Tacita French funneled her passion for games on social media, establishing herself as a Game Ambassador on Instagram before securing herself a role with game company Studio Gobo. Studio Gobo have worked on some of the biggest IP’s in the world including, Star Wars, Formula 1, Guardians of the Galaxy and were awarded by Gamesindustry.biz Best Places to Work 2017, 2018 and 2019. We asked Tacita, some key questions about getting into the games sector.

Explain your role like I'm 5 years old

I make sure everything in the studio in running smoothly on a day-to-day basis. Beyond that, I organise events, work with leads and management, liaise with outside contractors and generally make sure the studio is the best place it can be!

Take us through your average day at work

Average day? Pfft, what average day! There is hardly an average day in my job, but if I had to say... I handle the weekly shop - which is all our food that comes on a Monday to keep us ticking over. Put away the fruit and snacks, all the drinks in our drinks fridges. Deliver the mail, greet some new clients, finally check my emails and respond to those, make sure the plants aren't dying, have a couple of meetings and then make sure I'm up to speed with whatever fun thing we're planning or doing that week! All the while chatting to everyone round the studio to make sure they're happy and can do their jobs to the best of their ability.

What was your educational and career journey into your current role?

I actually did my degree in English & Creative Writing and thought I wanted to pursue a career down that route, but I discovered along the way, I really hate editing! Not only that but games made me excited! I always came back to games when I thought about what I really enjoyed, and when I heard about Studio Gobo and the culture, well, I knew I wanted to be there! I started a gaming themed Instagram, Youtube and Twitter and created content about everything gaming related I was interested in. My passion caught the attention of Instagram and I was made an official Gaming Ambassador with a few others. From there my profile really blew up and I believe it was my passion for the industry that convinced Gobo to take a chance on me, even though it was my first industry role. I've been there over a year now, so I must be doing something right, even though I still often feel as though I've snuck in!

What is it about your role that you love?

I love organising fun things for the studio! Whether that's massages for everyone, getting doughnuts in, or planning fun trips out! I would also say my job really keeps me on my toes, my responsibilities are really broad which means no two days are the same!

What's the hardest thing about your role?

Trying not to eat too many of the lovely things we get in!

What key skills should people work on to do your role one day?

I would say demonstrate your passion, in any way that interests you, whether that's YouTube, a blog, writing, any medium you like. Beyond that, take part in events or projects that demonstrate good communication and management skills, you want to feel comfortable dealing with multiple things across one day, or even a week and you want evidence to show to any studio you apply for. Demonstrate that they want you for X, Y and Z reasons.

What advice would you give to your younger self looking to get started in the industry?

My younger self thought that I couldn't join the industry because I didn't want to be a programmer, or engineer or anything technical. I didn't realise that even studios still need core teams for recruitment, HR and facilities management. I would probably tell her to get some experience in a studio, not a library! And to start looking for experience in office management, even if it's not a game studio to start with, because the portfolio of passion makes up for that!

Do you have any links to good articles or videos that you think might give some tips or advice to someone starting in your role?

No, but I would say be yourself! If you're really passionate about getting into the industry, research the different kinds of roles and find one that you like the sound of!