Here's how you can ace a gaming industry interview without making common mistakes.

Ensure you are qualified for the position and the job opening you are applying for. Knowing the scope of the position and highlighting your relevant work in that area will be beneficial. If the position requires the use of various tools, explain which tools you are proficient with and how effectively you use them. Demonstrating interest in the company and familiarity with their work will also provide an advantage. Being positive and speaking clearly during the interview will offer an additional benefit.

Cannot stress this point enough! This isn't about being a know it all. What you really want to make sure is that you study the basic fundamentals of each area the job description entails. Nothing sinks an interview faster than not knowing a basic part of the job that would have taken tops 5 minutes to figure out. You can dabble in more complex topics, but honestly if something complex gets thrown at you and you can't answer it, that's ok. Sometimes, a lot of times, an employer just wants to see how you handle not knowing something. Are you confident about it? Do you panic? This tells them a lot about your experience. Also, more importantly, research the company and people as well!

In the gaming industry, we are not making art, we are not doing law, we are not even doing pure math. We are in the world of uncertainty, probability and often markets. Read up on the efficient market hypothesis, and learn what it means to make a bet, and what a market is (whether it's the stock market, bond market, horse race, ebay, sports betting etc.).

Whether you are a software developer or an artist. Prepare a portfolio in advance for whichever job posting you applied for. If you are a developer, it is extremely important to prepare a detailed portfolio about the games you make on Itchio, your github registrations, your certificates, and moreover, if you are an artist, whatever your field is. In this way, the person you are interviewing for recruitment can have an insight into the work you have done. This will put you ahead among other applications.

Knowing who you are, what you are good at and what you are not good at are the keys to success here. Again, don't be a know it all. Know that you don't know it all, because NO ONE does. Knowing what interests you and what doesn't is pretty important here.

While "passion" is certainly the word used, I wouldn't say employers are not putting passion above skill, collaboration, or professionalism. I would say showcasing "enthusiasm" is more so the right word. Game projects are long, and most of the time extremely monotonous. Someone who understands this and still loves it is considered highly valuable. Being too aggressive with passion will lead employers to think you haven't really seen enough to understand what launching a game is like. So play that balance, be enthusiastic, but don't make it out like games are your whole life, or the company might get worried you'll have a change of heart once the rubber meets the road.

Feel free to share your opinions and passions. Whether it's LinkedIn or a different platform, writing your thoughts about the games you love, especially as a blog, gives more information about you. Don't hesitate to make fan art for the games you admire. Identifying the errors and deficiencies of the games you admire and explaining how you would fix them can be a very different and advantageous behavior.

Being aware of the trends is certainly important for many positions in gaming, but the trends you pay attention to will depend on the job you are going for. Game design will certainly be mostly about game industry trends. When it comes to art, vfx, animation it's going to be more about new methods and tools to produce those, not about gaming trends at all. For programming, it's a bit of both. You have to know what types of games studios are going to be making (future games) to know what type of projects you should be tackling and showing off. Right now multiplayer is on the rise, that's an example of a trend that would steer your path in a new direction. Be aware of the trends, but don't be afraid if you don't know something!

It is extremely important to follow gaming trends. Keeping up to date with games and technologies shows your passion for the gaming industry and games. Showing that you are not only an employee but also a consumer in the industry you work in or want to work in shows that if you start working, you will be able to grasp the processes and understand the product to be produced more easily and contribute positively.

You can get way more done if you're able to engage with your team than on your own. No matter what the 10x grindset alpha chads want people to believe. Show you appreciate (and are able to) taking other people's perspectives on and you're also able to express your own in a clear and approachable way

GameJam participation shows that you are a team player. Many different Gamejam experiences, especially with completed projects, are extremely valuable. Thanks to these gamejams, you can show your talent and show that you can produce products when necessary in a short time and under stress and pressure with different teams. Don't forget to mention the experiences you had and the events you attended during your Gamejam processes.

This point seems a bit outdated to me. I would only advice to follow up if you got to a late stage in the interview process. Then people at the company would be willing and able to give you constructive feedback

The beginning and the end of the interview are easily dismissed but they shouldn't. You can use the beginning of the interview to build rapport with the people you're talking to, let them know who you are and why you would be someone enjoyable to work with. You can use the last part of the interview to ask focused questions, let them know you take this opportunity seriously and took the time to come up with insightful questions