Use the web...

There are numerous Blogging and user driven websites that have lots of information from actual people in the industry. Its a great way to ask questions and get real unbiased answers about getting your foot in the door, as well as what types there are to choose from.

Some great free sites are:
Blogger
Livejournal

And believe it or not, sometime the game company advertise their openings in your city's Craigslist, or local job posting service.

Applying for a customer service, or QA testing position are *from what I am told* the easiest and best way to get a job in the industry.

A non-definitive list of game art jobs (assuming you're interested in 3D games):
-character concept artist
-character modeler
-character animator
-environment concept artist
-environment modeler
-object modeler
-object animator
-texture/skinning artist
-user interface artist
-special effects artist

Any of these positions can be mixed and matched, and the more you can do, the more valuable you are to companies. And all of these positions have junior/senior/lead levels. All of them require some degree of familiarity with Photoshop and at least one leading 3D modeling tool, like Maya, 3D Studio Max, or Z-Brush.

And if you want to make it to the lead level, you have to be good. Art, more-so than other disciplines in the game industry, is a job where your skill is immediately obvious when people look at the things you've done. So you have to practice. And practice. And practice some more. And make sure your style is flexible. These are a list of art driven jobs, not to be taken as the only jobs out there. Since I am not familiar with all the programing I dont have a worth while list to contribute.


Plus it also helps to have a car bed. a really sweet one.