I'll be honest: I've only been interviewed twice as a candidate, and I haven't interviewed that many other candidates either. But I do have something to tell those who are just planning to enter the video-game industry. I'm primarily addressing level designers, although people in other disciplines may also find this useful. My goal isn't to help someone get into a big company without effort, but to increase the number of prepared level-design candidates. I know firsthand how hard it is to find a capable level designer.

1. Anyone can become a level designer. You don't need years of specialized study, because universities don't offer that specialization. You don't need to spend several years as a tester: people who want to test should become testers, and those who want to design levels should become level designers. Don't treat testing as a revolving door into something else.
2. The most accessible way to gain level-design experience is to build levels for games that have map editors. Just take one and build something on your own. Working with finished games is easier than professional development, where tools, assets and basic gameplay elements may not exist yet.
3. If you want to skip the previous point and go straight to employment, that's a warning sign. You should probably consider another profession.
4. If you already had amateur experience before you started reading this article, that's a good sign. You could become a good level designer.
5. Turn your experience into a portfolio. But don't make it a list of level files that have to be downloaded for a particular game, version and set of DLC. Screenshots and walkthrough videos come first.
6. A level designer must be able not only to dress locations but also to create gameplay in them. The portfolio should show both sides.
7. When a company advertises a vacancy, it really does need someone. The employer starts out wanting to hire, not reject. Your main task is not to spoil that inclination.
8. Four tools are used to assess a candidate: a résumé, portfolio, test assignment and interview, in that order. Sloppy work at any stage can prevent you reaching the next. But for the hiring decision, the order is reversed. If you fail the interview, a perfect résumé won't save you. If you shine at the interview, it doesn't matter how modest your résumé was.
9. A résumé should contain no padding or unnecessary details. Its job is to get you to the next stage quickly. Adding details unrelated to the role won't help and can ruin everything. In one résumé, for example, a fellow listed his experience as a gravedigger. That didn't establish his professional suitability at all, but did give the whole résumé a funereal tone.
10. When doing a test assignment to build a location, don't show off by adding things nobody requested. Don't add your own models and textures, for example. Alongside the original assets made by professionals, this homemade work will look tasteless. And you can't hire people without taste as level designers. It's also time that could have been spent on actual level-design work.
11. A test assignment shouldn't take a month. It will be reviewed by senior specialists who have very little time for you. They don't need hours of gameplay. Show instead that you can finish a product quickly. That skill is highly valued in game development.
12. Ideally, if the test assignment is to create a location with gameplay—and that is the only way to assess a level designer—the result should be a 5–10-minute walkthrough video, with commentary explaining the design decisions. This format guarantees that everything you wanted to show will be seen. A standalone level file or a longer playthrough doesn't guarantee that.
13. If you've been invited to an interview, you're already ahead of everyone who wasn't. Think of it as a small victory, not another ordeal. The less nervous you are, the better. Good employers know how to start a conversation to calm a candidate and create a comfortable atmosphere. But not every specialist is a skilled interviewer. Some may think stress reveals a person's qualities better. So use whatever you can to manage your own nerves.
14. My advice is to talk to interviewers not as examiners you'll never see again after the exam, but as people you'll be working with for the next few years. Show that you're comfortable to talk to.
15. Always ask questions at the interview. At the very least, it shows interest. More generally, it helps to find out what you're signing up for. The company may have problems that never appear in a job advertisement but could turn your life into hell.
16. Most interview exercises aren't about the correct answer, but about how you think. Think aloud.
17. It's better to admit honestly that you don't know something than to stall. But don't do that too often. If you say you don't know, immediately suggest a way to find out. Show that you can learn from mistakes.
18. My favorite question. You won't be asked it, but thinking through an answer will help you. “Imagine you're a level designer dressing a location, turning trees into a forest. An artist walks over and says the forest is no good and needs three times as many trees. The artist leaves, and you get an email from a programmer saying the location exceeds its technical limits and needs three times fewer trees. What do you do?” As an exercise, you can put your answer in the comments. Just don't read the other answers first.



And now, as a bonus, actual candidate mistakes that seriously damaged the impression they made:
1. A candidate lied at the interview about a previous employer. It is easy to request information from a candidate's previous workplace. Even competitors won't deceive each other here: they'll be around one another for years, while candidates come and go.
2. A candidate talked only about modeling and texturing, never about gameplay. They clearly should have applied as a 3D modeler, not a level designer.
3. When faced with open-ended questions, a candidate answered “I don't know” too quickly. They didn't even give themselves a chance to demonstrate their problem-solving skills.
4. In a test assignment, a designer showed a small finished section, then started showing completely raw content and explaining what they planned to do there someday.
5. A candidate had no idea where they were applying. They knew nothing about the company or the industry in general. They neither read industry news nor watched conference talks.
6. A candidate passed off work done at another company as a level made for the test. First, lying is simply ugly. Second, it prevents the designer's work being separated from the rest of the team's.
7. A candidate made a Skyrim location, then spent the entire walkthrough looking at their feet and picking up every collectible. It was impossible to see the actual gameplay or environment design.
8. A candidate uploaded a walkthrough to a file-sharing site as several multi-gigabyte files. Although video skills aren't a formal requirement for the job, this showed a clear misunderstanding of the expected quality standard. It was also an isolated case: other candidates handled the task successfully.
These are clear mistakes. A weak test assignment or failure to answer basic questions isn't a mistake, but a sign of unsuitability for the profession. So if you did everything right, avoided mistakes and were still rejected, don't be upset: that particular position in that company really isn't right for you, and you would be unhappy in it.