The Complete Guide to Virtual Reality Careers

8 min readMar 20, 2017

Originally published at www.vudream.com on March 20, 2017.

“The secret to getting ahead is getting started.”
― Mark Twain

It’s the idea that whatever you are doing right now is less important than doing what you want to do. It’s the idea that you should chase your dreams…right NOW.

I can testify that it’s 100 percent true.

So you want to jump in the illustrious intricate pool of Virtual Reality?

Come on in my friend. The water is warm with confusion and camaraderie. To be honest, few people have any idea what’s going on in the industry.

VR is a brand new industry, hardly anyone has experience.

That’s a good thing for you.

Road to VR reports that

While its full impact may be years away, there are a growing number of companies catching on and hiring in the virtual reality market. According to our WANTED Analytics hiring demand and talent supply data, there were about 200 employers advertising for candidates with virtual reality knowledge in March. Demand for this skill set was up about 37% year-over-year.

Check out this article by Karsten Strauss on Forbes “Virtual Reality Jobs Jump In The Job Market“.

Luckily, you came to the right place. If you know anyone else that’s interested please share out the article.

Here’s how to get a job in the Virtual Reality Industry today.

Know What You’re Doing and Love it.

“Know your business and industry better than anyone else in the world. Love what you do or don’t do it.” — Mark Cuban

I know that every other “How to find a Job in VR” article out there says you need to develop VR skills. You should do that, BUT…

You need to be the very best in your industry. If you are interested in becoming a VR developer you NEED to be the best or embark on a constant journey to be the best.

I’m not saying you should take a course or two on Udemy. You need to live, breathe and sleep virtual reality. Virtual Reality needs to become your reality.

Marxent Labs reports that there are 5 virtual reality jobs.

UX/UI Designers: UX/UI Designers create roadmaps demonstrating how the app should flow and design the look and feel of the app, in order to ensure user-friendly experiences.
Unity Developers: Specializing in Unity 3D software, Unity Developers create the foundation of the experience.
3D Modelers:3D artists render lifelike digital imagery.
Animators: Animators bring the 3D models to life. Many 3D modelers are cross-trained in animation, which is a highly recommended combination a 3D candidate to possess.
Project Manager: The Project Manager is responsible for communicating deadlines, budgets, requirements, roadblocks, and more between the client and the internal team.
Videographer: Each project is captured and edited into clips to make showcase videos for marketing and entertainment.

When VR projects involve implementing hardware or environmental scanning, a Computer Vision Engineer is an asset on the team. Their job is to look ahead of the game, ensuring the team is up-to-date with the latest technologies, wearables, platforms, and softwares. The CV Engineer provides things like image classification, segmentation, and feature extraction.

Interested in becoming a Virtual Reality Developer?

Check out my Complete Beginner’s Guide to VR Development http://www.vudream.com/complete-beginners-guide-to-vr-development/

More Resources:

Stay Informed. Eat, Drink, and Sleep VR

Don’t only read. Keep up with the continuous blast of knowledge published on Virtual Reality every day.

You need to understand how the VR Industry Ecosystem is currently structured.

“Given that Microsoft and Oculus/Facebook — the two largest employers — account for less than 2% of all VR gaming professionals, there’s much more opportunity in the long tail,”

– Jeremy Schifeling, CEO of Break into Tech, in Silicon Valley.

Here are a list of sources to expand your Mind that you should check on the daily.

Connections, Connections, and Connections

We live in a world where I can pick up my phone and meet up with people in real life based on similar interests. Try and imagine how difficult it would be before the internet.

Strategically research on social media about your niche in Virtual Reality. Make connections with experts and professionals online. Use commonalities you have with that person as a reason for them to care. Talk about it and show genuine interest in what they are doing.

The best way I can describe virtual reality communities online is a bee hive. Buzzing, Growing, and filling with sweet social interaction. You need to insert yourself in every social VR group online.

Facebook:

LinkedIn:

Twitter:

15 Must-Follow Twitter Influencers for Virtual Reality

Making connections online is huge. Yet, meeting people in real life is even more imperative to your success.

