Amir Satvat Shines at The Game Awards for Transparent Job-Finding Tips!

Amir Satvat has just made history by receiving the inaugural Game Changers Award at The Game Awards! This prestigious accolade honors his exceptional efforts in bridging the gap for job seekers in the gaming industry through innovative job resources.

This recognition couldn’t come at a more crucial moment. In a landscape where job losses in gaming have hit unprecedented levels, Satvat stands out as a beacon of hope. His relentless dedication to helping individuals secure employment has been nothing short of remarkable. With a staggering audience of over 100 million gamers tuning in, it’s heartwarming to see his hard work celebrated by Geoff Keighley, the mastermind behind The Game Awards. Satvat is truly the first of his kind to hold the title of Game Changer!

Reflecting back to our initial conversation in August 2023, Satvat had already assisted more than 450 people in finding jobs through his DIY job listing service on LinkedIn. Fast forward to now, and that number has skyrocketed to nearly 3,000! In an industry that has seen a staggering 34,000 layoffs over the past 2.5 years, Satvat’s commitment to leveraging existing talent is paving the way to balanced growth in gaming.

As he accepted his award, Satvat made a poignant statement: “You can’t make great games without great people.” To all the developers out there, he reassured them, “I see you.”

The turbulence in the industry began in November 2022 when major corporations like Meta initiated massive layoffs, affecting thousands of lives just before the holidays. Witnessing his friends face this harsh reality deeply affected Satvat. He transformed his grief into action, devoting his personal time to create automated spreadsheets and collect crucial data to assist those impacted.

“I felt so bad because it was right before Thanksgiving, and the layoffs were just beginning to escalate,” Satvat shared during our first interview. “As I sat down for Thanksgiving dinner, I started hearing about friends getting laid off. I told my wife, ‘This is unacceptable.’ That moment sparked a drive within me.”

He continued, “We often get caught up in numbers and forget that real people are behind them. As the figures grew, it became impossible to ignore. My friends longed for a seamless way to browse for jobs, and I thought, ‘I can utilize my skills in Excel and web scraping to create that solution.’”

Today, Satvat has amassed an impressive amount of data about the gaming job market, curated from the experiences of those he has helped. Breaking into the gaming world himself in his late 30s armed with expertise in data management, he began his mission with a single resource that has since evolved into a comprehensive network.

Tens of Thousands of Game Job Listings

Satvat has established a dynamic system that keeps job listings continuously updated across thousands of gaming companies worldwide. His ingenious approach involved “scraping” job postings and embedding them in a user-friendly Google Sheet that he shares on LinkedIn. This initiative quickly grew to include hundreds of fresh job postings, with a rotation of listings to keep it current. He has even gathered invaluable data on ageism in the gaming sector and insights into how long it takes people to find employment, even forecasting trends in the job market.

Stop and think for a moment—this is groundbreaking work, typically reserved for professional recruiters who earn hefty commissions during prosperous times. Yet, in a downturn, Satvat has chosen to offer his services selflessly. His efforts have catapulted him to a well-deserved celebrity status on LinkedIn, where he was honored with a “Top Voice” title for his contributions to the gaming community. From a modest following of 4,000, he now boasts over 100,000 followers!

He realized that aggregating job opportunities could simplify the job-hunting process for many. And guess what? It worked!

“I’ve always believed that the most powerful solutions are often the simplest,” he explained. “People tend to over-engineer their ideas. I noticed numerous platforms available to assist job seekers, but many required cumbersome sign-ups or complicated databases. I thought, why not create something straightforward like a Google Sheet? People would definitely find that useful, and it turns out I was right.”

In a recent celebratory post, he expressed, “This is the pinnacle for me. My lifelong aspiration has been to become a trusted member of the gaming community, to have a voice that resonates and earns the respect of my peers.”

Breaking Into Games

Although he was a startup specialist at Amazon, working with Amazon Web Services, Satvat took a leap into the gaming sector after four years, inspired by his experiences. With an MBA and degrees in policy and engineering, along with a background in investment banking at Goldman Sachs, he didn’t break into games until his mid-30s. His newfound passion for aiding others reignited his interest in pursuing a full-time career in gaming.

In response to the evolving needs of job seekers, Satvat continually enhances the Game Jobs Workbook. He also encourages individuals to connect with mentors and engage in valuable 30-minute conversations for support. Recruiters and hiring managers are now reaching out to Satvat to list their job openings, while a dedicated network of volunteers assists in resume reviews and enhancements.