July 5, 2017
There’s a whole lot more to the gambling industry than card dealing. If you’re looking for graduate roles, concentrating your search to focus on this fascinating industry could increase your chances of landing an awesome role. The UK gambling industry alone employs 106,678 people – so there’s big potential for ambitious candidates.
A new infographic published by Casinopedia shows just how many great opportunities are out there. Focussed on the UK market, it showcases 4 career paths, highlighting an impressive £38,000 entry-level average salary:
Clearly, the industry requires a wide – and increasingly digitally-focussed – set of skills to maintain the industry’s position and fuel its growth, and is prepared to pay for talent!
4 Graduate Career Paths in the Gambling Industry
01 Game Developer
In a sense, game developers are the backbone of the online gambling industry. Without games, online casinos wouldn’t exist. There are quite a few roles within game development, such as editor, producer, designer, programmer, quality assurance technician and artist. While it’s clearly a creative area to work in, you’ll need to also have a lot of technical knowledge to help get games up and running.
If you’re looking to get into game development, you’ll typically need a specialized degree in an area related to computer programming and/or design. Game developers are generally both creative and technical, though there’s plenty of scope for specializing in a particular area and playing to your strengths.
Starting salaries for game developers typically range between £21,000 and £35,000, with plenty of opportunities for career progression - team managers, developers, and producers can earn upwards of £55,000.
02 Bookmaker / Odds Trader
The role of a bookmaker is to organise gambling activities and creating odds that will encourage people to place wagers. Their ultimate responsibility is to make a profit from gambling platforms, regardless of the outcome of an event.
Those wishing to become a bookmaker will need to be very mathematically capable and will need a detailed knowledge of how betting works for all manner of games and sporting events. Though a degree isn’t necessary, having one in mathematics will certainly be advantageous. Other skills usually required include the ability to lead a team of staff and the ability to negotiate.
The average starting salary is around £17,000 and those who work their way up to become managers or set up their own bookmaking company stand to earn significantly more.
03 Compliance Manager
Both land-based and online casinos need to operate legally and it’s the responsibility of compliance managers to ensure they continue to do this. Compliance managers also develop internal security protocols and investigate any on-going issues with security or compliance. This role is ultimately about protecting patrons and ensuring that all gambling activity taking place in the venue is above board.
Those wanting to go down this path will require a lot of legal knowledge, so a degree in law is certainly recommended, as is experience working in casinos or any sort of gaming venue. Knowledge of industry regulations is essential and experience in auditing and accounting are likely to be looked upon favorably.
The average entry-level UK salary for roles in compliance management is around £27,000, with pay rising to around £36,000 after five to ten years.
04 Security Analyst
While compliance managers ensure casinos are operating legally, security analysts ensure they’re operating safely. It’s their job to monitor gambling sites and look out for any possible breaches or potential threats; they have to continually update systems and software to protect them against all sorts of cyberattack. It’s of paramount importance that online casinos are kept safe and secure since a breach could result in players’ money and details being stolen.
Becoming a security analyst usually requires a degree relating to cybersecurity, information technology or computer sciences; some graduate schemes may take on graduates with degrees in non-computer-related areas.
Salaries for graduate security analysts are typically in the region of £25,000, with fast career progression possible; after just five years you may well have progressed to higher roles and could be earning up to three times as much as your starting salary, or even more.