The Meetup Website is great for Virtual Reality

Find out what’s happening in Virtual Reality Meetup groups around the world and start meeting up with the ones near you.

According to Meetup there are over 328,894 members and 944 Meetups spread out around the world.

Largest Virtual Reality Meetups

1. Silicon Valley Virtual Reality

5,500+ Members | Mountain View, CA

5,000+ Members | New York, NY

3. (NYVR) Virtual Reality NYC

4,500+ Members | New York, NY

4. Mobile Monday Silicon Valley

4,500+ Members | San Francisco, CA

4,000+ Members | London, United Kingdom

Virtual Reality Events around the World

Laval Virtual March 22–26, Laval, France

SVVR 2017 Conference & Expo March 29–31, Palo Alto

VRLA Expo 2017 April 14–15, Los Angeles

Seattle VR Hackathon April 21, Seattle

CVR 2017 May 5–7, Vancouver

4th ARVR Innovate Conference May 11, Dublin

Augmented World Expo USA June 1–2, Santa Clara

International Conference on Virtual Rehabilitation June 19–22, Montreal

VRToronto June 24–26, Toronto

Advertise Yourself

If a tree falls in the woods and nobody is there to hear it, does it make a sound?

Let’s say you created the world’s best virtual reality app. If you don’t show it to anyone or share it nobody will ever know.

Your best bet is to document your progress and journey to the world. The goal of social networking is building a network of people who are like you. You never know, these people may be potential business partners or potential employers. Develop a consistent identity and personality and stick with it.

Post on the daily. Post projects, articles and communicate with your network about relevant topics. The basic rule in this category is any kind of positive media you post is better than not posting at all.

News about VR on Twitter

Setup a Google Alert for your Name

Now…applying for the job

Looking for some virtual reality gigs online to make some money?

Check out VU Dream’s VR Job Listing.

Check out these websites to apply for a VR Job.

Emily Kapit from Forbes has 3 Critical Steps on what to do after you’ve applied to a Job.

1. Make the first move.

Plan to connect with someone at the company within 2–3 business days. Give the application a few days to get past the applicant tracking system, but don’t wait so long that the job is filled. When you do message someone, keep it short and indicate that you applied for the ABC role on XYZ date and are looking forward to the next steps, as you feel the position is a good fit for your background and you believe you would be an immediate asset to the team. Additionally, ask the recipient whom he/she recommends you speak with to learn more about the company and role. Informational interviews are a great stepping-stone to the real thing.

2. Educate yourself.

Knowledge is power, and the more you know about the company you’re interviewing with, the more powerful a candidate you’ll be. Use the time between applying for jobs to do your research. Scour the Internet to gather information about the company and the role you’re hoping to fill. Look for salary information and clues about the company culture. If you’re applying to a company with a more grassroots, laid-back culture, find this out before dry-cleaning your finest interview attire. LinkedIn, Indeed and Glassdoor are essential websites to score this information.

You may also consider starting a list of questions to ask in the interview. Popular topics include obtaining more information on pending projects and understanding the daily and long-term responsibilities for the role as well as learning about growth opportunities. Take that list with you to the interview to make sure you cover all your bases.

3. Give yourself a LinkedIn makeover.

You only get one shot to make your first appearance and these days, we’re making our first appearances via social media. More and more employers turn to LinkedIn to get the scoop on potential candidates.

For that reason, your resume and LinkedIn profile should be complementary, not identical. For example, both should focus on your achievements throughout your career to date, but while the resume will cover these in brief, the LinkedIn profile’s “Projects” and “Awards” sections give you an opportunity to provide more detail. The strategy and content inclusion are different, but the goal is the same: give a first impression that will leave employers wanting more.

Besides your physical picture (a nice headshot against a neutral background is ideal), flesh out your Summary with information that answers “who I am, what I have done and what are my key proficiencies,” and make sure your Experience section covers not your basic responsibilities, but selected achievements.

Conclusion

Check back on this page frequently for updates and additions.

We’ve seen a tremendous amount of disruptive change coming from the Virtual Reality Industry. It is surely certain that this kind of content will accelerate based on trends in the future.

You most likely have some other VR ideas that can change the world! Share them with us on social media!