The campus was abuzz with smiles, handshakes, and lively conversations as 127 game and tech industry professionals, representing more than 75 companies, gathered to meet the next generation of industry talent — also known as DigiPen’s graduating class of 2025. The April 5 event, titled NextGen 2025, gave students and employers a chance to take part in three separate networking and recruitment opportunities.
Kicking things off, the day began with a morning portfolio review session, whereby graduating seniors and master’s students from DigiPen’s BFA in Digital Art and Animation and MFA in Digital Arts degree programs received artistic feedback from game and animation industry pros. With 55 volunteer reviewers on hand, students had the option to seek critique from multiple experts who offered personalized tips and pointers on how to bolster their portfolios for prospective employers. Next, both students and employers connected for a casual networking lunch, as attendees mingled over free food and drinks courtesy of Bytes Cafe. Lastly, participants migrated to The Wing to take part in DigiPen’s one-of-a-kind “reverse” career fair, an annual campus tradition dating back to 2003, which saw graduating students from all degree programs setting up booths and tables to exhibit their work to visiting industry recruiters.
“If you think of a normal career fair, you have companies setting up booths and students walking around trying to pitch themselves. With the nature of what our students are creating, that’s really hard to do. Are you walking around with your laptop and showing your work?” Maddie Caswell, DigiPen’s Vice President of Career and Alumni Relations, said. “A long time ago, we saw the value in flipping the script on that and having our students set up stationary booths to show off their work. They can have laptops and multiple monitors. They can have decorations. They can have whatever they need to show off their body of work.”
According to Caswell, this year’s event saw record turnout for the number of industry guests. Across the day’s three sessions, DigiPen students connected with representatives from a wide mix of game and technology employers, including Amazon, Apple, Blizzard Entertainment, Bungie, Electronic Arts, Epic Games, Meta, Microsoft, Nintendo, Riot Games, and many more.
“Employers like it because they get to walk around a room full of talent. They get to view all different programs. We separate the room by discipline, such as by programming, art, sound, production — all of that,” Caswell said. “If they’re only looking for programmers, they can walk all through the programming section and see everything our students have to offer, and it works better for everyone.”
Students, in turn, used their designated booth spaces to hand out resumes, showcase high-quality work samples, and spark career-focused conversations with visiting employers.
“The overall consensus was that the quality of work was very high, and that obviously is what we want to hear,” Caswell said.
As in prior years, some of the industry guests in attendance were DigiPen alumni who had come to support the newest graduating class and recruit on behalf of their current employers. Bryn Albertson-Gass, a 2019 BS in Computer Science graduate now working as security engineer at Microsoft, was among them.
“It was genuinely inspiring to see how hard these students work,” Albertson-Gass said. “It was also really lovely to have a chat with former professors and to see how they’ve adapted and changed the courses as time has moved onward. I really hope the students feel similarly and took away a rewarding experience. They should be proud of themselves.”
Thank you to all our industry guests who helped make the day a success!
Learn more about the many career services offered at DigiPen.