Industry Anecdote: Hired from Online Job Boards

I have to admit that even I was skeptical of the practicality of taking the time to input your data--including resume and preferred job titles--into a popular online job board and having any hopes of real opportunities arising. Well, I was proven wrong just recently when I spoke to some current colleagues who are Environment Artists at the AAA game studio that I work for (it is WB Games and we are currently working on the new Lord of the Rings: Shadow of Mordor game and you should check it out: http://www.shadowofmordor.com).

As an artist team we were having a beer to relax from doing some overtime on the job and we got to talking about how each individual was able to land the job at this studio. Some of the guys had worked for the studio for a while in the past and it sounded like they had kept in touch with the contracting/staffing agency that had employed them at one time at a different studio. It seems that when new studios are seeking for employees they will go directly to those agencies since they know they have a roster of employable candidates who have already had a track record of being employed and with an agency that the new studio can use (this usually means that the agency is located in the same city as the studio that is looking for new employees). One of the colleagues was employed at the time but was fearful for company's future because it was a smaller start-up studio, and the other had been laid off and looking for work. They were both living in two different states that were far away from Kirkland, Washington where WB Games is located. One of them was contacted by email from the same staffing secretary that he had worked with before when he was living in the Seattle/Kirkland area. It seems that if you have a history with an employer and you move to another studio, or even if they lay you off themselves, then they will still be more ready to hire you than a stranger. Note that this only works if you kept a peaceful reputation with the powers that be while you were working there in the past. This is an example of why I make such an emphasis in my book to not burn bridges in your career, because you never know when someone you may not have liked much may be a keystone in a future opportunity and prevent you from having access to a job that you would have easily filled otherwise.

The other colleague had a more interesting story. He had put his resume and job preferences into a website called indeed.com. They are a popular online job board and I've used them before to research salaries, but I never thought to input my resume there as I usually stick to promoting my own website and actively pursuing new opportunities by leveraging my network. This is a lot of work though and I still may end up with nothing after multiple and time consuming attempts. Now that the colleague's information was recorded on the site he said that he received an email somewhat shortly after from a recruiter on the website saying that they will keep in touch. He said the recruiter sounded really excited and that he, the colleague, figured that nothing would come of it. I know that I personally have been contacted by recruiters directly from specific studios, not general job boards, and I still had not heard anything back about a job opportunity even though the original email encounter sounded promising.

A few months had passed and the colleague got an email from the same recruiter asking if he was interest with the position at WB Games. He said yes and I believe that from there he had an interview with the hiring team of the studio; I don't think he was hired on the spot from the recruiter, but it definitely got him in the door for an unadvertised position that he would not have known about or thought to research.

The moral of the story is that it is better to have multiple fish hooks in different areas of a lake rather than one huge fish hook that you've polished and sharpened to death (aka your personal portfolio website). You will have more chance of catching opportunity if your information is everywhere. I used to despise websites like monster.com because I felt that they weren't specialized enough to deal with a niche industry like game development and thought that most of the "opportunities" you would receive would be spam or low-paying, part-time positions. So I advise everyone to keep open minded and spend the extra time to create profiles on the major online job board websites. It worked for real people in a recent situation and it seemed to be the preferred search method for this particular studio. I would like to point out that unfortunately this strategy seems to work more in favor of experienced employees who have some years of experience and are used to working in the professional development environment, as recruiters know they can trust their work ethic. Maybe one day you you too will be receiving an email with a new opportunity when you least expect it!

-Ken

P.S. This really is as "inside" as inside information gets, hot off the press, and I will be using this same tactic myself!

How to Use Twitter to Find a Job

I am not sure if I have discussed this topic yet or not, but I know that using twitter to post and find jobs is a fast growing trend. I have recently read the book Breaking Into the Game Industry, by Brenda Brathwaite. In it, she mentions that she likes to post job listings for her indie dev studio by using twitter. It is cheap for the company and is quick to get responses as most people own a twitter account. There is a popular hashtag named #gamejobs, where you can find loads of jobs being posted for developers of all disciplines. There is naturally a trend for the positions to be with independent/social game developers, since they are free to list and smaller developers tend to follow the new technology and trends. This is great for you because people who do not know about the Twitter job market will not be able to apply and thus you have less competition than, say, going the predictable route and finding a job listing through gamasutra.com or LinkedIn.com.

There are a few more searches that you can do to find jobs, but I honestly think that the best results will be by using the #gamejobs hashtag. Here are some other search strings you can use to find job opportunities (so if you're interested in a temporary part-time job, this will be super-helpful):

-Now hiring
-#job
-Now hiring #job [position name] near:[city name]  (ex: "Now hiring #job designer near:San Francisco" This will show you listings only for that specific position and near the city you want to search in. This is the best way to go, as you will not want to be getting hired just anywhere. Although, in video games, the number of big development hub cities is limited so there won't be much chance of having to move to some unknown city as a sacrifice for work.)
-#tweetmyjobs [position name] (ex: #tweetmyjobs programmer)
-"looking to hire"
-"DM me" (means Direct message me; you know it will be something important)
-"my company" "looking for"
-"send me your resume"

As you can tell, there are a wealth of strategies and filters you can use to utilize Twitter as a job search tool. I would highly recommend using it yourself and if you are able to find a job yourself using this tactic, let me know about it!

-Ken

Weekly Inspiration from Will Smith

I figured that I would try something new this week by posting to you some of the same motivational videos that I surround myself in. Motivational material is extremely important and will keep your desire burning even when you are on your last limb. You are listening to the same great advice that I am listening to, so therefore you are practically getting a dose of the same lifestyle that I have!
This week I found a great video that focuses on the hugely successful career of Will Smith. Note: in the video, he makes it blatantly obvious that he is a workaholic and spends most of his time training and perfecting his craft and getting better and finding opportunities. I also have mentioned this in my book, because when you think you're working too much and everyone else doesn't understand you, that's when you are on the right track!
I know, it's sometimes hard to swallow but there is so much competition out there and tons of people are trying to get into video games because it's seen as a fun career. If you are busting your ass more than the other person and doing your best to push your limits as far as forcing yourself to do bigger and better tasks than you've done in the past, networking and talking to as many people as you can and sharing your work with them and letting your work and your words speak highly of yourself (without gloating, of course), then it is inevitable that someone will notice and you will seize opportunity rather than sitting aimlessly hoping for it to come your way (hint: it won't!).

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pfWGoLj1JCM&noredirect=1

-Ken

Why All Game Developers Should Understand Programming

I'm an artist and I have a technical knack. This is because I spent time taking programming classes in school which used C++. Artists are agreed to be the least programming-savvy members of a given game development team. This is why technical artists are so important--because someone has to bridge the communication barrier between artists and programmers. But, just like a producer is not going to enable you to do better work but rather give you a good amount of time to be able to do good work yourself, a technical member on the team may be able to water-down technical information and processes about your workflow but you ultimately must pay the price in not understanding the information yourself.

In this recent article on Gamasutra an editor and former programmer, Chris Heckler, speaks of the benefits for all game developers to learn programming. He is not advocating that they be amazing at it and is mainly stating that at least understanding the concepts and limitations of programming would be essential to helping when communicating ideas to a programmer to implement.

http://www.gamasutra.com/view/news/200155/Yes_you_should_understand_code__even_if_youre_not_a_programmer.php?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+GamasutraNews+%28Gamasutra+News%29&utm_content=Netvibes

For artists, this means having to do grueling and tedious work copying all of certain type of prop, like a lamp post for instance, and then scaling them by a certain amount and making sure every file that was using the specific lamp post material is updated to use a new material in a different directory. For a normal artist, this would mean hours of tedious work. For those that are more technical, though, this task could simply be solved by writing a simple script that completes the desired commands instantly for the artist, in a short amount of time. The planning is where the time is spent but the actual work is very little and will take less time and effort in the long run. Most artists will chose what they know rather than learning to be more technical, and from an artists perspective--they are too busy learning new tools like Zbrush and dDo to make the art look more convincing for next-gen capable hardware.

