some courses in organizational behavior and such.

Excellent, I'm a Gameplay Programmer currently working on a Unreal based title so I guess I'll be seeing you on the mailing lists. :)

Just do your best really, be attentive and try to learn as much as possible.

Edit: Not for Ubisoft though.

Well, thanks for your input. You all seem to agree that learning is primordial. I believe my attitude is in concordance with that since I'm aware that my knowledge is still pretty limited.


Actually... I was going to try to reformulate some of the questions I have but after thinking about it, maybe it would be wiser to wait a bit and just ask them to the people at Ubisoft when I start. After a week or two of work, I'll post back if I still have some problems or to give my first impressions.

Thanks again everyone!

You're not the first intern in the industry... ;)

I have a friend that just finished his second coop term at Ubi-MTL... and one that just begun his first at Ubi-Québec. Knew someone on a coop at EA Montréal, a friend at A2M too, and I'm currently at Gameloft.com. I could also name 2-3 (maybe more) that worked for Ubisoft in the past. And many others were there before us ;).

From what I see and heard (from school) Ubisoft Montréal is used to have students working for them and most of them seems to work in the technology teams mostly developping tools and libraries. Others were working on games but those seems to be exceptions so if you'll be working on a game as an intern you're really lucky (and I applied there and didn't even got an interview).

In the past I've met people from Ubi Montréal and they told me that they usually don't hire people without a CS degree (or related and exception of a coop term). And now the only way you can apply for an internship is to present them demos of your work (I was told that only 2 days before I had to send my application).

So... Good luck working for Ubisoft and hope you'll learn a lot from that experience. It's only my third week at Gameloft (Ubisoft's sister company ;)) and I learned a lot.

JFF

Quote:Original post by Johnn
So, after this long prelude, my question would be: what kind of attitude an intern should adopt to be appreciated, be successful, impress, make a good impression, open doors for future opportunities, etc.

Confidence and open-mindedness. Complete humility isn't a good idea. Remember that a game company is still a business. They're not doing you any favors by hiring you, they're hiring you because they expect you to bring something useful to the table. You want to be open-minded so that you can embrace and explore new ideas, however you still have to be confident in your abilities. No one wants a yes-man, they want someone who can bring a new perspective into the equation. It's through debate and discussion that you can achieve critical analysis and make improvements. But you want to achieve a balance where you don't seem stubborn or arrogant.

It depends on the people and the environment, there's no single attitude or mindset that works well in all situations.