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

[Brian 'Psychochild' Green]

rayzam wrote:

>     2) At least for the bigger companies, the resumes are to go to
>     HR. Does a game designer/producer, etc, see the applications, or
>     are they triaged based on some semi-standard formula prior to
>     reaching the person who makes the decision?  

Yes, companies will give preference to people with professional
experience.  It's that catch-22 we talked about earlier. :)

One more thing that's worth mentioning is that there are quite a few
recruiters that do focus on game industry positions.  While the number
of positions for online games is a small part of the total jobs listed,
it could still help.

Recruiters are very helpful.  They generally have contacts within the
company and know how to get your resume directly into the hands of the
hiring manager.  This helps you pass the HR "bozo filter".  They can
also help you sharpen up your resume and tell you exactly what to put
together.  Remember, they've gotten jobs for people all over the
industry.  They know whether Company X wants a portfolio or if Company Y
is even hiring designers this month.

A few words of warning, though.  Watch who you work with.  A good
recruiter will never charge you any money; they get their payment from
the company once you are hired.  If a recruiter wants a fee up front,
FIND ANOTHER RECRUITER.

Second, using a recruiter changes the rules a bit.  Once the recruiter
contacts the company for you, you cannot directly contact the company
and exclude the recruiter.  If you get hired and the recruiter doesn't
get his or her cut, the company is in for a whole lot of grief.

I had a particularly unfortunate incident where I was using a recruiter
to contact a company I had heard through unofficial channels was doing
an online game.  I asked a recruiter to look into it for me. 
Unfortunately, the recruiter sent my resume to the main corporate office
instead of the studio offices.  After a bit of delay, the recruiter let
me know that her HR contact had been let go in a round of layoffs.  Even
after all this, I couldn't just contact the company myself because the
recruiter had initiated contact.

Anyway, one recruiter I've had good success with is Virtual Search
(http://www.vsearch.com/).  They have job listings there as well, so you
can see what companies are looking for, in general.  If you think you
have enough stuff to back up applying for a position, go for it!

Sharing a bit of my experiences,

--
"And I now wait / to shake the hand of fate...."  -"Defender", Manowar
     Brian Green, brian at psychochild.org  aka  Psychochild
       |\      _,,,---,,_      *=* Morpheus, my kitten, says "Hi!" *=*
 ZZzz  /,`.-'`'    -.  ;-;;,_   "They're not bugs, they're 'place-
      |,4-  ) )-,_..;\ (  `'-'    holders for code that works.'"
     '---''(_/--'  `-'\_)         - Andrew Kirmse, Meridian 59 creator
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