Chris Matthews, graduate of DMII’s Interactive Software Development program, Software Developer at Ingalls Information Security
Q: What led you to enroll at the Digital Media Institute at Intertech?
A: Researching game development tutorials I came upon DMII and was curious. I was very surprised by what was being offered here. A school that can teach me game development in one year? It sounded way too good to be true. I set up a tour of DMII and then I was hooked.
Q: What made you decide to seek this certificate at DMII rather than the traditional route?
A: I was a junior at a local college majoring in computational mathematics when I decided to enroll at DMII. I still plan on finishing online with a computer science bachelor’s degree.
Q: What was your experience within your first week at DMII? How sure were you that you had made the right choice?
A: I was really excited to get started. I was still a bit skeptical about the program but jumped into the coursework and almost immediately started seeing progress after about two weeks. I knew then that I had made the right decision in enrolling.
Q: You were placed in a job before you even graduated. How did that happen?
A: I got placed in a job about a month before the course had actually finished. I had been in contact with DMII alumni that work at Ingalls Information Security. I went in for an interview for an internship, but got called back later and was offered a full-time position.
Q: How does the job you do at Ingalls Information Security relate to digital media?
A: Even though I work at an information security company, we daily use digital media to develop visuals to help security analysts do their jobs more efficiently. It’s not video game development, but all the knowledge I gained at DMII easily applies to what we are working on at Ingalls.
Q: Why did you choose digital media as your education and career field?
A: Developing video games has always been a dream of mine. I grew up playing tons of video games. The skills you learn in game development translate very well into other branches of development.
Q: What would you say to someone who is thinking of pursuing an education in digital media?
A: Get a head start by studying video games. Learn programming by watching tutorials on YouTube and Udemy. Then use the education you would get at a place like DMII to help further your education. Just doing the course alone might teach you the skills you need to get a job in the industry, but you need to put in time outside of class to better yourself as a developer by working on outside projects.
Digital Media Institute at InterTech is focused in digital media education offering training on industry-grade hardware and software. DMII offers two intensive model certificate programs at an accelerated speed from leaders in the industry, at a reduced tuition rate. This initiative of BRF is housed at InterTech 1 in Shreveport.
Q & A with Digital Media Institute at Intertech graduate Chris Matthews
