Job Hunting as a Composer Thread

Hello everyone,
I'm very new to the job hunting experience as a composer and I was wondering how most people encounter their job opportunities. Overall, I understand for indie games it varies since everything is experimental. But I just want some feedback on how you first started as a game composer and where your journey has gone thus far with that very first encounter. I'm currently a college student studying film scoring, but of course studying your craft doesn't necessarily help you find what you're looking for since it's up to you. Thanks!

Hey, I am also a student going to school for music and sound design. I have done a couple games and have more in development, not much paid work yet but I am only a year in to actually providing music for people, and most of my time has comprised of working or doing school work and doing music as I can in my free time. I would recommend these forums, tigsource.com forums, gamejobs.com, and doing game jams like Ludum Dare or any local game jams near you.

Hi there,

I have found almost everyone of my gigs through forums. And there is a really good post on the subject here Forums.tigsource.com that I wrote a long comment on with links to other forums.

It really takes persistence to, and can be quite daunting. Because more people have access to the equipment and technology to create high quality sounds there are a lot more composers out there. Which means more competition. But the truth is that there are some people who are really into it and will keep trying and there are some people who will fall by the wayside.

I think you should be either adding to you portfolio and creating something new or learning something new. Those two directions will always propel you further. Also I have recently gotten some gigs on elance, and have tried freelance.com but less success there. Those sites are good but you can end up doing stuff thats less fun that composing for a great game that you are into.

Lastly if you look out for #screenshotsaturday on twitter Screenshotsaturday.com or search dev logs on tigsource Forums.tigsource.com and see some that you really like, then just message them and offer your services in a kind and interested manner. I have gotten a few games by offering my services to a game in development that I liked, sometimes the games end up going somewhere and but sometimes the dev's give up. But either way you are getting your name out there and you never know who you will end up connecting with.

When you think of the time it takes to develop a game vs. the time it takes to compose the OST, its understandable why its harder to find games for a composer, than for a developer to find a composer.

Be kind, polite, and persistent I guess is all I can say. And also always be creating something new even if its not for any real project, because those portfolio
pieces will set you apart.

Thanks for replying, these are definitely helpful! I am constantly learning, as you guys probably are... so I really appreciate the insight. I'll try these things out and keep pursuing!