Hrishi Sidhartha is 'Grinding Gears' in a Job Most Gamers Dream About

Hrishi Sidhartha ’15, has turned an elective into a career to envy. As a game designer with Grinding Gear Games, he spends his day shaping Path of Exile 2, one of the most anticipated action role-playing games on the market. He had to relocate to the other side of the world — or at least down under — to join the Auckland, New Zealand-based company, but making necessary life adjustments was literally in the name of the game when offered a once-in-lifetime opportunity.

Sidhartha returned to New Jersey and NJIT for the first time since moving seven years ago as a special guest speaker for Senior University Lecturer DJ Kehoe’s IT 266 Game Mod Programming, the class where it all began for him. And he credits Kehoe with sparking the inspiration to not only change majors from Computer Science to Information Technology, but to take something that was previously just a little fun a lot more seriously in the future.

It’s a highly creative role, and I love it.

“One of my main roles is working on the itemization of the game. This involves working on everything to do with items that drop in the game, including all the really wacky ones. It’s a highly creative role, and I love it,” he said.

As one would expect, the road to finding his dream job was anything but simple. “I was lucky — but I also worked hard. I had sent out around 500 applications to get to the No. 1 job at the No. 1 company I wanted, which was the first one I applied to!” Sidhartha continued.

“I knew Professor Kehoe’s class would be fun, but I didn’t expect to learn as much as I did. I wound up learning more through him than any other class. IT 266 became my favorite because it was so useful.”

NJIT boasts a highly practical, hands-on education, but Sidhartha acknowledges that Kehoe’s approach went above and beyond even some of his best instructors at the time (a common sentiment among students).

Sidhartha feels that he may have had a slight advantage over other job candidates because the class was “not just talking,” but required students to build a competitive portfolio. Nevertheless, Kehoe also places great importance on developing the art of interviewing, including the confidence to speak in detail about a project and the depth of knowledge to answer the most difficult in unforeseen questions. His class furthermore uses engines that are standard in the gaming industry.

When asked to offer some insight on creating a successful career in gaming, Sidhartha advises finding ways to stand out, and stresses that presenting the best “you” is as important as a portfolio that “crushes.”

“And definitely don’t underestimate a class requiring you to make a game full circle. It’s a big challenge but so is the pay off,” he said.

In the end, he admits that luck still plays a significant role in landing a dream job, “but your options are more open if you’re willing to live anywhere!” he remarked.

Last but not least, have a thorough understanding of the company and their product, stay current on what’s new — and, of course, “play a lot of games!”