On the 26th November Game Republic Student Club held a webinar with Matty McGrory (Cofounder and Design Director) from Observer Interactive. The webinar centred around graduate recruitment, with a range of topics being discussed such as important skills to showcase, how to make your portfolio/CV stand out as well as common mistakes to avoid when applying for roles.
The event formed part of Game Republic’s event programme for 2025 supported by our Official Partners Red Kite Games, Barclays Games and Creative and Xsolla. Here are the key take-aways from the session..
“We’re not teaching you what a car is, we’re just teaching you how to drive”
What makes a good portfolio/resume and how to make it stand out
The key area to consider was clear, making your portfolio/cv easily available and quick to access can make the difference when being considered for a role. Coupled with this, the importance of a well-structured website that showcases your best work and, where possible having playable aspects of your game whether it be a playable section or a video playthrough.
Adding to this, Matty stressed the importance of “less is more” when it comes to showcasing work on your portfolio and that having one really strong piece is more important than ten that maybe aren’t as good. He highlighted the importance of making your work stand out, giving the example of games that have been reproduced through studies and taking these further, adding to them, experimenting with new techniques to make them more unique.
Avoiding common mistakes on applications
The discussion moved to the topic of common mistakes that graduates could avoid, or be cautious of when applying for roles. At the forefront of this was the use of AI in writing cover letters. Sharing his experience of reading through applications where ai had been used for this, he explained that simply using AI and not tailoring to the application can result in a generic, impersonal piece, something that should be avoided if graduates want to stand out. Matty reassured students that it’s ok to not have a lot of experience and that being honest in an application speaks volumes to character and a solid work ethic.
Underrated skills and final thoughts
Discussions moved towards skills that graduates could highlight alongside technical skills like programming, 3D work or similar, but that can be just as important at helping you to land your first role. Communication is key, being able to talk to other areas of a team and also communicate in a way that is clear. Being able to take feedback whilst still retaining pride in your work. Empathy, Matty said, was one of the more important skills often underrated, focusing on its crucial role for building strong relationships, improving communication, and fostering cooperation across a studio.
The session rounded off with a short Q&A from participants with a final message from Matty which drove home that graduates need to continue to work on extra projects outside of studies, take part in game jams but most of all communicate effectively and if you can go to game related events then do it!
Students from Game Republic Educational partner institutions have access to a variety of webinars, a dedicated discord community and can also field teams for the Game Republic Student Showcase, students can attend the GR Careers Conference 18th June for free and meet industry at the event to get advice on portfolios, CVs and more.
In 2026, these events will run alongside our Game Republic Student Club online webinars and activities and Student Club members will also be invited to attend Let’s Talk Games in partnership with Game Republic on 11th February too.
If you are an educational institution or a games business and would like to get involved with our events and work visit gamerepublic.net/join-us and/or if you develop games or support game development in The North, join The Great Northern Games Discord.
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