I'm an IT expert who has been looking to break into the world of game development. I have completed courses in Blender, Unity, and most recently the C++ Unreal Engine 5 GameDev course (also a lot of prior programming, coding, and algorithmic thinking courses that aren't entirely irrelevant to game design). I've been going about this with the mindset that I'd like to develop my own eventual magnum opus of a game either solo or working with a small team. I'm eager to learn it all, from the writing, modeling and rigging, programming, music and sound design, and eventually marketing.

I would consider myself to be a newbie/beginner at all of this, and I've never participated in a Game Jam before and I'm looking for advice. Is it better to match yourself with other newbies to avoid getting overwhelmed? Or is it better to try to match with more experience developers who have a better feel for the process? I think if I could create a dream scenario, it would be an experienced leader delegating work to newbies like myself.

Anyone have thoughts on this? I imagine I'm not the only one considering these questions. Anyway, regardless of your team's make-up, hit me up if you're interested in adding a UE5 programmer to your team! Or if you need someone to do modeling and rigging, I can brush up on those skills.

Thanks and good luck!

I have very little experience working with a team, and a bit of experience working by myself.   I would say that unexperienced jammers are unlikely to get on a team with experienced people, and not many experienced leaders want to take the time to, essentially, teach newbies like ourselves.  That has been my experience, anyway. 

Off topic a tad, but I would advise against UE5 for a game jam. UE5 doesnt allow a web build, so other jammers would have to download and install your game to try it out.   Most voters won't want to invest the time to try your game, going instead for the plethora of low-investment options they can try out in browser.   

UE5 is a fantastic engine, but the lack of WebGL support hurts it in a game jam of this format, sadly.