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EDITOR’S NOTE: I originally published this on Facebook for a small group of industry friends and professionals and was subsequently urged to put this up on the site. If you are currently looking for work in the games industry or simply looking for an avenue to understand it, hopefully you’ll get something out of this.

As a man who is still trying to find his proper place in this crazy industry, I know that things can be tough for those of you who are looking to break into it. But, instead of dwelling on the companies that have rejected you so far, think about the ones that are still out there and waiting for you to send your resume and cover letter their way. Think about future opportunities; opportunities that you never would’ve otherwise experienced if not for the rejection letter that you received this afternoon.

There will be days where the future will seem terribly bleak. You’ll stay home all day waiting on a phone call from an employer that will never come. You’ll take all Saturday to write a perfectly worded cover letter to your dream company only to have that cover letter, the one you that just poured your heart and soul into, rejected by an automatic filtering service that leaves you with an emotionless “We do not have an appropriate match for your profile at this time” mere hours after sending it out. If that time comes, I challenge you to ask yourself how you became involved in this industry in the first place and, more importantly, why.

Whether you’re aware of it or not, something caused you to wake up and say “I want to work on games”. The beautiful thing about this industry is that we are all here for a reason. Something triggered you to want to be here, whether it was the sheer wonder you felt when playing a video game for the first time or the desire to craft that wonder for others to experience. Find that fire inside of yourself, that inherent need to be here, and soon enough, after months, sometimes even years of working at it, something will click and you will find your place in the giant puzzle that is this business. And, when that day finally comes and you land your dream job, you’ll realize that those experiences were some of the most valuable moments of your working life.