For designers, knowing programming is a lot more essential, as the premise behind creating systems or events is more logical. Many modern engines, like UDK/Unreal, contain visual scripting packages which make scripting for designers much easier and faster. The issue is that these systems are limited and the designer is not able to create pure freedom in their designs. They will ultimately require help from a programmer who can make a new mechanic or gameplay feature possible for them. If they took the time to learn U-Script, though, they would be able to create their own custom functions that would be accessible right from the vis-script editor. I know, because I have toyed around with this myself for the Unreal Editor but did not get very far as I was losing time from focusing on my artwork. Each time you do something your brain becomes more used to it and it is more familiar and easier the next time, though, so as long as designers are practicing their coding skills they will eventually be able to expand their own arsenal of design tricks. For older game engines, they require heavy coding such as using LUA. I worked for Disney in the past and the whole design team was always writing lots of text all day. This was different from what I expected, but they had to make the tools let them do things that the tools were not originally built for. Also, the tools were pretty simple and did not have a bunch of pre-built packages like visual scripting. So, the more a designer knows about programming, the more polished their ideas will be from conception in their head to execution in game. It is like a race car driver knowing about car mechanics. If you take a driver who does not know about mechanics, they will have to pay a mechanic to do work to their car and be limited by time and cash and also may not know what will effect their driving the best. The driver who knows about mechanics, though, will be able to tune their car to exactly what they want and be able to drive the hell out of it and the more they do each, the better they become at both because the skills compliment each other and accelerate the progression of their talent.

The biggest complaint I've heard from programmers is that designers tend to ask for too much and not consider the repercussions that a somewhat innocent idea will have on the entire project. Designers like to not be limited and want to force the programmers what to do, but programmers only have so much time and at the end of the day a designer must choose what is the most feasible rather than what may be the coolest or most interesting design. A lot of time will be spent from the designer and programmer communicating back and forth as to the best way to implement a certain feature or gameplay idea, but it may not result in what the designer originally had hoped for. So, it is definitely best if designers know programming and I suggest that all developers know their share--from artists to sound designers. The more technical everyone becomes, the more plausible a game will become and won't end up being a disaster or a water-down version of the original vision. Programming is the future and we should all know it anyway, so why not sooner rather than later?

-Ken

7 Tips For Young Graduates Starting Their First "Real" Job

An interesting top is knowing how much different a real job is compared to an internship or school. What worked in school may not necessarily work in an actual professional role, and an internship may be a stepping stone to realizing the discipline and organization level that is required in a real job, but it is still like riding a bike with training wheels. I just read an article recently on Glassdoor on this topic, and I wanted to share some key points that I agree with and that I think may have not been covered in that article.

1. College may have been a faster-paced work environment than you're used to, but it wasn't as much of life-changing experience as a real job. In college, you can still go out with your friends and skip a certain class or be late on a project if you want to.  In a real job, you won't be able to be going out to movies every day or sleep in late. You will be on a strict schedule and will, at many times, have to sacrifice your personal life for long hours working to finish a deadline. This is why it is good to start making friends with other professionals or people who have real careers, as they will understand how busy your schedule is and choose activities that will work around your schedule.
2. Nearly every studio has it's own tools and game editor. This is troublesome when most of the time you've spent in college was using the Unreal/UDK editor or Unity or some other popular and streamline toolset. There are many bad and convoluted and archaic editors that some studios still prefer to use, because it is cheaper for them to develop them in-house and programmers prefer having ownership and knowing the tools better than having to learn one of the other mainstream packages. So, much of your time in a new video game job will be learning to troubleshoot issues and how to access features that you know are in other packages. Your workflow may have been catered around a specific set of features that will not exist in a proprietary toolset, so you will have to change your work practice drastically and learn new hotkeys and methods to do your work. It is basically reinventing the wheel.
3. There is not as much pressure to please your professor like their is to perform well for your boss/lead, so you probably didn't have your professor constantly telling you to finish your work or making sure you knew when you made a mistake. You have to expect this from a boss, especially if you haven't work an "real" job before (meaning service industries like a grocery or technology store). The best way to deal with this is to double and triple-check your work, even if it takes a little bit longer to turn in. It will look better in the long run that you didn't have to be corrected every time and your work has a reputation of being clean. One of the worst things you can do in a big AAA development project is breaking a build. If your check-in is so bad that it prevents other developers from doing their work, then it costs the studio a lot of money and makes those people unhappy and you will be put on high alert and will probably be given less important tasks until you can prove that you won't break another build in the future.
4. When you enter a full time job the intensity of working is cranked up about three levels. The work is faster, you have to learn skills that you probably didn't even consider as part of your job description, and everything you do is put on a time limit. This means that prioritization and problem solving are two of the biggest requirements of your daily routine. Problem solving is more important than being creative, since the people who are more veteran and the leadership is usually in charge of coming up with the ideas, and most of the time you will be solving problems with tools or making sure a quest is not broken with the latest code check-in or that the existing art isn't over the memory budget, etc. You want to add your creativity when you see a solution when others don't, but you shouldn't be opinionated and trying to run the show at meetings or complaining about aspects of the game that you don't like openly. The general rule is to provide solutions, not complaints.
5. Get ready to take full responsibility for your work. You can't use the excuse of "I don't know how to do this" as frequently as when a student or intern. People understand if you don't know how to use the tools, but if it is an essential skill that you should know (like Zbrush for an artist or scripting for a designer) then you should be researching online yourself to find out the solution. It's great that a lot of information is free or even on Youtube now, so leverage this and learn things that you know you're weak at. This will look even better upon you because those around you will think that you've known the skill the whole time rather than having to learn it on the spot. Also, this is a good example why developers should be doing practice work at home, because you have a lot of time to fail and use trial-and-error, that way you can sharpen your sword and be prepared with heightened-efficiency at work.
6. You have to take initiative in order to meet people. In school, there are introduction classes and team projects when you are encouraged to work with others. In a big studio, there are tons of busy people with their heads down and comfortable doing their job the way they have without interruption. You have to introduce yourself or find a common ground with them or invite them to lunch. This means that you have to be more social than you have been in your life. If not, you will easily be ignored and eventually when you find yourself jobless you won't have a very big network to leverage or use for inside job information.
7. You can't pick your boss or the people you work with. Additionally, if you talk badly about someone it may mean trouble for you and also affect your career or the amount of opportunity you have. In school, if you didn't like a professor you could easily pick a new one for the new semester. If you didn't like a classmate, you could just avoid and not talk to them. In a professional environment, you have to be able to get along with anyone, no matter how annoying or demanding you think they are. You can pick a different place to work, but this is complicated and will take a lot more time than waiting for a new semester to roll around, so you should not be complaining about people and just deal with your boss. Your boss will be used as your first reference when seeking a new job, so you want a good review or it will be difficult to keep momentum in your career. This is why "butt-kissing" is so effective, and you may not necessarily agree with this style of working, as I don't either, but you should still be friendly and pleasant around your boss instead of demanding and hard to deal with.

I could probably add many more points here but I think that this is a good amount for now. I hope that is helpful and make sure check out this article also:

http://www.glassdoor.com/blog/10-tips-young-professionals-starting-real-job/

-Ken

Producer Advice from Blizzard Entertainment

There was an article released recently on Gamasutra about the anatomy of a good video game Producer. Although I don't know much about production myself, I have found this article to be very informative and have learned a lot from it. I figured I'd share it with all of you so that those that are aspiring to be, or are actively working as, a producer will gain some useful tips.

