In the last meet up we discussed setting up some kind of internship programme or initiative through MakegamesSA so I'm getting the conversation started.
I have raised what we spoke about with the committee, it's just in limbo at the moment while everyone goes crazy about rAge. It'll be on the agenda on our post-rAge meeting, I promise!
That probably depends on the position being offered and the kind of internship. It also depends on how the committee decides and what options we, as MGSA, have access to. School/university placement internships for short durations would probably be unpaid (as little useful work would be expected) other internships would lean heavily towards paid positions, especially if they were longer than a month.
But like I said, it all depends on so many factors and we haven't had time to do any research as yet.
We (Formula D) only do paid (stipend) internships but also for a minimum of 3 months. In our experience less time that that is ineffective for both sides. We've just been selected as MIT partners in SA and will start taking on interns from them (paid by USAID) from January. If it wasn't subsidised by USAID the interns would expect a stipend.
We just got an intern whom started last week, and we are teaching him from scratch, or at least giving him the opportunity to learn in our office and build a cv, will release an ebook ,hopefully, on his work by him at the end of term if all goes well.
Hey @dislekcia . Did the committee get around to discussing this at your last meeting?
Yes, but not as much as we needed to... We need to do some information gathering first so that we can know what MGSA can do as an organisation. Do you have any links to those govt programs you were talking about at the meetup?
Ok. I don't remember exactly which programs I reffered to but there is one that we're connected to for international intern funding: https://www.rifellowships.org/ Not sure how relevant this is in this context but I'll apply my mind some more
I wasn't involved in the discussion, but could it of been the services seta grants? I believe as an employer one pays towards a skills development levy and then can apply for funding of internships. see:
Good luck with that @shanemarks. I've spent, actually wasted, a lot of time with the setas only to discover that they're just a waste of time. It's simply not worth the effort, unfortunately.
@MNRosa, what sort of problems did you have with the Seta stuff? Mind PMing that to me if you have the time? Maybe that's what the MGSA structure could be useful for... Lord knows we're already trying to do a lot of talking to govt anyway, what's one more topic to raise ;)
@notsimon207 We've already got some interns over December. I hope you find a placement, because your games have been excellent and you'd only benefit from being exposed a professional game dev environment.
btw. Hope you're at this next meetup, I think you will appreciate the prototype we recently made for the PewDiePie jam.
Hey @notsimon207 we'd definitely be keen to talk to you about the internships that we offer at Formula D. Maybe we can chat at tonight's meetup? Otherwise give me a shout
Resurrecting this thread because we've had a definite influx of job shadow requests, particularly those interested in art, design, animation.
Unfortunately, we haven't been able to accommodate every single request (though we did try and ended up with a full week this week of shadows) and I was wondering who might we have been able to forward this requests on to? A couple said they had already tried other studios before approaching us, but were getting turned away.
Again, is there anyone available to help out with the influx of job shadow requests? We're already taking on a large number and would appreciate if we could send some of the students to another studio.
@dammit: we might be able to help if they are looking for programming or management-lite positions, but not art or animation unfortunately. Our offices are in Stellenbosch and I don't think it'll work if they aren't able to come here. If you get suitable requests, feel free to send them directly to me, I believe you have my details.
@LexAquillia (Or anyone else who may know the answer to this) We're looking at getting some interns in over december - is there a situation where the government subsidises the cost of the intern? If so, how does one go about applying etc?
As far as I know there is nothing to subsidies internships, it is possible to get youth wage subsidies (I think) but that requires you to employ them full time
As far as I know there are no subsidies available. We fund it ourselves. There may be a way that it can be allocated to enterprise development depending on the BEE status of the interns but then that simply becomes a tax deduction.
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But like I said, it all depends on so many factors and we haven't had time to do any research as yet.
Totally agree on 3months.
https://www.facebook.com/hashbreaktherules
http://www.serviceseta.org.za/EmployersMemberCompanies/Pages/Employers-Section.aspx
and
http://www.serviceseta.org.za/Learner/Pages/Internships.aspx
btw. Hope you're at this next meetup, I think you will appreciate the prototype we recently made for the PewDiePie jam.
Unfortunately, we haven't been able to accommodate every single request (though we did try and ended up with a full week this week of shadows) and I was wondering who might we have been able to forward this requests on to? A couple said they had already tried other studios before approaching us, but were getting turned away.
But AFAIK as a game studio you don't qualify to apply for it.