Here's how you can stay updated with gaming industry trends and impress in an interview.

Staying updated with gaming industry trends through gaming news is a key component, especially when preparing for an interview. Being well-informed about the latest developments, such as new technologies, game releases, studio announcements, and market shifts, demonstrates your enthusiasm and commitment to the field. This knowledge not only helps you answer interview questions more effectively but also enables you to engage in meaningful discussions about the industry's future and your potential role in it. Regularly consuming gaming news ensures you appear informed, proactive, and ready to contribute from day one, making a strong impression on potential employers.

Being able to be updated with news surrounding the industry shows your enthusiasm and ability to gather information for anything that may be applicable. Build up habits gradually in digestible amount to read up and understand them, know which one are applicable and even better, draw examples to relate to it pertaining to the role you could be in. News outlet such as GamesBeat, Video Games Chronicles and Destructoid are some of the ones, of course there are more. Run a Google search to ensure smaller stories of interest are not missed.

In my view Gamesindustry.biz is a great source of both quick updates on critical events and the profound knowledge on all sorts of industry related topics.

Sign up for a couple of interesting sources: Konvoy, Naavik, Newzoo ... These are usually interesting to read, informative, put things in the context and help to form a view on variety of industry relevant topics.

This hit home for me, so here's my story. I started out as a gaming influencer, primarily discussing games and sharing tutorial tips. After gaining a large number of followers, Netease approached me and offered me a position. Following that, Tencent and Hypergryph. So, having a project increases your chances of landing a job. Simply put... advertise yourself (put yourself out there).

And, more importantly, once you go for one of those (like developing your own indie game, creating mods for existing games...) you might find yourself not in need of the interview you were preparing for in the first place!

I think one thing that goes understated is the fact that you need to be playing video games. The gaming industry is notorious for paying professionals wages that are lower than they'd be for the equivalent role in another industry. It truly is a passion, for better or for worse. Both people working in the industry and majority of consumers tend to gravitate and respect leadership that actually knows what it's like to be a gamer. They're among the most demanding and passionate consumers, and you want to have leaders with that same passion regardless of monetary bottom line.

Two additional resources not mentioned earlier are podcasts and gaming Slack communities. The gaming industry boasts a wealth of insightful podcasts that frequently cover industry news, often on a weekly basis. Moreover, there are numerous inclusive Slack communities where members discuss the latest news and developments daily. These Slack groups vary by profession and specific games, ranging from detailed groups focused solely on mobile puzzle games to extensive communities that encompass the entire gaming industry, from design to marketing.