The Search for a Star and Sumo Digital Star competition welcomed 31 finalists to Sheffield Hallam

11 of this year's finalists study at Universities in Yorkshire; 70 of which came from Sheffield Hallam
nDreams were the winners of the Grads in Games graduate employer award.nDreams were the winners of the Grads in Games graduate employer award.
nDreams were the winners of the Grads in Games graduate employer award.

Expert panels of judges met today with top graduate artists and coders to determine the Search for a Star and Sumo Digital Star Finals winners.

The event was held in the Sheffield Hallam, Cantor Building and has been running all day from 9am until 5.30pm.

nDreams were the winners of the Grads in Games graduate employer award.nDreams were the winners of the Grads in Games graduate employer award.
nDreams were the winners of the Grads in Games graduate employer award.
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Aardvark Swift, a UK recruitment agency have been holding the competitions for 8 years, but this year will be their first ever time hosting the finals in Sheffield.

The Search for a Star competition is aimed at Postgraduates where as the Sumo Digital Star Finals is aimed at Undergraduate students.

Managing director of Aardvark Swift, Ian Goodall said, "We talk at around 30 to 40 Universities every year and what we found is that lots of students weren't being given the right advice and they weren't being told to develop the right assets, portfolios and skills to get them a job. So we created search for a star as a talent competition and also the grads in games initiative.

All the finalists get jobs, all the winners get jobs and mainly from the partners that are here today, but other studios as well. "

The event took place today (Friday, April 6) In the Cantor building at Sheffield Hallam.The event took place today (Friday, April 6) In the Cantor building at Sheffield Hallam.
The event took place today (Friday, April 6) In the Cantor building at Sheffield Hallam.
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The Search for a Star and Sumo Digital Star competitions are a chance for students to get their foot in the industries door by showing their talent within their judged interviews.

The interviews give contestants the opportunity of potentially getting either a job offer or interview for the postgraduates or the chance of an internship for the undergraduates.

The event also saw the addition of the Grads in Games Awards this year, recognising the best games Universities, Lecturers, Graduate Employers and more.

Throughout the day various talks were given by people within the industry, while the finalists had interviews in front of a panel of expert judges, showing their portfolios and various pieces of work.

nDreams were the winners of the Grads in Games graduate employer award.nDreams were the winners of the Grads in Games graduate employer award.
nDreams were the winners of the Grads in Games graduate employer award.
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After the event was started eight years ago the competition has grown significantly, from receiving 50 entrants to nearly 1000 from over 100 universities across Europe.

Jake Missing, who studied computer games design at Sheffield Hallam University, was last years winner for the Environment category.

As a result of winning his category Jake landed a job as a junior 3D artist at nDreams.

Jake said, "While at Sheffield Hallam i did a placement year at the Collegiate campus with the tech team where i worked on VR learning enhancement. Generally a tutor would come to us with a subject and we'd work into making it more interactive."

The event took place today (Friday, April 6) In the Cantor building at Sheffield Hallam.The event took place today (Friday, April 6) In the Cantor building at Sheffield Hallam.
The event took place today (Friday, April 6) In the Cantor building at Sheffield Hallam.
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nDreams were among the winners of the Grads in Games awards, receiving the graduate employer award.

There was 31 finalists in total, 11 of which are studying at Universities in Yorkshire; plus Sheffield Hallam is not only hosting this year's Finals Day, but also topped the table with over 70 entrants.

The event saw support from many companies such as: Sumo Digital, nDreams, BossAlien, d3t, Unity, Rebellion and Cloud Imperium.