Taking Montreal by Storm: An interview with Jack
Jack Storm (Game Programming ’16), is a Champlain college alumni who studied in Montreal and later landed a job in the city. He shared his thoughts during a zoom interview giving tips on how to make the most of your time abroad.
Jack visited the Chute de Montmorency, a famously haunted waterfall near Quebec city.
Jack landed a job at Behaviour Interactive through contacts he met through company tours and networking events. Throughout the interview, he emphasized the importance of getting involved in the Montreal game scene. Luckily Champlain Abroad makes it super easy to meet developers through weekly company visits and other networking events. Jack especially recommends attending the Demo Night event.
Jack and his fellow international students at DemoNight
Many of the professors are also industry professionals making them valuable contacts. Jack recommends: “Get to know your professors. In Montreal, they are generally directly from the industry. They work there during the day and come to teach at night.”
Studying in Montreal puts you at the heart of the Canadian game industry, which makes it easy to find internships. The OIE can help with getting a work visa and preparing to land a job. Jack took advantage of this opportunity by working at Nvizzio Creations on prototypes for mobile development. Jack warns that an internship can be overwhelming. Succeeding at an Internship while studying abroad requires careful time management and planning.
Jack interned at Nvizzio during the spring semester in Montreal
Jack participated in the international game jam under rather unique circumstances: he was the only English speaker on an all-French team. He met up with the team at MIGS (Montreal International Game Summit). Another win for networking! Luckily, one of the team members was able to translate for him and they made it work.
If you happen to be in Montreal, Jack recommends the restaurant L’Gros Luxe which recently opened for delivery.
According to Jack, not speaking French in Montreal isn’t a problem: “It’s easy enough to get by with just English, usually someone is nice enough to speak English with me.” However, having experience working with French speakers on his resume helped Jack get a job in the city after graduation.
Go for it!
To students considering studying abroad, Jack says: “Go for it! I had a very positive experience!”