[MUD-Dev] JOB: How to get into Game Design / Game content

[Geoffrey MacDougall]

---- Original Message ----
From: trump at vividvideo.com
To: mud-dev at kanga.nu, 
Subject: Re: [MUD-Dev] JOB: How to get into Game Design / Game content
Date: Fri, 25 May 2001 16:28:20 -0700

> It has a lot to do with nepotism(sp), laziness and other factors.  I
> lost a design job to a cousin of one of the suits.

Speaking as an HR guy for a sec, that's true of all industries (save
highly unionized environments, where the procedures re: hiring are
quite thorough).  The exact stat is that 80% of all jobs are in the
hidden job market.  Unless they have some purposefully contradictory
personal philosophy, an employer is always going to go with the
familiar - i.e., someone they know, or is known by someone they trust.
Finding someone who knows how to code at a sufficient level is
relatively easy, given a sufficiently large pool of
applicants. Finding someone who's going to show up on time and sober,
and get along with the rest of the staff is relatively difficult.
Therefore, most HR people will prioritize the second factor -
sometimes at the expense of the first.  I'm sure there are examples to
the contrary, but this has been my experience...

> (While listing my experience on the application I had to ask for
> more paper, twice. =P)

Well, your first mistake was not having a resume ready to staple to
the application.  And your second mistake was having to impose upon
the receptionist to ask for more paper. ;)

> I guess it's really easy to lie on an app and hard to tell when
> someone is lying and when they are really qualified.

During the interview process, if the HR person is not a tech, it is
hard to tell if the person's lying.  It is not hard to tell, however,
within the first week of employment, when all of the other employees
start knocking on your door to complain about the idiot you hired. :)
So lying may get you the job, but it won't keep it.

G.
------------------------------------------
Geoffrey MacDougall
Executive Director / CLO
The Sapience Group
www.sapiencegroup.com

_______________________________________________
MUD-Dev mailing list
MUD-Dev at kanga.nu
https://www.kanga.nu/lists/listinfo/mud-dev