Gaming boss to fresh grads: Show your passion when applying for jobs

JAKARTA - Garena’s president Terry Zhao has a piece of advice for fresh graduates searching for a job. Don’t just say you are passionate – show it.

For example, “if you are interested in gaming, try making a simple game yourself, or writing a piece to deconstruct what makes a game fun”, said the executive from the gaming division of Singapore-founded global consumer internet company Sea.

“Employers notice candidates who are proactive, curious, and willing to learn. At Garena, we hire for attitude as much as aptitude. Skills can be taught and experience can be gained, but mindset, humility and drive truly set great talents apart.”

This is especially so in the dynamic world of gaming, which offers rewarding careers combining technology, art, design, storytelling and business, Mr Zhao said.

Singapore’s gaming scene has grown rapidly over the past decade, with more studios, developers and e-sports organisations setting up here – a draw for younger generations who have grown up with video games and seen the industry expand beyond entertainment.

Garena’s inaugural Game Jam in July, which challenged participants to build a playable prototype from scratch, attracted mostly post-secondary students. Such initiatives continue to showcase the creativity and innovation shaping the next generation of game talent here, Mr Zhao said.

He gave The Straits Times an interview on the sidelines of the Free Fire World Series e-sports tournament, which held its grand finals in Jakarta on Nov 14 and 15.

The battle royale final of the survival shooter game saw Thailand’s Buriram United Esports eventually emerge victorious to claim a trophy and US$300,000 (S$390,000) prize. The event opened with live music and dance performances, as 7,000 fans cheered teams on with clappers and large banners.

The event came days after New York-listed Sea, led by billionaire Forrest Li, reported a revenue of US$6 billion in the third quarter, which was about 38 per cent higher than a year earlier.

Sea has three main business verticals: e-commerce platform Shopee, digital financial services arm Monee, and Garena, which marked its best quarter since 2021 as its bookings, a measure of revenue from in-game purchases and transactions, increased by 51 per cent year on year.

Mr Zhao, who graduated from Nanyang Technological University in 2006 with a bachelor’s degree in computer engineering, has been with Sea since its founding in 2009, when it was exclusively a PC game publisher.

“Starting a mobile development team as a PC publisher might not have seemed obvious at the time, but that decision ultimately paved the way for Free Fire – and became one of the key turning points in our growth story,” he said.

The title became

the highest-earning mobile shooting game in the US

in August 2025 as anime and Netflix tie-ins lifted sales.

The gaming industry will need a stronger pipeline of talent as players’ tastes evolve and expectations for richer, more immersive experiences continue to climb.

Mr Zhao noted that the gaming industry has been attracting young people who have a talent for creating. He said: “This desire and creativity keeps the gaming world evolving.”

Garena does not publicly disclose the size of its workforce in Singapore and in the region, but its website shows it is hiring in the Republic for several entry-level roles and positions under the government-funded Graduate Industry Traineeships (GRIT) scheme.

For better chances at landing an interview, Mr Zhao recommends tailoring applications to suit job listings, and reaching out to university alumni and mentors who can share insights and provide referrals.

Graduate employment emerged as a concern in Singapore earlier this year, after annual surveys conducted by universities and polytechnics showed that fewer of their fresh graduates secured full-time employment in 2024.

But things are looking better as more students from the 2025 graduating cohort entered the workforce soon after university than the previous cohort, according to the Ministry of Manpower.

Mr Zhao said capturing opportunities from AI will be crucial to Garena’s growth over the next five years.

“AI is effective in automating routine tasks, which frees up time so our teams can focus on more meaningful work. On the gameplay front, we’re experimenting with ways to deliver experiences that weren’t possible before,” he added.

The firm is currently using AI to weed out inappropriate behaviour by gamers and deal out penalties such as bans, said Garena’s senior director for game operations and Free Fire producer Harold Teo.

“That was something that we could not do without AI because Free Fire is available in many markets, so there are many languages being used,” he explained.

The technology has also been tapped to bring characters to life, allowing fans to interact with them at events.

Mr Teo joined Garena in 2015 as a fresh graduate. He holds a double degree in finance and accountancy, and chanced upon the firm at a campus recruitment drive.

He said: “The only thing connecting me to games was that I liked to play games – and I think I really displayed passion.

“After joining, I realised that the company actively looks for passion. It doesn’t really have to be a passion for gaming. But the company wants to recruit people who have experience pursuing something that they really like. It could be rock climbing. It could be language.

“There are a lot of different disciplines in our company. The person who recruited me back then had a degree in literature.”

Mr Zhao encouraged job seekers to keep up with their applications.

He said: “Landing your first job can be stressful, especially when it feels like others are getting offers faster – but don’t be discouraged.

“Everyone’s journey is different, and taking longer doesn’t mean you’re behind.”