Path: chuka.playstation.co.uk!news From: Al Newsgroups: scee.yaroze.freetalk.english Subject: Re: Getting a job Date: Tue, 23 Nov 1999 22:11:43 +0000 Organization: PlayStation Net Yaroze (SCEE) Lines: 121 Message-ID: <383B111F.89B050D6@bigfoot.com> References: <813bnb$2ce2@chuka.playstation.co.uk> <38370e5f.14870272@www.netyaroze-europe.com> <81788l$d422@chuka.playstation.co.uk> <3837ef59.820808@www.netyaroze-europe.com> Reply-To: admars32@bigfoot.com NNTP-Posting-Host: 194.176.210.136 Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit X-Mailer: Mozilla 4.7 [en] (Win95; I) X-Accept-Language: en Well done on getting a job, I've got my 2nd interview tomorrow since finishing Uni end of September. I'm getting more and more pissed off with the "thanks but no thanks, we want some-one with experience" letters I'm getting :( Maybe I'm jsut sending my demo disc to the wrong companies or your timing is better than mine ;) As you say getting foot in the door is the hard bit. Just need that first break :( I'm getting near to the "if I can't get a games job soon I may do any old boring programmer work", which would mean more money (at least initially), but less job satisfaction, and then there's the risk of getting stuck in a rut and so giving up on the games thing :( Al p.s. another mate of mine who works for a company linked with Nintendo thinks Jet Force Gemini is really shit! Nick Ferguson wrote: > > 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!" -- http://www.geocities.com/SunsetStrip/Palms/3657/ music 'n' computers 'n' piercing 'n' stuff