5 hours ago, wbrill23 said:

I'm noticing almost all job postings I've reviewed require at least one year of experience in the field on the low end.

Game studios don't need to advertise for lower level positions.  Usually between word-of-mouth and unsolicited applications they get an enormous pile of entry-level applicants.

Studios also prefer to hire people with some experience rather than being the company who has to do the initial training in the industry. If they're going to pay money and go through the effort of advertising, they want someone who has experience in the industry, preferably one who will still take entry level pay. 

5 hours ago, wbrill23 said:

Is it possible to start at a game development company right out of college? If so, what steps I should take to ensure that I can do this?

Yes it is possible. You need to be local (within commuting distance), or be prepared to move to the company's location on your own. Location is one of the first screenings you will never see.

You also need to work your social network and find the friend-of-a-friend who works in a game studio and get them to push your application along. Based on various HR estimates one hour of working your social ties is worth about nine hours of applying blindly to jobs. You can still apply without having a contact at the company, but you are far better off finding a connection and leveraging it whenever possible.  The easiest way to be on the interview short list is to have someone recommend you for the spot.

You need to be prepared that sometimes you won't get the job you want straight out of college. Be prepared to work in a related field if necessary. Other entertainment jobs, games-related technologies, live displays, simulations, these can all help your career.  A job writing software for broadcast television, writing modeling or cad software, writing data simulations, writing interactive networking code, these can transfer directly into games.  Business development like programming in SQL and Java backends can also transition to game server work.   Apply to those jobs after you've exhausted your work on your most desirable companies.

12 hours ago, frob said:

You need to be prepared that sometimes you won't get the job you want straight out of college. Be prepared to work in a related field if necessary. Other entertainment jobs, games-related technologies, live displays, simulations, these can all help your career.  A job writing software for broadcast television, writing modeling or cad software, writing data simulations, writing interactive networking code, these can transfer directly into games.  Business development like programming in SQL and Java backends can also transition to game server work.   Apply to those jobs after you've exhausted your work on your most desirable companies.

Ditto. One of the originals from Bioware once told me that for a time, he was the only one there with a degree (and not in games). Some of the people were former used-car salesman etc. that the company hired based on their skills in modding, etc. My friend's dad was also once offered a job by them as an artist when they saw his drawings, which was an unsolicited submission. 

Everything is trial by fire.

On 7/24/2018 at 12:49 AM, Chris Schmidt said:

Everything is trial by fire.

The industry has a strong background in meritocracy. 

If you can demonstrate that you can do the job they need, that can be enough to get you hired.

Educational background is still part of the process.  If two people can demonstrate similar results and are generally equal then better education can tip the scales.  Many times education background is a mandatory HR filter: sometimes it must be a specific degree, other times it can be any degree, but the combination of no degree, no existing credits, and no insider pushing your application means no interviews.

Once you're already successful in the industry a person's educational background is less important, but it will remain a factor in wage negotiation and will be troublesome with every new job.