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Imagine being paid to play Xbox? Ashley Jenkins is an inspirational girl who managed to carve a career for herself out of her love for video games - find out how you can too...
Name: Ashley Jenkins Age: 27 Employer/company: Xbox Position: Digital Site Manager/Community Manager
 Can you give us a brief job description?
I run the Xbox website and Xbox LIVE interface for Australia and New Zealand. I also represent Xbox on Twitter and Facebook. I keep a blog called InsiderX where I get to post about new stuff that’s come out and share stats about what people are playing.
How did you get this job?
Before I worked at Xbox, I was actually a professional gamer! I travelled to tournaments all around the United States, and sometimes internationally, competing against other gamers for money. I also went to game studios and interviewed the developers about the games they were working on. When I decided to move to Australia, I visited the Xbox offices here and they invited me to stay!
What inspired you to get into this field? I
’ve been a gamer since I was very young. I love video games. They’re fun and exciting and they tell amazing stories and transport me to other worlds. Since I was young I wanted to be a part of this industry and help to share my passion for video games with others.
What is a typical week at work like for you?
Every week I look at what’s coming out and pick out the really cool ones, and then promote those things on the website and on Xbox LIVE. It could be a downloadable game, new songs for Lips, or a trailer for a really hot game that’s coming up. I work with Xbox fan sites to create events for them so they can promote themselves to other games. I write out what we want to put in our monthly newsletter and work with the other members of my team to make sure we tell everyone about our big announcements.
What do you enjoy about your job most of all?
I think the people I work with are great, and I feel like I’m making a difference for local gamers. That’s important to me. It makes me look forward to Monday sometimes!
Best perks of the job?
I get free video games! That’s amazing. Sometimes I even get to play games before they come out and make everyone jealous.
What things do you think make your job different or fun?
Well, working with video games makes the job cool by default. But I really love working with the gaming community and trying to make their experience with Xbox better. I’ve been there. I’ve run fan sites before. So I want to help them when I can. I also really like getting to see games before they’re out, and feel like I know secrets. Who doesn’t love a good secret?
What personality traits/skills/attributes help a person get a job like yours?
Work like mine takes a lot of energy. I’m constantly talking to people, checking on the website to make sure it’s up to date, organizing myself (I’m not organized but I try so hard!), thinking up good blog entries or how to give away free games. It also takes passion. I love what I do, and I think that really comes through when I talk to people.
Most memorable moment of your job so far?
A few weeks ago we invited a bunch of press and celebrities to come see the games we have coming out this holiday, and to see the Movies on Demand service we’re launching before Christmas, which is something I’m stoked for. At the end, we threw a huge party and all these celebrities came. In the middle of the party, hip hop artist Scribe got up and did an impromptu concert, and Jessica Mauboy got up there with him and started singing, “Burn.” I felt like a rockstar just being there.
Any advice for nzgirls wanting to get into this field?
Video games is a tough industry to get into because it is so much fun, but don’t give up. If you’re persistent you’ll make it.
Where would you like to go from here?
I try not to think about it too much. Five years ago I would never have imagined I might be where I am now. Instead I just want to keep playing video games, keep sharing my passion, and see where that takes me.
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