Here are some key points I've taken away from Ernst ten Bosch (the producer at Blizzard):

• Producers should know the actual process that their team members undergo in order to better understand the amount of time it will take to impact the project and to know when an idea is outlandish and needs to be prevented from becoming a production task in order to save unnecessary work by the developers. This means that they should understand what works with design or art in order to schedule tasks and make projections of how long a particular new workflow will impact the entire scope of the project.
• They are forward thinkers: they must be able to see the big picture when the rest of the developers are focused on their current tasks at hand. This means knowing which are the most important tasks and being able to prioritize them and reminding everyone what they should be working on.
• They are social: you can't be shy as a producer, and you must know how to run meetings and round up people to get everyone on the same plane as far as viewpoints or making sure key players are all in attendance for important decisions to be made.
• They must take notes in a professional manor in order to present them to the publishers and have them easily understandable. There can't be any personalized notes or similar as it would just be confusing to clients.
• Producers should be actively be looking for ways to improve the project. I find this the most important, as the article even states that a production job is such that it is intangible and not able to be tracked like the other disciplines. Therefore, a producer can survive for a while by being lazy but it won't help anyone else or the project in general. If a producer is keeping in the loop and being able to find the best person for each task and not just mindlessly taking notes, they will be able to make the entire process more efficient. This, in essence, is the necessity of a producer in the first place.

I hope all of you fellow producers and aspiring producers will be inspired by this information!

http://www.gamasutra.com/blogs/ErnstTenBosch/20130919/200659/What_Makes_a_Good_Game_Producer_Part_2.php

-Ken

What Not To Do When You Get Hired in Video Games: Jumping Ship Early

A recent story that I thought you would like is about an ex-coworker of mine. They were hired at the same time as me for the current studio I work for as a contractor. The contract was for nine months and there was possibility of extension although no guarantees (like with most contract positions).  This person decided that they would leave the studio for another contract/temporary position at a former studio that had wanted them back. This story sounds usual, although the person left merely one month, or a little longer, after being hired. They gave three weeks notice to their current employer, which means they must have only been working for a week or so before they had to give their lead the news.

I have seen people leave studios pretty early before--especially for contract and temporary positions--but the previous record holder that I had witnessed left after three months. I suppose that this could end up being a good move for the employee, as they went to work on a studio for the Halo franchise at a well known studio. Their stated reason for leaving was because the opportunity for contract extension seemed likelier there. This was a political and proper response indeed, as I'm sure they liked the Halo project better and were already used to the production pipeline. It would have only made them look bad if they gave away too much information like saying that the current studio did not give them cool enough tasks to work on or that they didn't see as much opportunity for promotion, etc.

So, the person technically upgraded their resume although they have burned a bridge at the studio they quickly left. I don't know if I would make this maneuver personally, but also have never been presented with it. With jobs increasingly becoming temporary it seems more understandable, but I would still like to see what contacts and performance history I could develop at my current studio. I asked a senior employee on the person's team what they thought about the employee leaving. He said that the person won't be hired here again, because now he has a track record for being a jumper and there is a high possibility that he will do it again when hired ("jumper"=jumping ship). This will most likely make it difficult, by raising a red flag, for any future job search they have after they leave their latest studio. So, it may end up being a hindrance in the long run. It is very high risk tactic, high reward tactic (although the reward is not really proven unless they are hired full time eventually). I would recommend against this strategy. If you get hired in the game industry, know that your reputation will follow you everywhere, so make sure to guard it and groom it endlessly.

-Ken

Proof that Living in the Best Locations is Best for Your Career

I covered this topic a little in my book, How to Get a Job in Video Games, when I mentioned that the best colleges were the ones that were the closest to where video game development studios are located. Well, I just wanted to demonstrate how living and going to school in such an area is a huge benefit. The industry is a small one and it is only located in a few cities. You will undoubtedly run into industry professionals whenever you are out at public places. If you are not where the industry is, though, you can forget this happening.

This past week I went to the Seattle Mini Cooper dealership to get a new power steering pump and fan, because it is a known issue that those parts fail on the model and year of my car and thus I was taking it in to get fixed. I already had to cancel and push back the date, once, because I slept through my alarm one day. I am glad I did, in retrospect! So, I was in the dealership lobby waiting while work was being done to my car. I happened to bring a book with me that was related to video game development and it was loud and clear on the title. I had put the book down while I was walking around and viewing the various decor around the showroom, because I was tired of sitting.

When I got back, There was someone sitting really close to my chair. He pointed out the title of the book I was reading and asked if I was interested in making video games. I told him that I was already working as a developer at Monolith Productions. At first I thought he must be some student or someone who was merely a fan of video games. No, he turned out to be an artist for Valve Corporation. I couldn't believe it! I had been joking with some colleagues just recently how hard it is to meet any of their developers, because for one they are a small studio and secondly, they don't really appear at major conferences frequently. They are also one of the most highly regarded studios in the industry and they probably try to hide themselves as much as possible so that people are not begging them for jobs left and right.

Anyway, we got to talking about art and the Dota series, that he had worked on, and other intricacies of game development. I told him about my previous employers and some people I knew. I specifically avoided asking about job opportunities there but hinted that I was interested in the studio and indirectly wanted to know how someone were to get hired there. I can go on longer about that in another article...He related and we were talking for a long time until it was broken up by a dealership employee who told me that my car was ready. This could have been the end, but I didn't want to let the opportunity go away! I make sure to keep emergency business cards in my wallet for such occasions and I probably haven't used one for almost a year. I happened to have a few and gave him one. He said he didn't have one on him, but right when I got to my studio that day he had emailed me from his company email and said that it was a pleasure to talk to me and wanted to let me have his email. I had also invited him to connect on LinkedIn.

Now, if ever there are jobs he may let me know about them, although I know myself that I will need to work on my portfolio some more until more developers there consider it worthy to get in. But who knows, maybe I made a lasting enough impression on him for that not to matter as much. At any rate, it is good to have a new contact there and who happens to be in the same exact field--art--as me. I thought that everyone would enjoy and be inspired by this story of a chance encounter, and to prove that just living in a city that is booming with game developers is a great way to eventually get a job yourself. I would like to add that having a job already is probably a more desirable situation, as the other person will feel more comfortable sharing insider information with you.

-Ken

Avoid the Trap of Negative Questions During an Interview

As a commenter has pointed out in an article about common mistakes made during an interview, interviews have increasingly become psychological and try to gauge how your personality can handle an intense situation rather than trying to find out your job qualifications and if you can do the job. Like it or not, folks, the main interest in the business world, where most projects are team-oriented, is how nicely you can play with others. The managers want an easy time themselves and don't want to be fighting fires from people with bad attitudes or rumor-spreaders. There are more important things to focus on, but if people are having a bad day or are at ends with another employee, it throws a wrench in the entire process and is unnecessary hardship when the game projects themselves are complicated enough. Most online websites will have you practice the same questions over and over again, but most do not prepare you for the unexpected and "curve-ball" questions that many employers actually prefer. They will try and set you up for failure, and expect you to escape tastefully.
A common example of a tough question is "tell me what you thought went wrong at your last studio/what you didn't like about your last studio." Like it or not, the interviewer does not expect this question to be answered. The best response to something like this is a direct: "I prefer not to speak badly about my last studio." If they try to act like your friend and say something like "come on, you must have something that you didn't like. You can tell me." Bull! They will constantly try and diffuse you to make it seem like it is not serious to speak honestly but they are looking for people who won't. Reiterate and say "I told you already, I am not going to speak negatively about my last studio." You would even benefit from adding something positive like "I learned a lot from that studio and I enjoyed the people I worked with and we worked our hardest to deliver the best product/game that we could." Your new potential employer will be impressed that you defend your last studio and are not easy to find the flaws in the new studio. They are really looking for someone who will not ruin their reputation or will be a complainer that will lower everyone else's moral.
Once you are at the studio, you will find that the same people that interviewed you will be quite open when they have something unpleasant to say about the studio, because they are already hired and know they are "safe." I believe in not complaining in general, unless you constructively see a problem and you are willing to fix it. I know, it sucks and it's unfair that employees feel that they won't be hired if they are not open, but some questions are expected to be dodged in a polite manner. Think of politicians: they are paid to escape tricky questions and to spin all details into a more positive outlook.
The employer mainly wants to see that you can handle these types of questions and know that sometimes it is better to not answer something than to be open about it. They are mainly looking for someone who can grow and who is pleasant to work with. These days, with large teams, and so much competition, there are a lot of people that can do the type of job you do. So, know that your personality will be closely scrutinized and you have to put on your Sunday's best for these people.
I've seen people drastically change once they are hired somewhere because they know how to play this game and can get jobs left and right but then always get fired or don't go very far in their current role. They are making it hard for everyone else who may be able to do a better job than them. You have to be realistic and know that this happens, though, and that you can't beat them bust must join them in being able to make yourself look as good as possible during an interview (this does not mean lying about your skills).
For me, it is difficult to not be truthful but I have found that sometimes keeping my mouth closed is better than revealing too much. Try it sometime: see how people don't have a problem if you don't say a lot when they ask you questions. Do this with new acquaintances to see if they like you or not: and I assure you that the whole conversation will go better if you don't say that one thing on your mind that you feel is really true but you know isn't the most acceptable.

