MCV/DEVELOP News, events, research and jobs from the games industry
Izzy Jagan, junior global PR manager at Square Enix, talks about her varied role and the need to listen to people with different perspectives
What is your job role and how would you describe your typical day at work?
My work day is fairly varied from day-to-day, as I know is the case for a lot of people working on the development side of things! My time can be spent anywhere from drafting press releases, to giving feedback on assets, to planning an event, to discussing EDI topics with one of our many groups! No two days are the same, which as someone with a heart full of chaos such as myself, works wonderfully for me.
What qualifications and/or experience do you need to land this job?
Speaking only for myself, I have been in the industry for about five years now since I graduated from university, where I studied English Literature. My degree does help up to a certain point with the comms side of things, but I do think a lot of the expertise comes from just knowing, living, and breathing what is going on in the industry. Offering a unique perspective to a team is also a priceless quality to have, and as someone with A Lot Of Opinions, I definitely am able to contribute, and feel like I add something to my team! My activities outside work also definitely worked in my favour, doing panels and talks about my views and experiences as a queer woman of colour in the gaming industry.
If you were interviewing someone for your team, what would you look for?
As we spend about half our life working, I think it’s fair to want to spend that time with good, creative, and kind people, so I think that’s a good foundational element to have in a person. I’d personally also be really keen to hear opinions and perspectives that are different from my own, as I strongly believe that a greater range of experiences and views only create a richer, more dynamic team better able to create and cultivate experiences that are truly able to explore this medium of storytelling.
What opportunities are there for career progression?
My personal experience was that a lot of the start of my role was figuring out what my place is within the team, thinking – do I have tech insight? Am I a good creative writer? Do I have video production skills? Do I have a unique personal perspective on tricky topics? From there, I felt better able to establish my path of progression in a way that played to my strengths and most importantly, the things that I feel passionately about. I feel very lucky to be in the position I am in, that really encourages me to develop in a way that feels good and natural to me.
