Electronic Arts Inc. officials shared career tips, talked about job opportunities and gave out plenty of free video games during a presentation in Johnston Hall Thursday.An EA quality assurance testing center — the first of its kind — is set to open next week on the University’s South Campus. The center will eventually hire nearly 200 students for part-time game testing positions. Colleen McCreary, director of education and outreach for EA, said the center is a valuable opportunity for students looking to eventually work in the video game field.”The chance that you’re getting here is like getting a lottery ticket and knowing three-fourths of the numbers ahead of time,” McCreary said to a crowd of about 50 students. University students will get the opportunity to test games at the center, looking for errors and helping developers sort through problems. McCreary said nearly 60 percent of EA executives started as game testers in one of its nine North American studios or numerous international offices.The quality assurance testing center on the University’s campus is unique as it is EA’s only studio devoted solely to game testing.”[LSU] is now being positioned better than any other school in the country to get real experience with the game industry,” McCreary said. “It is a huge entry point.”McCreary and Jackie Schuler, university relations manager for EA, showed a PowerPoint presentation filled with images of EA’s most popular games like Madden NFL 09, Tiger Woods PGA Tour 08 and Spore. The presentation outlined EA’s internship program and gave tips for getting involved in the gaming industry. Schuler said some people are skeptical of the gaming industry. “[Gaming] is a real career — it’s engaging and challenging,” she said. Schuler said about 85 percent of people hired by EA are engineers. Top-notch engineers are needed now more than ever because of constantly changing new technologies and pressure to develop games faster, she said.College graduates who work for EA generally are software engineers, designers, producers and artists. Having background computer programming is key, Schuler said. Students with degrees in computer science, engineering, math or physics have an advantage when going to apply for a job in the video game field, Schuler said.EA was listed as one of Fortune Magazine’s 20 great employers for new graduates in 2007. The competition is tough: Only 200 students of 5,000 applicants were hired in 2006. Its internship program is just as competitive. Of 4,000 applicants in the U.S., only 100 students are hired for paid summer internships during the summer, Schuler said. Baton Rouge beat numerous states and countries around the world for the quality assurance testing facility — something the University and Baton Rouge government and community have been working toward for years. Stacey Simmons, director of the Baton Rouge Area Digital Industries Consortium, said the testing center will help foster talent in Louisiana and change the state’s technological status on an international level.”I don’t think you can quantify what [the testing facility] means for the University,” Simmons said. “EA being here raises us up to a new level we weren’t at before. This really has the potential to transform the entire economy of the state. We just have to step up to the plate.”The application deadline for EA summer 2009 internships is February 28. More information is available at jobs.ea.com/students.
 
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Contact Kyle Bove at [email protected]