Here is the article, but know that the questions you should be ready for in the interview are not the common ones that everyone expects: http://www.glassdoor.com/blog/6-mistakes-job-interview/

-Ken

P.S. I am convinced that the more difficult your job description and requirements, then consequently there is less competition and thus less difficult questions being asked during interviews. So, if you are an artist or programmer--where there is tons of other people who want your job--then you have to master how to interview...think of yourself as a newscaster or someone giving a demo at a conference. Also, this might not be said anywhere else but I went down the negative path on a question in an interview in the past and I caught myself in the middle. Since I was already revealing a lot, I figured I might as well stay consistent and keep answering the negative question. You will find out, though, that once you light a spark the interviewer will keep wanting to give you fuel to see how far you can take a negative comment. So, if you do find yourself answering something that you shouldn't have in the first place, take charge and show them that you still have power as an interviewee--by not finishing the answer. Say something like: "I don't like where this is going and I would prefer not to continue talking about that subject. I feel that this is not relevant to this interview and would like to get to more objective issues. This would also subtly tell them that you don't want to be harassed anymore with those exploitative questions. Make sure to do this politely and don't raise your voice or use too much emphasis in your wording.

Making a Good First Impression at You New Job

I know this topic too well, as I have just got a new job at WB Games in Washington. For me, wanting to impress your colleagues and your boss/lead is extremely important early on, because the quality of work and amount of trust you are given will be a snowball that is directly related to the first couple of tasks you complete.

For me, being the competitive person that I am, I work as fast as I can and take little breaks browsing the internet or socializing with other team members. At the studio I'm at, the people are not the most social, so it's easy to stay focused on the task at hand. I spent the first couple of days in my new position transferring all of my preferences and settings of my software--such as Maya, 3DS Max, Photoshop, etc. to be able to make it feel like "home" and so that I am not reteaching myself something I don't know. It is like using the language you are best at instead of trying to use a secondary language to describe the same sentence. You want to use your strengths on a job and make those even stronger. You should be focusing on your weaknesses at home because if your boss finds out you are slow on a particular task, chances are you will not be receiving repeat tasks of that nature.

Another tactic I have been using is to be friendly and outgoing. I have found that in the video game industry, people don't really come to me to offer their friendship. I have to fight for theirs and come to them to be outgoing. I target the major influencers in the company to be able to instantly gain trust with the higher employees and managers, as they already have respect for those rockstar employees and I am respected by association. Also, with them as your friend, they will offer more revealing tips and will want to see you succeed.

A third tactic I use to gain respect at a new studio is to be quiet and observe everyone around me and their demeanor. I don't want to be the one loud person in a quiet office, so I follow the flow and do not want to rock the boat. I have already done some of that in the past, thinking I was going to shake up the whole studio and improve things left-and-right. Employers don't want this type of person. They have the studio setup as comfortably as they could possible manage, so you should be trying to fit in. You wouldn't crash a skateboarding competition with a unicycle, for instance...

The last strategy I use to gain acceptance and likability is for my boss as well as my colleagues. I don't ever, ever want to complain about the type of work that I am doing. Maybe in a fun way to show that I know what I'm doing and not specifically related personally to the boss's choice of giving me a particular task, but more of a "isn't it funny how...." and describe something about a particular piece of the task, but not the task itself. This is only if you don't have anything else to talk about. Other than that, be polite and thankful that you are getting tasks and don't complain early on or in public and especially not in the office, because the lead will think you are selfish and don't understand that all tasks are important and it is a team effort to make the game great. Sure, if you know people well enough and you feel like you are invincible then say anything you want as long as it's work-appropriate. I have seen people get away with it before but I honestly think they must sleep with one eye open. It is hard to be a dick at work and have everyone be okay with you, so don't shoot yourself in the foot--especially early on in your new position. If you are hired at the same time as someone else and you notice them getting better tasks than you, bring it up with your boss--but not immediately. You should wait a couple of weeks to see if it is actually true, then, go into your bosses office and make sure to close the door to show them respect for privacy. Let them know you are concerned that the tasks you are getting are not challenging enough for you and that you would prefer X (the type of task the other person has been doing, but don't make it a complaint and don't insult the other person). The boss should feel social pressure to not want to be mean to you, so you should be able to start getting those tasks to. I have had to resort to this at a couple of studios in the past, because somehow some people just get better tasks, and I believe that it is always because they know tons of people at the studio before they got hired their and they must be talking in secret about wanting to get better work, and they know a producer or someone who can make that happen. It sucks how office politics work, but you have to be ready to deal with them...

I hope that this has helped and if you want more tips check out this great article that highlights even more information, but is a little general in its content (because most people don't work in the video game industry).

http://www.glassdoor.com/blog/impress-job/

-Ken

Relocating to a New City for Work: How to Do It, Cheaply

I have recently relocated to a new city for work. I will be starting to work at Monolith, which is under WB Games as of now. This move has brought me from Austin, TX, to Kirkland, WA. I must say that the move and cost of living have impacted my finances and balancing everything is a necessity in order to survive and make it to your first day of work. Here are some tips that I have come up with and the procedures that I have taken to make the most out of relocation:

1. Make sure you have money saved before relocating. This is especially true if your position is planned to be temporary in the future (designers and artists), or if the company is not willing to pay relocation expenses. I thought that most companies would offer something for relocation, but this is not the case. Overall, my gas money through car travel, staying in inexpensive hotels, and stocking groceries and amenities items for a new apartment have been close to $1000, altogether. Add the cost of an apartment near $800-$1000 a month and the security deposit fee and a relocation will be about $2,500. And that is about the most inexpensive that I could make it.
2. Find a living condition with a short-term lease. My first choice was to do a short term lease in a shared housing situation, say three months, with month-to-month payment after that. You never know how long a contract position will last and you want to plan on being able to end your rental contract at the same time as your employer ends your employment contract. If you get a full time position out of it then it would be the time to look for an upgrade. I eventually ended up in a one bedroom apartment that was offering a 3 month or 11 month lease. I asked for a 6 month lease, since my contract is around 10 months in length and I did not want to have to pay the extra month on the 11 month term, but I also didn't want to ask for the full 10 months in case I find another job elsewhere or the contracted is ended early. This happened to a colleague of mine: his contract was ended a few months early and he is now staying in his apartment in New York to look for jobs because he doesn't want to deal with the hassle of subletting and finding someone else to cover his rent payment.
3. Try and find a place to live that is already furnished. An included bed, desk, and kitchen/cooking-ware and furniture is all a plus. This is why I usually prefer to share a house with someone rather than finding an apartment. Buying a new bed, desk, cleaning supplies, plates and kitchenware, etc., are all expensive and if you will be moving soon anyway you are not going to be able to store those things anywhere. I barely made my trip with all of my luggage packed into my smaller-than-average car, and now I have a couple of more items that I am either going to have to try and sell quickly on Craiglist, donate, or throw away once I move. The apartment I found thankfully had temporary tenants in mind and includes a bed, desk, microwave, mini-fridge, bookcase and chair. I've never seen anything like it before and it's in a nice building. SCORE!
4. For anything that you do need to buy that you won't be able to bring with you if you have to move again, buy it at Goodwill or a thrift store. I can't stress this enough: buying used and better-quality furniture is possibly the best tactic and secret for saving money than buying new junk that is higher priced. By the time you've used it for a few months it will used anyway. Also, this is the definition of recycling and you are reducing all of the unnecessary waste that is already putting too much stress on the environment. I like to go to the Goodwill locations in the best areas of town because they always have higher-quality items and are usually the same price as the poorer locations. Even though I can easily afford new items, I like to save money and use that for other things such as vacations or new video games or items that I am really passionate about: not another set of plates and eating utensils.
5. Don't make the trip a vacation unless you really needed one anyway. For my case, I had already taken a long vacation beforehand. I did not want to make additional stops along my road trip as this would add to extra nights booking hotels. Hotels are the single most expensive item in travel, other than gas costs--which are unpreventable--so I prefer to not have to spend many days on the road and get an apartment or room to rent as soon as I reach my location. After all, you are moving to work, not to have fun. You can have fun once you've settled down at your job and started earning a new paycheck and have some savings coming in. Again, I have savings already but I want to choose to go on a vacation on my own terms and I usually want to visit locations that can't be seen from a road trip (such as to other countries, or a beach or unique town that is away from common interstates).

