Path: chuka.playstation.co.uk!news From: nickf@writeme.com (Nick Ferguson) Newsgroups: scee.yaroze.freetalk.english Subject: Getting a job Date: Sun, 21 Nov 1999 13:41:29 GMT Organization: PlayStation Net Yaroze (SCEE) Lines: 94 Message-ID: <3837ef59.820808@www.netyaroze-europe.com> References: <813bnb$2ce2@chuka.playstation.co.uk> <38370e5f.14870272@www.netyaroze-europe.com> <81788l$d422@chuka.playstation.co.uk> NNTP-Posting-Host: p14-nsv1-luton2.tch.dtn.ntl.com X-Newsreader: Forte Free Agent 1.11/32.235 On Sat, 20 Nov 1999 22:49:08 -0000, "Scott Ward" wrote: > It's good to hear that you got a job in the games industry, >congratulations (he says, though extremely jealous). Now all I want to know >is HOW did you get a job in the industry. The question is, how did I get not one but two jobs in the industry, in the space of 6 months... A combination of luck, knowing what people are looking for and hard work (in that order)! >I wouldn't mind a crack at this *being-paid-for-writing-games* business >sometime in the future so I'm pretty interested in how people get their >proverbial foot in the door. I think getting a foot in the door is the most difficult part. If you actually try writing to a games company, it's very difficult to judge the tone of a letter... You have to talk yourself up, playing on the Yaroze and (in my case) games journalism experience, to get them interested but at the same time acknowledge that you still have a lot to learn and you just need a break... You also have to write the right letter at the right time IMO. >Are we talking academic qualifications, practical experience a-la Yaroze or >perhaps it's a case of WHO you know, not WHAT you know....nudge, nudge, >wink, wink..... :o) Both jobs I got were in some respect thanks to fellow Yarozers. I wrote to Rare in January saying "I'd like to work for you as a tester when I finish uni" and got a reply saying "Thanks but we don't need anyone". Then a fellow Yarozer wrote to me in March and said he'd been offered an interview as a tester, but as he had since got himself a job I should think about writing again. So I wrote Rare again and this time got an interview in mid-April, after which I was offered the job - starting in July - the next day :) Well, Rare didn't work out and so I decided to enjoy what remained of the summer back in Edinburgh, and then wrote off to several companies advertising without much success. Another Yarozer suggested i sign up with Aarkvark Swift, the recruitment agency who often advertises in the back of EDGE, so I did and I was offered 3 interviews. The first I turned down because it was a company that does football games and I HATE most footy games (picky, eh?) the second was Cyberlife which I went to and was offered the job the next day - again! :) The third was Codemasters who I never went to the interview because I accepted Cyberlife's offer... Why write and share all this with the world? Well, it just shows how tricky it can be to get your foot in the door. Rare was just lucky timing really, thanks to a hot tip, and Cyberlife the agency did it for me. Also, without wanting to soound arrogant, i think the interview is extremely important - you have to really do your homework and I sure as hell did a LOT of planning for both interviews, particularly Cyberlife's (going so far as to learn their Creatures CAOS object scripting language from tutorials on their webpage, which of course I don't have to use at work now - bah!) I'm well aware of my strengths (unusually encyclopaedic gaming knowledge, good understanding of the industry, strong communications skills, good degree etc, blah, etc) and my weaknesses (dodgy C skills, no real killer demos, little maths background). I also knew which jobs to go for - no way was I going to get a "proper" programming job (my Cyberlife job is a cross between "real" programming and scripting) so I was going for lowest-rung-on-the-ladder like testing or entry-level stuff (Codies were interested in me as a trainee programmer - TBH I don't think I'd have got it)... >With the upmost respect, and I hope you don't take this the wrong way, I >wouldn't have thought that your Yaroze projects were strong enough to >warrant a company taking you on. Although, admittedly, my assumptions on >what it takes to get in to the industry are all based on.....well, my >imagination really. :o) Well, my Yaroze stuff is > 1 year old now - I'm better than that!!! But, I see what you mean - I'm certainly no programming God. Thing is, everyone is unique - you have to figure out your strengths and play them, whilst hiding (but acknowledging) your weaknesses. Nobody expects a total novice to be much cop - but they expect you to have potential and enthusiasm. I got lucky, I freely admit - twice, in fact. "You must find your own path" - there is no secret recipie for success. "Know thyself" etc (sorry to go all fortune cookie) >Maybe you could enlighten me as to how to start on the path to games >creation (and getting paid for it). Well, if you have any questions on the above, I'm happy to answer them... Nick F -------- www.loonygames.com www.saqnet.co.uk/users/nickf www.netyaroze-europe.com/~rookie1 "Game over, man. Game over!"