Awesome Job Listings Email Notification Setup

I am not sure if I have covered this before, but if you head over to CreativeJobsCentral.com you will find a wealth of free job listings at your disposal. The website itself is a bit intimidating, as it has a bunch of paid plans that it wants you to sign up for and also, once you do click on a job listing, it asks you to switch to a paid subscription in order to get the job details and apply. To make it easier for you, I've included the email alert sign up link here: http://www.creativejobscentral.com/seeker/job-alerts/create_unpaid.php?e=

Here is the strategy I use:

1. Setup an email alert subscription for your desired state (or, you can leave this flexible and have it display all jobs, if you prefer).
2. You will get emails daily. If you find a job you like, click on the link to see if you're a good match. 
3. Now, instead of having to pay to apply for the job: Go to the actual game studio's official website and navigate to their jobs page. This website is always the source of new jobs and should always have any listings that are found on external job gathering sites such as CreativeJobsCentral. You will also probably find that the application process is handled by email the HR manager. I find this more personal, as you can add a description about yourself and show your enthusiasm for working for the studio in your brief introduction email, instead of having a stale resume entry form with no customization allowed.

I would also recommend setting up an account with glassdoor.com. Once done, you can add job alerts by going to:

• My Accounts>Job Alerts>Create Job Alert. 
• Enter your job title in the search bar and click "search" (leave the location blank so you can get the full gambit of job results). 
• Use the filters column on the left to narrow the results (I would just leave it as broad as possible, so "freshness" is set to all and "All job types" enabled.
• Click on "Create Job Alert." It will notify you that your alert has been created.
• Go back to My Accounts>Job Alerts. Now, you can click "edit" to fine tune your result (somehow mine picked my geographical city location even though I left the city blank. It looks like you can only add one city at a time, and I'm guessing it will find surrounding cities of that city also. For the best results, I would repeat the process to setup multiple template alerts and then set major game development city HUBs that are spread far away throughout the country. Ex: Los Angeles, Seattle, Austin, Boston).

Happy hunting!
-Ken

Dealing with People Well is One of the Most Important Characteristics You Can Have

Read this book, and if you practice its principles it will change your life: How to Win Friends and Influence People, by Dale Carnegie. It is the same course that Warren Buffet took when he was twenty years old and he still has the certificate of passing the course on his office wall.

The reason that this book is so powerful is because it teaches you profound ways of dealing with people that you won't learn in school because it's generally something personal and each person goes about it their own way. Having the talent to know how to be somebody that everyone works well with and that is known for having other people want to do good work when you request something from them is something that cannot be measured in value but will prove results and look favorably on your record. I know, the game industry is labeled as one where people are anti-social and don't need to have good interpersonal skills, but it actually matters a lot--especially now that studios are growing in overall size and the diversity of backgrounds and personalities is more varied than it has ever been.

Take this, for an example: a powerful designer at my current studio, whom I work closely with, has a knack for being sarcastic and not treating coworkers with the most respect when requesting a new task or disciplining someone who has broken a design feature with their art. I have a pretty thick spine but sometimes the way this particular designer handles things instantly makes me want to respond in turn with more negativity and sarcasm and standing firm for my own position in the argument. A few times I have typed up email responses to him, because most of his crude remarks are sent through mass emails, only to not send them and feel better afterward. This is a good learning lesson for all: never make a quick decision in the heat of the moment and speak your mind. It may feel like justice at the time, but really it will make things more difficult with you and that person and possibly get you on a "bad employee" list with your boss or other influential people at the studio.

The way I have chosen to deal with him, in person, is by being extremely courteous and understanding. I may not agree with the way he communicates but he's usually right in his requests because it's a well known fact that the design is the most important factor to get right in a game and if I don't want to serve as a road block to having the designer make the design better. What the book How to Influence Friends and Influence People constantly states is to see the situation from the other person's point of view and have compassion for their decision or argument. Especially in a situation like mine, where I am an artist and newer to the studio, it pays for me to get along with everyone and to not burn any bridges.

Your reputation really does precede you, and wherever you go in your career will be determined by how good your reputation is. Your reputation, in turn, is formed by your ability to constantly handle tasks and how you work in a team. Every studio wants you to be a team player, no matter how good you are. So, swallow your pride and even if someone may not be treating you with the respect you feel you deserve, the only way to get them to treat you better is by being friendly and welcoming to them. You get what you give, and if you are mean back to them then they will only be fueled to be even meaner and then you will regret going to work each day just because you don't like that person so much. I've seen people on teams who literally can't get along with anyone, and those are always the people who have the hardest time getting a new job and also have to settle for the least desired jobs.