This is my advice for relocating for a new job and keeping in practical. It is a bit daunting with the cost and time that it takes to get setup in a new location, and you still are not mentally-settled until a month or more. I think that most people are too afraid that they can't afford it because they are thinking in terms of retail and top price for everything, but this doesn't have to be the case. The last thing you want to do is to use a credit card for traveling and get into debt. Although I used mine so I don't overdraft my main checking account, if you are already in debt I suggest you learn how to handle your own financing before trying to use a credit card to solve your financial problems. You will be using the first couple of weeks at the job just to pay for your relocation expenses. I hope that I have encouraged you to take the risk and choose to relocate for a new opportunity. I am not sure about doing this if you do not already have a job secured, but it is definitely worth it if you do.

-Ken

A Discussion About Art Tests

I have recently been hired for a new studio and this is after having multiple art tests for different studios across America. Most have been in California, with some in Texas. I have had discussions with multiple HR managers in an initial phone screening and salary-requirement phone call and also in-person interviews with developers. I can discuss all of this in detail in future posts, but today I would particularly talk about the art test.

Format of an art test:
When you send in an application to a studio and they like your portfolio, but don't have a good enough referral as to find more about your positive track record, or they feel like you may not be able to match their style, you will be given an art test to prove to the developers that you have the skills necessary to complete tasks for their studio. If you already have been working in the gaming industry and have built a reputation and you have a compelling referral, a studio has a level of trust that they can hire you and not have to worry about you not being able to perform well on their team. Since most of the studios that you will be applying to may not know anything about you--this is especially true if you are applying out of state--then you will most likely be given an art test anyway. Unless your portfolio is nothing but pure gold and to the highest quality standards of the current generation of video games, then they have reason to be doubtful. I must admit that it is hard to keep your portfolio to that high and updated standard unless you have been working for one of the top AAA studios, which happens to work on the same style as the studio that you are applying to. It takes a lot of time for an artist to release a personal project, and even more so if it is a full-scale environment. This means that the work in your portfolio will best be utilized if you focus on making small and digestible props so that you can really polish the hell out of them. A senior artist who was in charge of hiring applicants told me that it is what separates a hire-able applicant from someone who is a novice: their work must look AAA, no matter what they are working on. If you choose to complete a full-fledged environment, you are shooting yourself in the foot--because it will take longer to complete and will be judged as not appearing top-quality/AAA unless you put in even more time to make it look even better. So, you should be focusing on beautiful corners and smaller areas of an environment and not worry about being able to see the model from every angle (unless it is a prop/single asset).


With that said, when you get an art test from a studio, this is how it usually happens:

• They email you confirming that they would like to send you an art test, and would like to know when you would like to receive the materials. They do this because most art tests require a deadline of about a week to complete, and they want to make sure that you are ready to meet that time restraint. If you are working overtime you may want to start the test on the weekend, to get your best foot forward, for instance.
• Once you confirm you are ready for the test, they send you a zip file that usually consists of a style-guide/instructions document and a few reference images. These can vary from a painted concept to some in-game screenshots.
• The level of sophistication and complexity of a test varies wildly among studios: some are okay with having just a few screenshots (shaded and another with wireframe only) as a submission, others want a certain file structure and exact naming conventions in the file and supporting textures and want all textures and models submitted for reviewing the cleanliness of the modeling and UV work. Some require modeling only and supply their own textures, while others want all of the textures to be made from scratch (this is especially important in a stylized/cartoon art test). Most tests fall somewhere in-between: they want you to create your own textures and submit the files, but they usually don't care much about the naming conventions or file structure--as long as everything is clean.
• Once you finish your test, make sure to compress the files into a .zip format (as most studios will be able to have a .zip reader but may not have a .rar reader) and email them back to the person who gave you the test (which is most likely Human Resources). Note: some email systems may not be able to accept files over a certain size, and one studio couldn't accept files over 10MB! This makes it hard to turn in a complex test. So, the best solution to this is to host the file as a downloadable link on your website (if you are website-savvy or download the free application Dropbox and let them access the file from there). Make sure to include a link to the downloadable file in the submission email.
• Even though tests have a deadline, it is acceptable to go above the time restraint--within reason. I turned in one test a day late and it was still passed. A colleague of mine turned in a Zbrush test for a prop a week or two late and was still able to land a job! The quality of the test matters more than the time frame you completed it in. Developers understand you are busy and also that good art takes a while to complete. If your competition is turning in tests early but are not to par with yours, the company will put you at the top of their list even though you were over the time limit. Make sure to make a note about why you were late in your email so that they know that you still took the test seriously.
• Now, is the not-so-fun part of the art test: waiting. It usually takes a few days to a week for a studio to get back to you with an answer, especially if you past the test because now they are interested in you. If you don't hear back, it is acceptable to check in about the test weekly. Note that one particular studio in California that was working on an MMO did not get back to me for a month and when they did they failed my test, because I had not used the most pleasant of words in my last email since I was fed up that it took a month for the studio to reply back to me about my test. Don't let this happen to you: always act professional even if the studio is not acting professional themselves. This may be a sign that they are a disorganized studio or it may have been a fluke on their part. Either way, you don't want to pass up a potential opportunity. Sometimes, when a studio does not get back to you soon it is almost a tale-tale sign that you flunked the test. I checked in with one studio a week after a test and they got back immediately saying I failed the test. It seems that they were waiting for me to email them to tell me anything.
• If you have passed the test, great! You are far from getting hired, though: as you still need to pass the HR "salary" phone call (because that's really the question they want to know about you the most) and the in-person interview. These are both grueling and studios like to take their time in making their selection so it could still be a week or more before you know if you have a chance at a job. If it is a top studio with lots of funding they will fly you out for an interview. If it is a local studio they will get back to you sooner. If it is a distant studio with not much funding, they will either interview you on skype/video conference call or a simple conference call with no video.

Concluding Notes:

Make sure to triple-check your work before submitting an art test because some studios will be turned off by the smallest mistake and will not give you the chance to fix it once submitted. It seems that the video game industry like to be particularly harsh on artists and that is why it is necessary for you to spend the extra time making sure that everything is clean and organized. I have been doing some reading of Brenda Brathwaite's book, Breaking into the Game Industry, and she states that programmers have tests that only last a few hours while designers have tests that can be completed in a few days. Artists, though have tests that take one week. And, you'd better take that whole week to make the modeling and texturing the best it can be. Don't turn in a test too early because a studio won't care that you got the work done really fast if the quality is not up to par. So, now you know how to complete an art test. The biggest obstacle from getting an art test is a referral. I have found it difficult to hear anything back from a studio, much less been given an art test, unless I list a referral in my application (someone who works their that you know). So don't forget to keep networking, as some people will tell you to "focus on your art" but you probably won't get very far without the connections to get your art into the right hands.

Good luck!

