New programmer looking for help breaking in

ZombieWells

I have a student programmer about to graduated with a computer science degree looking to get in the game industry. I'm an artist, so I don't really know where to direct this guy, any help would be huge. Polycount is a place where I got my start so I know this is a great community to ask. 

sprunghunt

It's not too different to getting a job as an artist.

Make example games or tools. Show everyone the example games and tools. Post in the various unity or unreal forums and subreddits about these games or tools. Maintain a blog talking about programming you're working on or have done. Commit code to GIT hub. Make things in shadertoy. Work on an indie game with someone else. 

If they did any of the things above while doing their degree then they should just apply to companies for a job. 

also this: 
https://www.obsidian.net/jobs/internships

PolyHertz

I'd tell them to check out these places, lots of game programmers there that can give them advise:

https://forums.tigsource.com/index.php?board=4.0
https://www.reddit.com/r/gamedev/

Most positions will probably require them to know C++, have decent math skills, and know at least one graphics API (OpenGL, DirectX, Vulkan). It's also a good idea to, like @sprunghunt said, make some games/tools to show off their skills.

sacboi

Other relevant info:

https://tech-artists.org/ (top Tech artist site but sadly about too shutdown due to funding issues)      

https://ericchadwick.com/img/techart_guidelines.html (oldie but still a goodie)

ZombieWells

Ohh sweet! Thanks for the awesome info! I'll direct him to this page so he can check it out I knew I could count on my Polycount people