So, if you want to instantly improve your career and the success you will have in the future, you will need to improve your personality and the interactions you have with everyone in life. If you get the audio book version of Dale Carnegie's book, it is super-motivating and great to listen to while you are working on that portfolio to have an even better chance of a promotion or new job! Too many people focus on their talent for producing work only, and overlook the importance of improving their personality as well. Especially in the interview, having a pleasing personality is going to separate you from the competition. So, I am telling you to not overlook what everyone else is and hopefully you will find that opportunities come easier than they used to for you!

-Ken

Want to Get the Work You Like? Better Start Updating Your Portfolio.

A common issue that I have found in being a game developer is that when you are brought on to a new project you expect to be working on all sorts of new types of work that you are not used to but you would like to have a chance at creating. This is a problematic mindset, since most of the time when you are brought onto a project the game is pretty far along and the types of work is segmented and more specialized. This is why if you "typecast" yourself (a term used in the film industry for actors that cannot break out of the same style of character in every movie they appear in), make sure it is something that you enjoy.

For instance, when an artist with a lot of experience from San Diego moved here to WB Games in Kirkland, he already had a ton of work creating terrain and natural geographical elements. I remember talking to him when he was first hired and he commented: "this project is so big that I am excited to be able to work on a lot of different aspects of the game, not just terrain." At the time he was working on terrain and he figured he'd be able to transition into something more varied once that line of work was completed. Well, it has been more than a half of year now and guess what? He's still doing terrain! I hate to say that I saw that one coming the moment I was talking to him, but didn't want to kill the mood. He is just so proficient and knowledgeable in creating convincing and high quality looking terrains that it was obvious that the Lead Artist hired him to be able to make the terrain in the game to a better quality level.

A few years ago I was looking at the portfolio of some artists in the credit of the Alone in the Dark game (which was about the fourth or fifth in the series but used the same name as the original. Tomb Raider, anyone? Seriously, why do companies do this to confuse people?). I had noticed one portfolio in particular which was a character or technical artist who showcased some bruising and tearing skin models to show that they were well equipped with creating zombie-like creatures that had a bunch of torn flesh. Well, as you can imagine by now that it was a big factor in the game to have the monsters have real-time wounds based on the area of your attack. It was like they must have hired the guy just because he had something that they wanted and that they did not want to take the time to learn, so it was cheaper to pay for his salary than training someone or building new technology for it. This is the same as Hollywood: they would rather pay an actual ballerina and have them in dancing shots instead of taking the time to train the actress into how to dance Ballet. This is not the case in Black Swan, as Natalie Portmen actual did train herself. Most projects don't go through this much effort so they would rather pay a stunt driver that specializes in doing barrel rolls for a scene that would call for a barrel roll, instead of paying a professional skydiver who just happens to do some stunt driving on the side.

The lesson here is that once you are in a project and time is of the essence, you are not going to have a lot of time to learn new tricks and skills, so you will almost undoubtedly work on the same type of work that you have in your portfolio. Do you create a lot of sci fi spaceships? You will be most desirable to a sci fi space-themed project. Are you designs for fantasy MMORPG's? You probably won't have much luck applying to a studio that does first person shooters, even if you have a couple of designs for first person levels but it is not your focus or you are not the strongest in it.

So if you are tired of always working on the same thing on different projects then make sure to go back to the "lab" and create some impressive showpieces in your portfolio that are the type of work that you would like to transition to. You can even put them as the priority, at the top of your site, and eventually phase out your old work if you do enough new stuff.

Trust me, at least being able to work on the type of work you interest you at home, even if you don't immediately get hired at a studio for that work, will make you a happier employee all around. If you indeed land a new job then that's icing on the cake. So, instead of complaining at your current job and hoping for something better, take some action at home and control your own destiny instead of letting someone else control it for you.

-Ken

Act Now, Apologize Later

Recently, we have been getting closer to finishing a project and I have been noticing more and more that the Rockstars on the team are those that do what they want regardless of what their peers aka coworkers think. For instance, if you are constantly given tasks that feel under-rated and lower-profile then there is a likeliness that you will continue to be given those types of tasks unless you take initiative.