-Ken

P.S. For a good laugh and to see what not to do for your portfolio, check out this art demo reel: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FiARsQSlzDc

Video Game Designer is Voted A Top Ten Career in America

In 2012, CNN Money voted video game designers to have one of the best jobs in America. I am thinking that they rated this based on the amount of job satisfaction, as voted by interviewed employees, and also the amount of pay. The study even states that availability of the job is an issue, so it seems that it is something that the video gaming industry will always be dealing with. Just like movies: there are only so many pictures produced a year and it doesn't take that many people to make one. It is interesting that the "experts" predict a 32% growth increase in the next ten years. This is great news, but I'm not sure how they are calculating that figure and we all can attest to how unexpected the future of games will be--especially in the next ten years.

http://money.cnn.com/gallery/pf/2012/11/01/best-new-jobs-in-america/index.html

A Free Script for a Follow Up Call

I've been having quite a lot of interviews lately, and in each one there is usually a preliminary phone screening or art test followed by an in-person interview. But, there can be a delay between each. If you are finding yourself without a response from an HR manager that you talked to during your initial phone screening, then you will want to check back with them so that you can show your interest and initiative for the job. In the past, it may have been okay to just wait it out and let them contact you. In the current times, with all of the bustling competition, it is almost required to check back in about the status of your interview to separate yourself. It is just as required as a thank you letter after an in-person interview. Some good etiquette for a call back:

• Don't call back too soon. At least three days should be given so that the HR manager can sort through other applicants and make sure to have the team review your details. I prefer to wait even longer--at least a week--because I know that in this industry time flies and everyone is usually so busy and there is so many other applicants that you don't want to agitate them by calling too soon. It's better to call too late than to soon, in my opinion: by that time, you may have heard something back anyway.
• Be polite. Make sure to keep a positive and pleasant mood the entire time regardless of how flaky the person you are talking to may be.
• Talk to the person that you talked to originally. If they called you from their cell phone, call them back on their cell phone. Don't call outside of business hours (usually 9AM-5PM). If you get a receptionist or the only phone number you got was the HR manager, then ask to be transferred to the actual hiring manager that you spoke to (this is only if you already had the in-person interview). If you just had the initial phone screening, then you should be talking to the HR manager or whoever contacted you.
• Have a script ready, so that you keep the conversation short and simple and to make sure that you ask all that you wanted. Here is the script that you can use:

Follow Up Phone Call Script

1. This is [Your Name] calling you back. We had an interview for the [Position Name] last Wednesday (or whichever day you talked to them).
2. I am intrigued by the work that your studio does and the games it works on, such as [Game Name] (this part is just some sort of compliment as to why you like the studio and reiterate that it would be a good fit for you. Make it sincere).
3. I would like to know if there has been any decision made?
4. [If there has been no decision made] Are you still considering my application? (only if you feel comfortable with this one. You may want to wait to say this until it has been a few follow-up calls later).
5. Will it be okay for me to call again within a few days, to see how the process is going?
6. Again, thank you for your time.

*Note: This conversation begins and ends with a thank you. You want this so that you show that you are serious about having a good mood and impression about the position

*Note 2: It is very likely that the HR manager will not answer your call. Many times, the HR department may not answer calls they don't know. They will especially not answer your call if they remember your number and this is more likely if you check in too soon. In this case, you will want to leave a message on their answering machine. It is still preferable that you talk to them in person, though, so it may be worth waiting until the next day to call in and see if they pick up. You don't want to be making multiple calls with no message, though, so if you attempt multiple calls in the same day and they never pick up, make sure to leave a message on the last one.

This strategy has to be the least-utilized of all when applying for a job. That is more reason for you to use it, because other applicants are not even considering it. This one call may be the deciding factor for the employer, if you were previously on the fence about a decision. So use it!

-Ken

http://work.chron.com/proper-way-call-back-after-interview-2720.html

Great Article About Upholding Your Reputation in the Gaming Industry

It is true, once you start college you are being judged from day one by your professors. Some students may want to goof off in school and have a huge social life and not focus on their school work. Well, the competition is already hard enough among the people who are avidly crafting their skills and applying themselves, so if you are not focusing in school you should have not attended in the first place. The whole reason why you are attending school is to prove yourself to your professors, as they are supposed to be connected to the gaming industry and will give you a referral whenever studios come looking for college graduates. You also want to prove yourself to your fellow students, and the students that are working hard gravitate to each other: so if you are not friends with or in the crowd of the rockstar students in your game development courses, you are probably doing something wrong. You should always make them your friend and work with, learn from, and collaborate with them. They will be the most likely to transition into a real job once they graduate, and will want to refer you if the studio they are working for is looking for new hires. These relationships last forever and you want the best people to have the best impressions of you.

A quote from my book, "4 years of hard work for 40 years of enjoyment are better than 4 years of enjoyment for 40 years of hard work" is true: if you want to slave at a regular job and regret the rest of your life then blow off college and don't expect following your dreams or goals that you have set out at an early age. Sure, you can always change this later in life, but it will be exponentially more difficult with more responsibilities--such as having kids or a home mortgage to have to pay for. It's hard to go back to school once you have been dependent on a full time job for years. This is why college is the prime time for you to work your hardest and really learn as much as you can because you have freedom and time to do it.

I just read this article by Zuby Ahmed and I must agree that it is 100% correct and I have hit on all of these points in my book. It is good to hear it from a different perspective, though. If you want to find out how to truly make the most of your schooling and how to keep up with the rising demands of the video game industry, then take a few minutes and read it.

http://careers.guardian.co.uk/get-ahead-video-games-industry

-Ken

Some Ways of Unlocking the Hidden Job Market

It should be becoming clearer and clearer that most industries thrive from referrals and networks. In fact, entrepreneurs have a saying that goes: "Your network is your net worth." For an industry like video games, this could be altered to: "Your network is your next job." It is definitely job security and also the ability to move on to new companies, because when you know someone who knows people at a studio that you want to work for, and you have a good rapport with them, you better believe that getting a job interview will be a walk in the park at that point. Sure, you do have to have the skills yourself and also be good with marketing yourself, but you won't get far unless you reach out to people that are relevant to your job search. People make the World go 'round, and all companies really are, are a collection of people who share a similar vision and interest. Opportunity many times comes down to knowing the right person at the right time, instead of being in the right place at the right time. You could be in China and know someone in San Francisco. There may be hoards of people in San Francisco looking for a job. But, if you knew the CEO or a manager at a company in San Francisco, it doesn't matter if you live there or not: because your relationship to that person has the ability to last forever, yet your location is only temporary. Here are some ways that you can tap into the hidden job market:

1. Use your network. This is the long and hard method, as it takes years to build your reputation and most of the time your network is only as strong as the impression that they have of you: so you can't simply be friends with someone on LinkedIn that you met once on at a conference and expect them to refer you for a new job, since they don't know your work ethic or skill level. Go out to lunch with people at work and also to social events. Get to know them on a deeper level and make sure to have all of their phone numbers. Call them. A lot. Calling people is the best way to keep in touch, because it shows that you've set aside time for them and that they are in a special reserved spot in your friend circle. Simply sending emails or social network updates to them just means you are an acquaintance.
2. Contact people on LinkedIn, who work for the studio that you would like to be at. You may not be able to filter and find these people unless you already have a large network on LinkedIn. LinkedIn is very good about drawing similarities between your contacts to help you find new ones. I will go into finding the right people at the right studio more in depth, in the future, and have considered saving this for a new book that I am planning on writing. Let me know if this is something that you would like to see!
3. Informational Interviews. You can't be shy anymore in this competitive world. I know that most developers are introverts and I have had to snap out of that really fast whenever I am at a conference. The best way to get an informational interview is to meet someone at a conference or be able to be introduced from a friend and go out for lunch with the new acquaintance. This way, you can ask them things about the job without sounding too desperate and also show that you are capable and that you would like working for their studio. Just talking to someone face-to-face makes them remember you, and you are already way ahead of the others out there sending in their electronic applications with no face or personality.
4. Attend mixers or game-industry events. When a company throws a party or a mixer, they are not doing it just for fun or to show off how much money they have. They are trying to find new employees. You must make an effort to talk to the HR manager and whoever else may be there representing the company. You may feel like: oh, well I asked the HR manager some questions but they had scripted responses like they always do. Wrong! You need to get on a personal level and ask them about them-self and the studio and also share your own personality and interests. You may not know it, but if you send in your application and mention briefly how you met them at the mixer and what you talked about, they will remember you (especially if you gave them a business card). They want to help people they know, so they will get you lined up with an interview rather than passing over or second-guessing your resume--if they knew nothing about you.

