How I got my job... in virtual reality at Facebook
Felicia Williams, 37, is a product design manager at Facebook in London, specialising in virtual reality
“Having the ability to code is increasingly important”
Use your side hustle As a child growing up in Oklahoma, I loved drawing and writing. But I was interested in science and tech too; both my parents were microbiologists, and I played video games every day. Later, while training as a painter, I decided I wanted a side job, and found an advert for a “video game artist” on a bulletin board on my college campus.
It was a freelance role, so I could do it between classes. That’s when I realised that video games could be my job. Two years later, in 2005, I got my first “proper” job as a game designer for MTV in New York.
Be adaptive
At Facebook, my job is to look at how VR and AR (augmented reality) can help people to be more productive and better connected. For example, with VR, we can transport people up mountains or bring them together in a stadium using digital avatars. One of the things I’ve had to learn to get here is to be adaptive. As a painter, I’ve worked with all sorts of people: from video-game designers and movie producers to writers, architects and dancers. Regardless of your background, it’s possible to get a job in this industry. You just have to learn to adjust yourself and your skills for the job you’re in. There are now so many courses for people who are interested in working in this space – whether as a designer, a software engineer or a product manager – and being able to code is an increasingly important skill. That said, we are still pretty early in the development stages of VR and AR, so our workforce cannot just be made up of people who have had that experience before.
Take the meeting
After about three years with MTV, I spotted a potential position in Paris with Ubisoft (I was a professional gamer with them in my spare time). I’d always wanted to live abroad, so I applied for the job. As the conversations about the role went on, the location of the job kept moving: first to Barcelona, then Montreal. Eventually they offered me a role in Montreal, as creative director. It was pretty challenging; I was managing a team of 40 people and working with new technology. After a while, I started speaking with people at Microsoft about a similar role in Seattle. I couldn’t imagine leaving my job at Ubisoft, but I believe you should always have the conversation, even when you’re happy in your job. It gives you an invaluable opportunity to hone how you talk about yourself. So I did, and I went on to spend five years in Seattle as a design leader for Microsoft, before moving the job to London for a year, where Facebook got in touch with me.