The best method of doing this is finding an area of the game that you feel you can specifically, significantly improve that is a major aspect of the game and also requires the type of skill that a more senior developer would have. You know yourself that you can handle this type of work but maybe you do not have much of it in your portfolio. This would be Zbrush/sculpting work for artists and more high-level scripting for level designers. These are usually seen as the "cool," "portfolio," and more respected jobs.Point out this to your lead or senior developer that you work with, and tell them that you would like to take on that task. They may be a little hesitant at first, but from this point on you should constantly have confidence and reassure them that it's going to get done and be good work. Take your time and make sure you do actually do a good job, and expect some naysayers /hating from other developers if they haven't been issued those types of tasks themselves.

This can be a risky maneuver, because if you under-perform then you will build an instant reputation of not being the most skilled and wasting production time. This is especially true if it is later on in the project, which is when most new developers like yourself will be being brought onto a project. So, make sure that it is something you can handle, first. It is like in the movie Three Ninjas, where the sensei says: "Never fight unless you know you can win." If you find yourself in over your head, do not give up but go home and cram the necessary information to be able to get you by, by searching online forums and tutorials. But, if you are able to achieve success then your reputation will be boosted and there is likelihood that you will be trusted with more high profile tasks in the future. It is a snowball effect.

Many studios will be testing you the moment you join a team, progressively giving you more advanced tasks and "capping" you at a level that they find that you are comfortable with. But, to be honest many studios are bringing in a slew of devs at the end of the project to get all of the tedious work finished and save the more juicy stuff for the senior and more established developers at the studio. So, if you want to break out of the grind you're going to have to try and pull off a tactic like this.

This method is known as "Act now, apologize later." If you know what you're doing is right and can get something accomplished, others may not be able to see the end result and may not have faith in you, so they will give you resistance at first and may even be annoyed with your aggressive and quick-moving style. But, if you prove them wrong and get the job done and do it well, you can "apologize" and at that point they will not care that you stepped outside of your bounds because they love your result so much. If you mess up then you will still be apologizing, but the apology will probably not be accepted.

-Ken

Video Game Studio Career Day at Your School

If you happen to be in school right now and are majoring in a game development degree, then you will probably notice that you will have some events where some major industry studios will come to visit your school. Usually, the better location and prestige your school is in means the better and more frequent the visits from major developers. I would strongly suggest that you attend these career functions, whether they be a presentation, mock job interviews, or some sort of career fare.

When you are in the midst of the industry insiders, I recommend that you talk to each and every one of them--even if you are shy. You may never know what sort of opportunities a simple connection like that may foster in the future. If you are at a career fare, talk to the person as long as you possibly can to show that you are really interested in learning and also to get some quality feedback about your portfolio. Ask tons of questions about their studio, and not just the easy-to-answer and frequently asked ones.

I will admit, that usually at these functions only the human resources department will be present so you may not get any quality bonding with actual developers. HR is the gatekeeper that prevents pesky and needy students from talking the ears off of normal industry professionals. But, I have been at career fares before, back when I was in school, and was able to talk to an Art Director and some other developers of other studios. I followed up with the Art Director and he remembered me--it almost got me an internship at the time. So, make sure you are making the most of networking and showing your work and getting real feedback, as you may not get many chances to see what the actual industry thinks of your work.

Even if HR is the only one present at this career day and it seems more like a marketing effort and sales pitch about how awesome their studio is, try to get on the inside: ask your professors if you can meet the representatives outside of the normal presentation. After the presentation, go up and introduce yourself personally. This is all the more reason to have polished your portfolio beforehand and print out your own business cards. Even though you may think that HR is generally uninterested and can't really help answer many technical questions you have, the most important aspect of a conversation with them is to be polite and friendly. They are masters at analyzing people and this is mainly based on their behavior. You want to look the part and act the part. Make sure you seem like someone who would be employed at the studio and, by being polite, you are showing them that you will be able to handle the stress of every day life at the job and also will be able to get along peacefully with other developers. You'd be surprised how important this is. There is still a general misconception that all that matters is your work, when developing video games, and that you can be as shy and introverted as you want. That's what separates it from a typical jobs in sales or business, right? Well, there seem to still be a good portion of shy introverts in the industry but they seem to be a dying generation. If you are shy, that's okay--it is being unwelcoming or uninterested in the other person, or feeling entitled, that becomes the problem. So, make sure to "be yourself" on max-friendliness and max-extroversion. Give HR your business card and it may eventually get back to the developers and then you'll be getting contacted for an interview!

-Ken

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