5 hours ago, wbrill23 said:
I'm noticing almost all job postings I've reviewed require at least one year of experience in the field on the low end.
Game studios don't need to advertise for lower level positions. Usually between word-of-mouth and unsolicited applications they get an enormous pile of entry-level applicants.
Studios also prefer to hire people with some experience rather than being the company who has to do the initial training in the industry. If they're going to pay money and go through the effort of advertising, they want someone who has experience in the industry, preferably one who will still take entry level pay.
5 hours ago, wbrill23 said:
Is it possible to start at a game development company right out of college? If so, what steps I should take to ensure that I can do this?
Yes it is possible. You need to be local (within commuting distance), or be prepared to move to the company's location on your own. Location is one of the first screenings you will never see.
You also need to work your social network and find the friend-of-a-friend who works in a game studio and get them to push your application along. Based on various HR estimates one hour of working your social ties is worth about nine hours of applying blindly to jobs. You can still apply without having a contact at the company, but you are far better off finding a connection and leveraging it whenever possible. The easiest way to be on the interview short list is to have someone recommend you for the spot.
You need to be prepared that sometimes you won't get the job you want straight out of college. Be prepared to work in a related field if necessary. Other entertainment jobs, games-related technologies, live displays, simulations, these can all help your career. A job writing software for broadcast television, writing modeling or cad software, writing data simulations, writing interactive networking code, these can transfer directly into games. Business development like programming in SQL and Java backends can also transition to game server work. Apply to those jobs after you've exhausted your work on your most desirable companies.