ABSTRACT
While technically students are “professionals” if they get paid for the work they do, professionalism consists of much more than that. A large part of becoming a true professional entails developing the necessary personal attitudes and work ethic. This chapter discusses the many elements that help students develop the mindset of a professional, which include one's attitude toward one's work and how one engages with the other professionals on a team. The chapter seeks to build in students a professional approach to their work and how to respect and work with others on a game development team. This is undertaken so that students can learn these lessons while still in college, where the consequences of failure are much less severe, rather than in industry, where the consequences can be catastrophic. Building a professional attitude during college goes a long way toward becoming a consummate professional in the industry, where one's well-developed personality and work ethic will earn respect from one's colleagues. This chapter outlines approaches to gaining professionalism as well as pointing out some of the things to avoid.
