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New career pathways help you break into the gaming and tech industries

November 17, 2020 in Technology | 5 min. read
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Gain the skills you need for a coding role. Our new guided learning experiences help you create a portfolio, get Unity Certified, and prepare for a new job.

The COVID-19 pandemic has caused an unprecedented global recession that has left millions of people around the world unemployed. Today, as part of our Unity Social Impact efforts, we’re taking the first step toward providing an alternative, no-cost path to employment with the launch of career pathways. 

These pathways are guided learning experiences that help anyone interested in coding and breaking into the gaming and tech industries expand their professional opportunities by gaining the skills they need to obtain a job, regardless of prior experience. Our new initiative is designed for people from a wide range of backgrounds, and supports our commitment to creating inclusive economic opportunities, including for Black and Latinx creators, who have been disproportionately affected by the pandemic. 

Over the next three years, we intend to equip over 80K people with the skills they need to start and advance a career with Unity. We plan to do this via career pathways that give you the skills to go from Unity beginner to a tech job, and by providing a range of opportunities to help close the experience gap that often exists when someone is starting a new job or entering a new industry.

At Unity, it’s important to us to support our community of creators, especially when times are tough. In March, we launched a free live learning series teaching people how to code and made Learn Premium available to everyone at no cost. Recently, we established Unity Social Impact, underpinned by 750K shares of Unity common stock.  

The unemployment figures across the world are staggering. We recognize that there is an urgent need to learn new skills and deepen current competencies to be competitive in the job market. We also know that Unity skills are highly in demand. 

According to Hired.com’s “State of Engineering” report, AR/VR and gaming engineers had the highest job growth in 2019, at 1,400% and 146%, respectively. As Unity remains the world’s leading platform for creating and operating interactive, real-time 3D content, the surging demand in these fields indicates that people with Unity skills are more sought after than ever, making this an opportune time to build and advance your Unity skills.

Image from Hired.com’s “2020 State of Software Engineers” report

From Unity novice to Junior Programmer

The first pathway is Unity Essentials, a 1- to 2-week guided learning journey that teaches you Unity basics and is designed for anyone who wants to become familiar with Unity and real-time content creation.

Unity Essentials covers everything you need to take the first step toward a new career, from must-know industry terms to the creation of your first project.

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This beginner-friendly pathway features interviews with Unity veterans who share their experiences creating with Unity and showcases the various ways in which Unity is used in industry, from games to film. By the end of this pathway, you’ll have created your first game and be empowered to create interactive experiences. 

Once you complete Unity Essentials, or if you’re already familiar with Unity, you’re ready to begin the second pathway, Junior Programmer, to learn the coding skills you need to create your dream project and start expanding your career opportunities.

This pathway is a 3- to 4-month, 60-hour guided learning journey with no coding or math prerequisites that will equip you with the technical and soft skills needed to find a job as a junior programmer. Junior programmer is an entry-level role with a median salary of $49K that serves as a stepping stone into the world of game development and app creation. It sets the foundation for you to grow into a specialization in your area of interest, such as a gameplay, graphics, AR/VR programmer, and others.

Create your professional portfolio and validate your Unity skills 

A professional portfolio is an integral part of your job application. As you progress along your pathway, you will create up to five portfolio pieces to support your career transition by showcasing your knowledge and skills to potential employers. 

Junior Programmer also prepares you to pass two Unity Certifications to help you further demonstrate your job-readiness. Halfway through this pathway, you’ll be prepared to take the Unity Certified User: Programmer exam, an entry-level certification that signals to employers that you’ve mastered the foundations of both Unity and C# programming.

By the end of the Junior Programmer pathway, you’ll be equipped to take the Unity Certified Associate: Programmer exam (available February 2021), a certification designed for people seeking their first professional role using Unity. Passing the certification grants you an official certificate and badge shareable on your LinkedIn profile, so that you can stand out from the crowd to recruiters searching for qualified candidates. 

Additionally, you’ll earn a pathway completion badge that you can add to your LinkedIn profile to showcase your Unity skill level to potential employers and colleagues.

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We’re excited to support you on your journey to advance your career and break into the gaming and tech industries. We’ll be announcing more career pathways and expanding upon this initiative in the coming year. In the meantime, get started with Unity Essentials and Junior Programmer today. 

November 17, 2020 in Technology | 5 min. read

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