I made indie games for about 5-10 years as a hobbyist before joining the games industry. At my first 2 professional game industry jobs the people interviewing

I made indie games for about 5-10 years as a hobbyist before joining the games industry. At my first 2 professional game industry jobs the people interviewing me had been players of a halflife source engine mod I was heavily involved in authoring. I think that was probably the major thing that got me in the industry.