Some other articles mention that you should target the company's job listing directly on their website. I agree, that are some job listings that are not listed on the more public national job boards and have less competition since not everyone knows about it, but, technically this is not the hidden job market. Just the fact that they have the listing online means that they are not serious about hiring someone immediately and that they still have quite a few people that will be applying for the job. You want to get in on the hidden job market, where there is little competition other than a few people. The job search is more personal and will move a lot faster than waiting to hear back, like in a normal application process. The hidden job market is awesome and you will most likely not even notice it when you find it, because by that point everyone will be your friend and it is really just friends helping friends. So make a lot of friends in the industry, and keep producing top-quality work!

-Ken

http://www.glassdoor.com/blog/5-ways-uncover-hidden-job-openings/

Are You Killing Your Job Search?

Searching for jobs may not be the most exciting practice there is as part of your ability to do a job well and complete your job description. It is a process that is highly subjective and each person will want to approach it differently and on their own terms. Well, even though you can customize your job search and implant your own personal style, you are going to want to follow the fundamental structure of an application process, which includes:

1. Error-proofing your resume. Make sure that you have not lied about your credentials and also that there are no grammatical errors such as misspellings. Studios are increasingly wanting to have the duration that you have worked for each title, so make sure you include the month and the year that you began and ended a position (just like in LinkedIn format).
2. Be professional and get to the point when sending in your application. You don't want to blabber or come off sounding like you are gloating. It is pretty difficult for a hiring manager to gauge your personality from a digital application--which most are--anyway. Your references will do the bulk of the work convincing the person in charge of hiring that you are a good person to work with. They also have tons of applications to read so you want to give your contact information, attach your resume to the email, and wrap it up with a chance for a follow-up, such as "I would enjoy the opportunity to interview with you."
3. Use a cover letter when possible. Not all applications require one, such as small studios that don't have organized websites or have less requirements for a candidate. If there is a section for a cover letter though, you will want to submit one. Hey--if there are two resumes that are similar and one has a cover letter and the other doesn't, it will look that much better during the decision process and make you seem more professional.
4. Keep your resume simple. Text-only and word doc format. I haven't found a job application that won't accept Microsoft word. I even save mine as Word 2003 compatible in case the studio is using old software to view the document. You don't need pictures of your work or yourself on the resume, you don't need colors, and you especially don't need it to be rasterized and saved as a pdf: it will be too hard to decipher your information and the resume is mainly to communicate your credentials, not to make an impression (except a bad one, if you don't follow these rules).
5. Being too rowdy on your Facebook page. I have past friends and childhood acquaintances that I am friends with on my social networking page, namely Facebook. Some people feel the need to be too comfortable on Facebook and share too much information. You will be guaranteed that your future studio will be viewing your profile and that your boss will friend you one day on a social networking site. Having pictures of yourself doing keg stands or having hateful or immature posts about how you are angry at the the world, or worse--your boss--will be bad karma for those who don't know anything about you yet other than what you decide to reveal about yourself online. Also, make your page public: if you have it as private, the studio may not be happy not being able to find out more about you. Just make sure to screen your pictures and untag yourself in any pictures posted by your friends that compromise your professional image. Why do you think it is such a blow to a movie star's reputation when they are caught in the lens of a candid-camera in an unflattering act? It is because they understand the importance of marketing their image and the world only knows them by what they choose to reveal about themselves. You should be on your best, most charismatic, and most exciting and interesting behaviors. Post pictures about you participating in hobbies like sports or being with friends to show employers that you have a life outside of work. Then post pictures of your work so that they know that you are passionate about your work and enjoy sharing it with your network.
6. Use LinkedIn to your advantage. When you meet someone at a networking event such as GDC, get their business card (make sure to have your own to hand out) and then go home and add them on LinkedIn with a personalized comment about what you discussed the night before. You should write a personalized detail about them on the back of their business card--after the discussion--so you don't forget.
7. Follow up after an application submission. Keep yourself fresh on the studio's mind and they will also understand that you are actually interested in the position. Keep these emails simple and professional. Sometimes you may not be able to follow up if you submitted via an online application system, which is unfortunate. The only way around this is to try and find the HR manager or Recruiter for the studio on LinkedIn and alert them that you submitted your application and that you would love the chance to interview. Don't be too pushy and give it at least a week or two before checking up on your application.
8. Send personalized thank you letters after an interview. Most of the time you will only be dealing with an HR manager until you get to the actual interview. If you are an artist, you will unlikely not be talking to any developers until you have passed the art test. Still, if you fail the art test, send a thank you letter to the HR representative just to show that you have decency and also to keep a good impression on their mind in case you decide to apply later in the future.
9. Always be on good terms with your ex-boss. They are your main reference, and they will most likely always be contacted before you are brought in for an interview. Unlike other references, you can't choose this one, and prospective studios know this. They don't want staged/canned answers that they might get by talking to your good friend at a studio, so they can count on your boss to give a realistic evaluation of your work. Don't ever make a bad impression on your boss, willingly, and also try to correct any difficulties you may have with them while you are still on the job. They will most likely be hard to contact after you leave the job, unless you were really good friends with them.

So, if you follow this checklist you will be grade-A quality for being able to get to the interview, which is really when the rubber meets the road and the process is becoming serious to hire you. These steps are a certain unwritten rule-set that HR managers play by and you have to be playing their game in order for them to understand you. So be a professional player and make sure to hit it out of the park!

-Ken

If you want tips on what not to do during your application process, check out this story: 12 Deadly Sins that Kill Your Job Search. http://newgradlife.blogspot.com/2010/01/job-openings-new-jobs-job-search-job_11.html

Great Game Development Resources for Learning about Game Design

This article by G4 is more specific to game design, as there are lot of good resources that will teach you about working in game engines and the theories of design and player entertainment. I have just read an article recently that covers some of the points that I discuss in my book about the benefits of going to college vs. being self-taught. Also, there are some wonderful resources, such as the Gamasutra Jobs Boards, where you can find jobs and seek out what studios are wanting from a candidate for the position that you want to be hired for. This way, when developing your portfolio, you can tailor your portfolio in a way that will meet all of the checkpoints for that studio and will also be valuable to other studios as well.

The article also recommends reading books and that having insider-information is one of the most important tools to propelling yourself forward to gain the skills and know the expectations of what it will take for you to get a job in the video game industry. All the more reason to read books like mine, How To Get a Job in Video Games.

Perhaps one of the most useful bits of information that this article from G4 provides is that you should start designing games, now! Don't wait around until you decide on the right college to go to. Many of the game engines are simple and also free to download and tinker with, and that's exactly what you should do. You will learn so much more by trial and error than by having someone tell you theories in school, because eventually you will have to test those theories yourself and they will be more sticky in your mind because you did it yourself. Game Development schools spend a large portion of their time giving you your own time and freedom to work on your own projects. The professor is not going to hold your hand the whole way throughout your development process, so you might as well get used to learning on your own early and then, if you do decide to go to school, you will have that much more experience than your peers. What do all of the child prodigies have in common? They started their talent early in life! The sooner you begin, the more time you have to learn and the better you will become overall. Someone going to the gym once and doing five hundred pushups will not benefit as much as someone who has started when they were fifteen and go to the gym three times a week and complete fifty pushups each time. You will learn more with consistent dedication and work instead of a flash in the pan--if you think the only time you will every have to work on your portfolio is during college and then stop altogether. This industry is one where you are constantly learning new processes and technology and improving your own talent, so beginning as soon as possible is key to having a job arranged for you at graduation time.

