I recently went to a game job fair. While a hiring manager was looking over my resume he noticed that I have a job outside the game industry and then asked what kind of programmer I wanted to be in the industry. My response was that I was interested in AI, but as I had no experience in the industry I was interested in any position that would fit. His response was that I should stick with only looking for AI jobs if that's what I was really interested in.
After looking around at a few companies (EA, Blizzard, SOE, and some smaller studios around my area), associate/junior AI doesn't seem to be a position. In fact, there seemed to be few, if any, AI related jobs. It seems to me that the correct route is still an associate position (usually UI or Tools) and then moving into other positions as you gain experience. Is this correct or am I just not seeing associate AI (or even other specialties outside UI/Tools) in my limited search area?
After looking around at a few companies (EA, Blizzard, SOE, and some smaller studios around my area), associate/junior AI doesn't seem to be a position. In fact, there seemed to be few, if any, AI related jobs. It seems to me that the correct route is still an associate position (usually UI or Tools) and then moving into other positions as you gain experience. Is this correct or am I just not seeing associate AI (or even other specialties outside UI/Tools) in my limited search area?