<aside> 👋 Hello Jimmy! Thank you so much for being here and sharing your insights with the Work With Indies community!

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<aside> <img src="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/secure.notion-static.com/821c700f-667c-46ec-b316-baa3c24b5f38/ama_with_jimmy.jpg" alt="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/secure.notion-static.com/821c700f-667c-46ec-b316-baa3c24b5f38/ama_with_jimmy.jpg" width="40px" /> Hello everyone I’m Jimmy and I’m the Community Manager for nDreams. We’re an award-winning VR developer and publisher behind titles such as Shooty Fruity, Phantom: Covert Ops, Far Cry VR, and the upcoming PlayStation VR exclusive, Fracked.

I’m probably the best evidence you could hope for that ANYONE can work in games. I made the transition from a Vehicle Technician for Ford to an in-studio Community Manager (without any formal marketing training). I’m really happy to be here to answer your questions!

Personal links: 🐦 Twitter 📔 Portfolio Website ☑️ CV That Got Me Shortlisted for the Role

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<aside> 🤔 Okay, to start things off, how have the past three months with nDreams felt so far? Would you say, like a dream 👀 ? - Katherine

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<aside> <img src="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/secure.notion-static.com/253efe9b-9852-4412-b170-6973f4d1cae8/ama_with_jimmy.jpg" alt="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/secure.notion-static.com/253efe9b-9852-4412-b170-6973f4d1cae8/ama_with_jimmy.jpg" width="40px" /> It has honestly been really great. I've joined during a very strange time in the world. I thought being onboarded remotely, and working almost exclusively remotely for the whole three months, would be weird. But it just hasn't been. I've been working closely with Kerry, who is our Head of Communications, and from interview to onboarding, to my three-month appraisal, I've only actually seen her in person once.

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<aside> 🤔 Hi, Jimmy! I do community management for the Virtual Athletics League server. You might be familiar with us—we’re an esports league that hosts the Summer and Winter Games for the VR community.

Right now, I am a Communications Intern—but when I look into community management roles at other companies, they usually require 3+ years of experience. Should I still apply if I have limited experience? How did you transition to a Community Manager from being a technician at Ford? - Beckita

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<aside> <img src="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/secure.notion-static.com/e720d3d8-2de4-4df3-98c3-91de61d101d9/ama_with_jimmy.jpg" alt="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/secure.notion-static.com/e720d3d8-2de4-4df3-98c3-91de61d101d9/ama_with_jimmy.jpg" width="40px" /> Hey Beckita! I am familiar with Virtual Athletics, nice of you to stop by! I would definitely still apply, regardless of the years of experience they ask for.

I personally spent a lot of my free time (and a lot of unpaid work) doing little projects that helped me build up a portfolio for about a year before I got this role. I actually worked a lot through Twitter connections to get freelance and part-time positions helping out an indie studio that was pre-funding. Having that on my CV helped SO MUCH. It showed I was willing to put work in on my own time to achieve my goals.

Of course, freelance or volunteer work isn't for everyone, but you're already getting that experience where you are in a way. Keep your eyes out for more opportunities as they come up and don't second guess what you can offer. If you've got the skills, studios will quickly overlook the box-ticking exercise of "have they got x years behind them." I know some of the people nDreams were interviewing and I honestly don't know how I won out in the end. Sometimes culture fit is more important than years served.

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<aside> <img src="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/secure.notion-static.com/b7fb23da-6705-4e1c-a35a-60aa17b72ca4/ama_with_jimmy.jpg" alt="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/secure.notion-static.com/b7fb23da-6705-4e1c-a35a-60aa17b72ca4/ama_with_jimmy.jpg" width="40px" /> You also don't have to go in at the Community Manager level. A lot of bigger studios have both Junior and Associate Community Manager positions which are more tailored made as entry-level positions. You might just be responsible for focusing on a singular title, working under a Community Manager or Communications Manager. Keep your options open!

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<aside> 🤔 To follow up with this, how'd you know it was the right role (and company) for you? - Katherine

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<aside> <img src="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/secure.notion-static.com/161a59de-2b8d-423c-b014-7e303f746b6b/ama_with_jimmy.jpg" alt="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/secure.notion-static.com/161a59de-2b8d-423c-b014-7e303f746b6b/ama_with_jimmy.jpg" width="40px" /> I'd always been interested in working in games but left school without any real idea of how I could make that happen. It took ten years, but most of that time was writing games careers off as a pipe dream. I first started in freelance games journalism and content marketing (making videos, podcasts, editorials, etc).

The thing that made me focus on Community Management was taking part in a community event for 505 Games back when CONTROL launched. The Brand Community Manager reached out to me at the time and basically, the event was all about cosplay. We ended up meeting at London Comic-Con to take photos for their social channel, and it was just a brilliant experience of feeling valued as a player, especially because I was a relative nobody. I wanted to give people that feeling. I wanted to be in a position where I could make players feel listened to.

So we kept in touch, and over the next few years, I worked in the background to try and make that happen. When I actually got the role, she reached out to me and we spent about four hours on the phone (she gave SO MUCH great advice for my first few months in the role - from what tools and reporting software to use, to how to handle player feedback).

I can't stress the importance of networking enough! Most, and I'll say that with an asterisk, people in the games industry are SO DAMN THANKFUL to work in the industry. We know how much of a lottery it can seem and how impossible it can be. If we can help people break-in, we will. My personal CM senpai was Antonela Pounder– amazing lady, look her up on Twitter.

You can also read a recap of her career path to the Director of Community at 505 Games. There is a lot of useful info here about their journey into the industry.

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<aside> <img src="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/secure.notion-static.com/d0489b99-4227-4a9a-aa13-079b0e5c7ca4/ama_with_jimmy.jpg" alt="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/secure.notion-static.com/d0489b99-4227-4a9a-aa13-079b0e5c7ca4/ama_with_jimmy.jpg" width="40px" /> In terms of why nDreams seemed the best fit, I was working at an industry recruiter at the time (Aardvark Swift) and nDreams were a client. I was able to see how positive their culture was, not just for work/life balance but also for mental wellness and personal development. I just fell in love with what they were offering. I couldn't believe I even got shortlisted, to be honest.

Not only the culture but VR as a technology and as an outlet for entertainment I find so fascinating. It's one of the very few areas of video games that is still considered a niche and there's so much innovation happening. In my eyes, nDreams are right at the forefront of that (and I wanted to be too).

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