Getting rejected for a job is rarely a cause for celebration. But a letter a student received from Valve in 2015 is currently going viral online.
For many PC gamers, the dream of working at Valve is as old as Steam itself. Who wouldn’t want to work where Half-Life and Portal were created and where, supposedly, there are no bosses?
The reality, however, looks bleak for new graduates, as the Bellevue-based company is notorious for its extremely high hiring standards. Liem Nguyen learned just how high these standards really are back in 2015.
Fresh out of high school and with no significant experience, he applied on a whim to the makers of Counter-Strike. Years later, he shared the response he received on Reddit—sparking a heated debate about Valve’s corporate culture and the right path into the gaming industry.
“Just do it”: The lesson from the rejection
When Nguyen opened the email back then, he didn’t find any of the usual, meaningless platitudes. Instead, Valve explained in detail why it didn’t work out. The gist of the message: Valve doesn’t hire beginners. “At this time, we will not be moving forward with your application. We do not offer entry-level positions,” the message stated unequivocally.
I applied to a developer position at Valve, fresh out of high school. This was their response.
byu/theomulus ingodot
Valve explained its philosophy: They are looking for people who are already “at the top of their craft” and capable of making “substantial, independent contributions.” A college degree is secondary. “We have found no correlation between attending a specific university and the likelihood of success,” the letter stated. Instead, dedication, experience, and a customer-focused mindset are crucial—things you don’t learn in a lecture hall.
Perhaps the most important advice came at the end: “Our advice is basically to follow your passion and spend time perfecting your craft. The most important thing is that you just start making games.”
“Dear …,
Thank you for contacting us—we’re glad to hear you’re already thinking about how to break into the gaming industry.
At this time, we will not be proceeding with your application. We do not offer entry-level positions.
There are many paths into our company, and we do not provide specific instructions on how to get hired here. We look for people who are at the top of their craft—from art to software development—and who have the skills to make substantial, independent contributions to our games and services. For this reason, all positions we advertise online require a significant amount of prior experience.
We have found no correlation between attending a specific university and the likelihood of success. Therefore, we do not favor one college or university over another. Instead, we believe that dedication, experience, and a customer-focused mindset are key to finding great employees.
Most people who work at Valve have seven to ten years of professional experience in these fields, and many have even longer tenures in the industry. There are many paths to reaching this level of experience: some have degrees in these disciplines, some have degrees in other fields, and some have no degree at all. However, they are all world-class experts in their fields, excellent communicators, and very good at understanding what customers want and how best to deliver it. These qualities are hard to define, aren’t taught in schools, and are what distinguish exceptional candidates from ordinary ones.
In short: Our advice is to follow your passion and spend time perfecting your craft. The most important thing is to simply start creating games—whether on paper or on a computer. What matters is the “making” and “creating.”
We hope this helps.
Best regards
Valve Recruiting
Reddit reveals: The “personal” email is a template
The community initially reacted enthusiastically to the detailed and motivating feedback. But disillusionment followed quickly.
In the comments, dozens of users reported experiencing déjà vu:“I see they haven’t changed the rejection letter in ten years. I received the exact same response 12 years ago,”wrote one user. Another confirmed receiving the exact same wording five years ago.
What initially appeared to be a recruiter’s personal interaction with a young talent ultimately turned out to be a template that Valve has been using for well over a decade. Nevertheless, the community’s verdict is lenient.
However, many users emphasized that even this standard response is “a hell of a lot better” than the “ghosting” common in the industry, where applicants often receive no feedback at all. The message may be automated, but the content remains relevant and motivating.
Why Valve Doesn’t Want Juniors
The discussion also brought to light why Valve is so vehemently opposed to junior positions.One user recalledthe story behind the creation of Portal. The game began as a student project called “Narbacular Drop” at the DigiPen Institute of Technology in Redmond.
Valve saw the potential not in the students’ grades, but in the working prototype. The company promptly hired the entire team to implement the concept in the Source Engine.
So, if you want to work at Valve, you often have to prove first that you can get something off the ground on your own.
A master’s degree in game design is worth less than a published indie game or a mod. “Portfolio over degree” is the golden rule of the creative industry.
All’s well that ends well
For Liem Nguyen himself, the email—whether it was a standard message or not—was a decisive catalyst:He took the advice “Just start creating” to heart.
Today, over ten years later, he works in research but also develops his own games on the side.& nbsp;He is currently working on an indie title with a focus on biologyin the Godot engine, into which he is incorporating his scientific expertise.
In doing so, he has followed exactly the path Valve showed him back then: remain independent, create things, and build expertise in a niche field. Whether it will eventually be enough to land a job with Gabe Newell remains to be seen.
