Getting into the Game Industry

[ppcock]

Fuck its hard with 2 year old expirience.

And god bless freedom of speech, as you will be here until i get my job in the industry.

So updated
I applied tonight for a company right across the street from my apt, Like i can see what they're doing. They should get me to sign an NDA or close the blinds.
I applied for QA back in august and a really nice lady basically told me I was too late, but said they would keep my resume for future referance, now.. quite frankly im sick of hearing that load of... ANYWAYS.
I kept her e-mail addy just for having a contact if a position came up again........ and today, it did.

So now, I e-mailed my resume to the company and also sent HER an e-mail stating I was still interested in the job.

Was this.... A good idea??? or a Bad one?

I basically stated that I was still very interested in the job, blah blah blah.
I figure it would be a good idea, hopefully it shows crazy motivation to get back to the industry. previously we had a long conversation about attempting to get in the industry.

Well, hopefully it works.

Cause I can cross the street, and be at work, plus mods for Army of Two and Turok (fear not, this info is actually on the website)


I have an extremely huge, maybe crazy passion to get back into games. I just wish companies could see where I'm coming from.
I want to build my skills, learn new engines, get into design. QA is as entry level as you could get, why cant companies just help me out? I've been on 26 projects at EA, from next, current and handheld generation consoles.

/emo

[galaxie]

Good idea. Shows ambition.
Bad idea if you keep sending her e-mails, then phone calls, then flowers and follow her home.

I know you, Marty. Try to resist, k?

[ppcock]

no, just the e-mail... no crazy stuff.

Should I put a banner on my balcony saying "I sent my resume for QA, please call me for interview, 604-***-****" ?

[galaxie]

^ Also def send her nudes. Trust me.

[dj_soo]

a lot of this industry is who you know. So try to cash in on old contacts - even if you haven't spoken to them in a couple years.

Have you applied to propaganda yet? How about next level?

[ppcock]

trust me T.

Next Level, QA manager only
Prop, no QA

I applied to Next once before but didnt do too good.

There's also Slick, no QA
Game Front, no QA
Action Pants, No QA
Nexxon, No QA (roomie works there)
Radical, no QA right now
Relic, no QA
Pirahna, no QA
not going back to EA
Blue Castle, no QA right now
Rockstar, no QA
Slant Six, no QA right now


There's tons of game companies in vancouver, i dont understand why myself, someone who's willing to learn, give 210%, bend over backwards for the company, stay in for 14 hours a day, help out wherever there is need... cant land a freakin job in any of the companies.

[Goat]

get a haircut, straighten up and fly right.
don't talk about anal beads during the interview.

[rawb]

do you have any money saved up? tell them you will work for free for a month to prove how passionate you are.

[fritz]

marty, i felt the same way before I broke into my stupid industry

honestly the most important part is knowing someone or having that connection
then just make sure you stay current so you can capitalize on opportunity

ie have valid opinions on the latest game or know how many DS sold in japan last month so you can impress someone that makes decisions. Crash industry nights or parties and talk to other people in QA. Let them know you're looking without being pushy, then go back to leveling up your knowledge game

[tiedye]

Elvis Costello got a record deal by standing on the front steps of a record label playing his music through a portable amplifier every day for months.

Perseverance and diligence, my friend.

[Drazkers]

Originally Posted by ppcock

trust me T.

Pirahna, no QA
not going back to EA
Blue Castle, no QA right now
Rockstar, no QA

The problem with the gaming industry is that there are tonnes of people who are willing to go the same lengths. As stated above, perseverance and diligence is important, that may mean getting more experience at EA. You may hate it but sometimes people have to make sacrifices for the future. Hopefully it doesn't come to that.

[NinjaBoy]

Originally Posted by rawb

do you have any money saved up? tell them you will work for free for a month to prove how passionate you are.

Did a one month internship at the station I work at, and ended up getting hired two weeks in.

Our work hires volunteers quite a bit. It's always a good idea.

[omega_image]

after reading most of your qa passionate posts and seeing that you're not having much luck, why not try to gain some qa experience in the software industry rather than focusing primarily on gaming?

[miss.myra]

Marty, after all of the jobs in the industry you applied for and did not get, how often did you ask for feedback on your interview or why you didn't get the positition?

honestly, it couldn't be that your experience is old, a lot of it could be how you interview

[dj_soo]

marty, you know that most of these places are seasonal so QA hiring doesn't ramp up till closer to summer. Also, the way this industry is going nowadays, QA is being outsourced more and more so some of these companies aren't really hiring qa guys directly, so you may have more luck with outsourcing companies. So research those places as well...

also listen to adam, if you're not having luck with the gaming companies, get yourself some other qa experience. It helps a lot. Displaying some credentials outside of being a tester at EA gets you noticed a bit more. When I look at resumes, I'm definitely going to look a little harder at someone with 3 years at EA and then 2 or 3 more years doing QA somewhere else, than someone with 3 years of qa and then a couple years of an unrelated field.

also myra is right - maybe it's something to do with your interview. To be honest, your experience being 2 years old is not going to be much of a factor when people do their hiring so stop harping on that - it's not the reason you're not getting hired. Honestly, it has the most to do with how you interview, and to a lesser extent, recommendations.

I still occasionally get calls from random guys I knew in EA asking about applicants i worked with in the past and whether I would recommend them as a tester and I haven't been in EA for 4 years.

[ppcock]

Obviously I always ask for feedback for interviews, I come in pretty stressed out to begin with, of course, I always answer the questions with what they're looking for. When asking for feedback, I never get proper feedback and I dont want to ask them to cut the crap.
With radical, i asked for feedback both after the meeting and on the phone after hearing the news.
It came to experience.

So now with Three Wave, I await the news. I also applied at airG for csr and QA, the QA Side has a lot to do with mobile applications. That will no doubt get me some serious experience.
Unfortunately, I received an e-mail from the HR manager stating that my resume was corrupt. So, I formated the resume properly and sent another e-mail to both airg and threewave. Hopefully something happens.

I would love to QA just about anything, but I really dont have any training outside of games.
Plus, I'm seeking a long term goal of a designer for games, but I cannot just jump into that right away.

[dj_soo]

^ I would also suggest you take some classes in game design if that's your goal.

[ppcock]

so a company called me back for a phone interview for QA at airG
stupid me.. she left a message, i think i got the proper extension but I got excited and deleted the message.
Took a chance and left a vm, also e-mailed her.

wish me luck, i should have a phone interview tomorrow morning.