Potential Careers

SIAT fosters skills and industry connections that open up a wide array of potential career paths for graduates. Students in SIAT have the opportunity to develop skills in a variety of disciplines including game design, interactive film, designing and developing user experience, programming, art, and design.

In addition, SIAT courses, particularly at the upper division level, will help you gain skills that can be applied to particular career paths. Below are a sample of industry careers that some our alumni are working in and some examples of SIAT courses that can help you prepare for these pathways.

^{*Please note some SIAT courses have prerequisites in other disciplines such as Computing Science or Math.}

Sample careers

3D Modeller

3D modellers design and build 3D models including characters, environments, on other items that are based on concept art. 3D modelling work is done on a computer using software sculpting and texturing programs.

Applicable SIAT courses:

Animator

Animators create extensive series of images that form the animation seen in movies, commercials, television programs, and video games. Animators typically use computer software to do their work.

Applicable SIAT courses:

Alumni Feature:

Listen to our podcast episode featuring Ioana Sandor, a SIAT alum who completed a Bachelor of Science in Interactive Arts & Technology in 2020. Ioana is now working as an animator.

Game Designer

Game developers take a video game designer's ideas, drawings, rules, and other design specifications and turn them into a playable game with visuals and sound through writing code.

Applicable SIAT courses:

Alumni feature:

Mark Robles, BSc 2023
Following graduation, Mark began working as a Junior Game Designer at Piranha Games.

鈥淥ne of the prominent aspect of SIAT that interested me was the emphasis of learning the science of human experience. The other aspect that was enticing to me was the fact that students will be immersed in various design spaces, such as media, interactive systems, and other various design disciplines."

Graphic Designer/Visual Communicator

Graphic designers create visual concepts, using computer software or by hand, to communicate ideas that inspire, inform, and captivate consumers. They develop the overall layout and production design for applications such as advertisements.

Applicable SIAT courses:

Alumni feature:

Shayla Pal is a SIAT alum currently working as a graphic designer. Read our convocation spotlight featuring Shayla to learn about her experiences working as a graphic designer at Precision NanoSystems Inc. and her favourite courses and projects from her time in SIAT.

"One of my biggest reasons for joining SIAT was that I wanted to do something creative with my career. It was exciting to be able to see the many different things that could be done in the program."

Interaction Designer

Interaction designers draw upon user data, research and team input to generate interaction concepts that enable seamless and relevant experiences for their users. The strategy is broken down into emotional and physical interaction concepts to ensure that the user finds the product engaging, yet simple to use.

Applicable SIAT courses:

Alumni feature:

Marine Au Yeung, BA 2019
Following graduation, Marine began working as an Interaction Desiger at Artefact

"SIAT also provides opportunities to work in the industry before graduation, which I consider crucial, including co-ops, internships, and the annual Touchpoint conference where students meet and interview with industry professionals. Beyond technical skills, SIAT prepared me for life after graduation by helping me develop in-demand soft skills such as efficient communication, working well under pressure, and understanding how to compassionately and effectively collaborate in a realistic work environment.鈥�

Mobile Application Developer

Mobile application developers create, maintain, and implement the source code to develop mobile apps and mobile platform programs that meet the needs and requirements of clients using the computer programming languages.

Applicable SIAT courses:

Multimedia Designer

Multimedia designers create engaging presentations of images and information for various media including the web, television, movies, and video games. Though they work in a high-technology field, multimedia designers generally need a strong foundation in art.

Applicable SIAT courses:

Videographer, filmmaker, and/or photographer

Applicable SIAT courses:

Student feature:

PhD student Brett Gaylor has been making documentaries about and with the internet since the early 2000s. As a PhD student and researcher in the School of Interactive Arts and Technology鈥檚 Making Culture Lab, Gaylor researches the role of documentarians in building critical literacy around Artificial Intelligence. Learn more 鈫�

Product Designer

A product designer is responsible for the user experience of a product, usually taking direction on the business goals and objectives from product management. Once a product is mature, product designers can help refine the user experience and make the product more efficient or user friendly.

Applicable SIAT courses:

Alumni features:

Listen to our podcast episodes featuring SIAT alumni now working as product designers:

Jordan Yep, a SIAT alum who completed a joint major Interactive Arts & Technology and Communications in 2020. Jordan is now working as a Junior Product Designer at Jostle.

Brandon Lal, a SIAT alum who completed a degree in Interactive Arts & Technology in 2020. Brandon is now working as an Product Designer at LinkedIn.

Cassey Peng, a SIAT alum who completed a degree in Interactive Arts & Technology in 2020. Brandon is now working as an Product Designer at Later.

Software Engineer of Interactive Systems

Software engineers use knowledge of engineering principles and programming languages to build software products, develop computer games, and run network control systems.

Applicable SIAT courses:

ALUMNI FEATURE:

Listen to our podcast episode featuring Nick Doering, a SIAT alum who completed a degree Interactive Arts & Technology in 2017. Following graduation, Nick began working as a software engineer at electric car start-up Rivian.

User Experience (UX) / User Interface (UI) Designer

UX and UI designers support the visual design of digital platforms, products, and brandsoften in collaboration with strategists, writers, engineers, producers, and clients.

These roles often overlap in terms of creating products and interfaces that are intuitive, simple, and efficient but have some differences. UI often centres around the visual design of a product interface (e.g., layout, icons, buttons, information architecture, colours, typography, animations, and illustrations). UX centres around the user or human experience of a product and improving the ease of use of usability to create the best user experience by exploring many different approaches to solve end-users鈥� problems.

Applicable SIAT courses:

Alumni features:

SIAT alum Eric Lee dives deep into the world of UX design and shares how his SIAT and internship experiences prepared him for his career. To top it off, practical tips for personal branding and portfolio building are revealed (for free!).

SIAT alum and UX Designer Priscilla Skylar Lee shares their dedication to creating an inclusive environment in collaborative spaces. We also chat about their seven-year journey to graduation and what catches their eye when hiring new designers.

SIAT alum Aleeze Asif completed a joint major in Business and Interactive Arts & Technology in 2020. Aleeze is now working as a UX/UI Designer at RBC.

User Interface (UI) Developer

UI developers combine programming, psychology, and creative design to craft intuitive controls for software and hardware and work with the functionality of a program. UI developers create an interface that behaves as users would it expect it to, facilitating a seamless and efficient user experience.

Applicable SIAT courses:

Web Designer & Web Developer

Web designers plan, create and code internet sites and web pages, many of which combine text with sounds, pictures, graphics and video clips. A web designer is responsible for creating the design and layout of a website or web pages.

Web developers design and create websites. They are responsible for the look of the site. They are also responsible for the site's technical aspects, such as its performance and capacity, which are measures of a website's speed and how much traffic the site can handle.

丁香园AV

School of Interactive Arts & Technology