To read the article and see what they have to say about going to college and joining online forums and which engines to focus on in your portfolio, you can check it out here: http://www.g4tv.com/thefeed/blog/post/716473/how-to-get-a-job-in-video-games-your-career-resource-guide/

-Ken

Keeping Connections may be the Most Important Tool to Job Security

If you ever find yourself unemployed, which is not uncommon for any industry in the current era--especially creative ones such as video game development--then you may wonder what steps you can take to find your next position. It has been more and more clear that network=net worth, and the quality of the people that you know and associate with on a daily basis determines the quality of your life. If you want to be able to find a job quickly after having been laid off from a studio, then look no further to your direct circle of industry peers: the people who you get along with at work are also the same people that will most readily give you a raving recommendation. In order to find these kinds of people, constantly offer to take them to lunch and also join other coworkers' lunch outings. Find a group that you can really associate with--which will almost always be those that are in your same department. Then, keep up with them and make it a point to attend parties or lunches or other social events that those people are part of.

Many of my colleagues, especially the less social ones, like to save money by budgeting their lunch and bringing in their own meal from home. While I also do this as well, I make sure to not go one whole week without eating at least once or twice out with my colleagues. It may save you a small amount of money in the short run--say, $30-40/week--but it will most certainly cost you more money in the long run: when you are having trouble finding a new job because nobody at work really got to know you and connect with you on a deeper emotional level. That's right: people are creatures of affection and need social interaction. So, if you want to get ahead in any industry than you'd better learn to have friends in your industry because they are the network that supports each other and starts new studios together. Most studios care more about referrals than any other type of application submission. The only other way around getting a referral is by attending networking events such as conference and job fairs and meeting the HR department, or other team members, directly. You will have far less chance of getting a test or an interview, but at least you will have better chances than the luck-of-the-draw for the other applicants who are merely submitting their application from the company website. So remember: doing your work at your job is great and will keep you at your current job. But, if you want to transition to other companies or excel your career, you will not want to spend all of your time working but balance it by adding a fair amount of interacting with fellow colleagues and building your reputation as someone who is easy to get along with and who is not labelled as a "complainer".

If you would like to know more on the subject, there is an interesting book out there that covers the topic more in-depth. I still have yet to read it but it has been on my wish list for quite a while:

Never Eat Alone: And Other Secrets to Success, One Relationship at a Time
http://www.amazon.com/Never-Eat-Alone-Secrets-Relationship/dp/0385512058

-Ken

Non-Sense of Entitlement

This is an interesting topic: people who become very successful also seem to be the most entitled people around, no? Have we not all heard of how demanding actors and actresses are when in their trailers. The food selection has to be right, the color choices of the decorations have to be right, etc, etc. As a society, we have just come to accept that those in extremely successful situations are allowed to get away with being more than just a little full of themselves. But this is more of a weakness for them, than a strength. In an article posted by infochachkie.com (http://infochachkie.com/nonsense-of-entitlement/) It has been proved that even great people such as Babe Ruth are not entitled anymore than some average person on the street, for getting a new job. We should treat each new job and opportunity as something that we are willing to fight for and put all of our effort into. If restaurants started watering down their drinks do you think that they would be in business much longer? Just because they have the reputation as a successful establishment, that means that now they have to uphold that status more than ever or they will lose it just as quick as a hot stock loses value during a down market. It is the same as babies having less freedom to mess up than teenagers: the larger and more mature someone's career or business becomes, the easier it will be to mess up majorly. Sure, one could argue that they now have a safety net to fall back on whereas when they were getting their start in their career every choice had to add up perfectly in order to grow. I can see both sides of the spectrum. I will say, though, that being cocky and feeling entitled is not something that game development employers will be looking for so, even if you have a spectacular portfolio and have worked for tons of great studios in the past, you will still need to put in the work to prove yourself to the new team that you will be working with. Since you had been working at the top studios, they will expect even more from you and will be ashamed if you are not able to live up to your perceived value as a team member and an employee.
  A good part of the article says how Babe Ruth thought that he would have an instant coaching job based on his reputation. He was not used to selling himself and charming others and really convincing others to want to use him as a coach. He just waited and wanted the managers to come to him with new jobs. But they didn't come and his career in baseball ended there. If you think that you are going to get a job based on your portfolio alone, you are wrong. It may help to get your foot in the door, but your personality and your willingness to work with others will be displayed during your interview and it is something that teams will be looking for just as much as the talented work that you provide. So remember to have pride and passion in any job that you partake in, even if it is in QA or some small no-name studio and you are just starting out your career. The dedication you give to each job will build your reputation and open new doors for you in the future, but remember: you still have to be the one who makes the effort to walk through those doors!

-Ken

Salary Negotiation Tips & Tricks

Salary Negotiation. Probably the most feared aspect of the job application process for introverts aka most game developers. As a result, most game developers do not negotiate their salary and will take whatever the company offers first. I have a friend who is a programmer at Sucker Punch who told me that he does not negotiate his salary but he tells the prospect studio that he is applying for his current salary, and let's them figure out a new salary for him. This may not be the best strategy to get the highest pay, but it definitely seems like the best way to have job security as the company is offering you what they want to pay. Most studios in current times will always ask your previous pay anyway. It used to be a good strategy to not disclose this information--perhaps back in your parent's generation--but the new process of hiring absolutely requires you to list your previous salary. It is seen as being non-compliant if you don't. You also don't want to lie, because good HR managers will contact your previous employer to confirm this information.

Remember that at the end of the day you are providing a service that others are able to provide also, so the competition and supply and demand of the position dictate the market price for your salary. You can't expect to make more or less than around $5,000 of that average figure, for your level of experience and based on your previous salary. For instance, if you were getting paid $45,000/year in Seattle and the same position paid $65,000 in Los Angeles, you can expect that the most the employer will be willing to pay is $70,000, no matter how good you are. There will always be someone nearly as good as you who is willing to accept the average pay for the position. Don't let this discourage you: in fact, you should be researching average salaries more than ever because an employer will want to know what salary you expect and you do not want to be too far outside of that figure when giving them your estimate.

When an employer asks for your desired salary, give them a range of around $15,000-$20,000. If a job pays an average of $50,000 then you should tell them you expect $45,000-$60,000. You want to start lower than the average just to show that you are flexible, and then pivot the average of your range slightly higher than the average pay for the position. The average of $45K-$60K is $53,000--$3,000 higher than the median. The employer will most likely not pay you the bottom figure in your range just to show that they care more about you, and they will want to pay somewhere in the middle.

How do you find average salaries for an area? You could try simplyhired.com and click on "salaries," although I have found this to be wildly inaccurate and gives you a very rough estimate of what you can expect. You can also try a cost of living comparison (if you already have a job), such as CNN's http://money.cnn.com/calculator/pf/cost-of-living/. These are also inaccurate because housing is such a big factor and the sad reality is that game developers usually live in the nicest cities in the USA but they do not own homes in those cities. Another website that is more accurate, because it relies on actual user data and experience level, is Payscale.com. It takes a while to fill out their report, though, especially if you are looking for quick estimates and in different cities. 

Want to know a little secret that I discovered recently, that is the best of the best for figuring out a fair salary for your position? Glassdoor.com

Glass door is users inputting their own anonymous data about how much money they are making in their current position. You can search by studios and all of the big names have good data: Blizzard, Naughty Dog, Rockstar, etc. I highly recommend this website and encourage those in the industry to share their information with others. This is the best defense that we as employees have over HR departments exploiting us and trying to charge too little for our valuable work as game developers. I'm sure that studio owners and publishers hate this, as they would want to keep more profit for themselves, but there is such an unfair advantage right now of how much publishers are profiting from the hard working developers--who are doing the real work in making video games.

Even if you are shy it is worth it to practice negotiating your salary. You will probably have less room to do this if you are just starting out, as I didn't negotiate my first couple of jobs because I was so eager to start working and didn't want the opportunity to pass me up. I don't know if I would change that if I could go back in time, so you may want to do the same. But, if you are getting more experience, then studios are expecting you to negotiate and you will feel more valuable as a person for being able to charge what you feel you are worth.

Good luck getting the most pay for your hard work!
-Ken

http://www.glassdoor.com/blog/salary-negotiation-tips-tricks/