To preface this section; this is not the job I ended up getting but it is imperative to the story. This interview was not only for a job I really wanted but it also was for one of my dream companies to work for; Jagex. I was incredibly nervous and this perhaps showed in the interview where I was slightly stumped on a simple question about how to manage your work flow. In retrospect it feels easy to answer but when the pressure is on and you are in a new situation with people in front of you it becomes far more difficult. I got a disappointing email a few days later confirming I did not make it to the second round of interviews. I felt deflated after that and I did for a moment lose hope on getting into the industry but with help from family, friends and an unexpected message from a Jagex employee asking if they could mentor me - I regained my spark and put my sights back on getting a job.

A few weeks after my rejection I was actively looking through the recent job postings on LinkedIn, which usually is littered with unrelated roles either needing years of experience or being the wrong industry entirely. Despite this a company caught my eye whom had posted a role that seemed to be an entry level job for a unity developer. The exciting part was that whilst the company did not develop video games; they created content for mixed reality devices which was very interesting to me as someone who loves emerging technology. After reading more on their website and looking into the company I was convinced this seemed a great opportunity and I applied. That exact same day I received an email from the CEO asking to schedule a teams meeting. One week later, a technical test complete and a meeting with the programming team and I was offered a role as "XR Content Creator" for Luminous Group. I couldn't believe how fast things had changed. I had gone from losing hope just a few weeks prior after months of applying and what felt like a complete failure in my first interview to now having a job in a great company with a clear path for future growth.

I've now been working at Luminous Group for three weeks and it's been great - the team have been amazing with helping me out and teaching me their internal development tool. I can't wait to grow within the company and to grow my skills professionally too. It's been a tough path to getting into the industry and required relentless applying and pushing myself to really excel but finally having a full-time relevant job is the best feeling I have felt in a long while.