Game Jobs Megathread: Wear clean underwear to avoid the smellz.

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G.I. Jaw: Mar 26, 2003; More cake, Mrs. Tuffington?; Nap Ghost

What is the opinion of individuals who graduate from The Guildhall at SMU with a Master's in Design? I've heard that the programmers that come from there are regarded highly but didn't see anything about the design students that the school puts forth.

I've been looking at applying there to get my Master's in Design but wanted to see if it was an avenue worth pursuing, as I've heard mostly negative feedback about "Design" students from Full Sail (granted one is a for-profit undergrad program and the other is a graduate school at a regionally accredited university)

# ? Aug 26, 2011 22:27

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# ? Jun 4, 2024 00:39

Sigma-X: Jun 17, 2005

G.I. Jaw posted:

What is the opinion of individuals who graduate from The Guildhall at SMU with a Master's in Design? I've heard that the programmers that come from there are regarded highly but didn't see anything about the design students that the school puts forth.

I've been looking at applying there to get my Master's in Design but wanted to see if it was an avenue worth pursuing, as I've heard mostly negative feedback about "Design" students from Full Sail (granted one is a for-profit undergrad program and the other is a graduate school at a regionally accredited university)

the Guildhall grads I worked with were all top notch and currently are employed at Certain Affinity, Bethesda, and Irrational.

You get to make some actual games with their program and that is really important.

# ? Aug 26, 2011 22:33

BizarroAzrael: Apr 6, 2006; "That must weigh heavily on your soul. Let me purge it for you."

Shalinor posted:

Either you didn't ask this forum, didn't post that resume, you are misremembering, or you got no feedback from any of the people ripping on those details now.

Uh-huh.

Here's an updated one. I elaborated on a couple of specific, recent projects to use some of the vacated space.

# ? Aug 26, 2011 22:49

Shalinor: Jun 10, 2002; _{Can I buy you a rootbeer?}

BizarroAzrael posted:

Uh-huh.

Here's an updated one. I elaborated on a couple of specific, recent projects to use some of the vacated space.

That's a GoogleDoc link, you could have edited it since then :colbert:

Anywho, bin the "Interests" and relabel that to be something more like... "Other Experience," etc. Don't down-play it to the level of being an "interest." Your formatting could then use some serious work, as your section headlines bleed into the content - put some breathing room in there.

Shalinor fucked around with this message at 23:09 on Aug 26, 2011

# ? Aug 26, 2011 23:07

NINbuntu 64: Feb 11, 2007

Shalinor posted:

I don't have any of my truly old stuff, but as the programmer, this was the centerpiece of my portfolio when breaking into the industry. Predictably, it was a massive RPG with a massive design document and... we got as far as the basic world and combat (and then I got a job and abandoned my partner - sorry dude, but, )

Feast your eyes on "Elium" (built over about 2 years by myself and an artist in Mexico):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ROOfXEoN6LI

... but I'm still proud of it technologically. Do you see where I roll under the AI's sword swings, or where I get hit in an arm and the arm moves? That's because all the damage modelling was physically accurate and animation synced. You're a living ragdoll that syncs to the animation position, with each limb reporting damage accordingly.

The skill system I made was capable of being fully scripted and was very flexible, the terrain system had an insane view distance, etc. It was cool for the time dammit

Also proud of this:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kHvJqPxXUXM

That was our dynamic weather and cloud system. The clouds were based on animated perlin noise. Hotness. This was also around about where I started listening to Philip Glass. The video syncs so well because I sat there with the track playing and synced what I was doing to the music.

Philip Glass

EDIT: Trivia - we actually submitted this to a 4 Elements competition back then, with the theme "Ninjas, Pirates and Zombies." We made specific ninja meshes, built a simple level, and cobbled together a basic demo. We made it to the second round by virtue of being very pretty, but didn't go beyond that given that there wasn't even an end state / nothing about it was a polished game, it was just a slice of a game. The eventual contest winner was Ninja <3 Pirate (looks like they ran with it after winning) which they'd made in loving GameMaker with a team of 6 artist. We were bitter over that for months, and was when I started to understand why building your tech up from nothing wasn't always a good idea.

This post is from a million years ago but holy poo poo! I remember that! I can't believe how long it's been since Gamedev.net had that contest either. 7 years? Seriously?

# ? Aug 26, 2011 23:46

BizarroAzrael: Apr 6, 2006; "That must weigh heavily on your soul. Let me purge it for you."

Shalinor posted:

That's a GoogleDoc link, you could have edited it since then

Anywho, bin the "Interests" and relabel that to be something more like... "Other Experience," etc. Don't down-play it to the level of being an "interest." Your formatting could then use some serious work, as your section headlines bleed into the content - put some breathing room in there.

Good advice on the heading, I think the formatting is just what GoogleDocs did to it when I copied it over. It keeps numbering my headings for some reason, keep having to fix it by hand when I redact out all the sensitive stuff.

Thinking about it, I think I should put my guitar playing back in there somewhere. Think it's worth noting like my familiarity with Mod Tool, doubt I will do much with it professionally but it illustrates understanding of a relevant discipline.

# ? Aug 27, 2011 01:04

GetWellGamers: Apr 11, 2006; The Get-Well Gamers Foundation: Touching Kids Everywhere!

I'm also at PAX- I'll be speaking at the Gamers Doing Good" panel on Saturday and the "Testers Vs. The Game" panel on Sunday. I'll also be wandering around the show the rest of the time- look for the blue-and-tan backpack or the embroidered GWG logo (see avatar) on my chest. I'm terrible at remembering names and faces, so just flag me down and say hi. I love meeting SA peeps at shows like this, so don't be shy.

# ? Aug 27, 2011 01:06

Vino: Aug 11, 2010

I have a phone interview with Rockstar next week. Any tips?

# ? Aug 27, 2011 04:51

tyrelhill: Jul 30, 2006

Vino posted:

I have a phone interview with Rockstar next week. Any tips?

Shoot lower.

# ? Aug 27, 2011 06:20

Adraeus: Jan 25, 2008; by Y Kant Ozma Post

BizarroAzrael posted:

Here's an updated one. I elaborated on a couple of specific, recent projects to use some of the vacated space.

Work Experience should come before Software and Languages.
Remove most of the month references from your past job entries. Only use month references for your current position and contract work.
As I advised another poster here, you should remove the Software and Languages section. If you must have a software or language referenced, reference the software or language under a job entry and what you accomplished through its use.
Remove the References section.
Remove St. Vincent College. Remove Brookfield Community School. You have a degree. All that education is irrelevant.
Use the complete names of your positions and employers.
Use bold, italics, and new lines to better present your information, so that the important information stands out. For example, job title, employer, location of the employer, and duration should not all be bold and on the same line.
Move all your credits and noncredits to a new section titled Credits. Place "(uncredited)" next to the appropriate titles.
Spell out acronyms.

# ? Aug 27, 2011 06:33

Kitten Kisses: Apr 2, 2007; Dancing with myself.

BizarroAzrael posted:

Uh-huh.

Here's an updated one. I elaborated on a couple of specific, recent projects to use some of the vacated space.

I thought putting references on your resume was another one of those things that went out of style ages ago? I still toss a "references available upon request" at the end of mine, but seems like you could probably save some space ditching that section. Would love to know if I've been wrong about this!

# ? Aug 27, 2011 07:31

Jaytan: Dec 14, 2003; Childhood enlistment means fewer birthdays to remember

Kitten Kisses posted:

I thought putting references on your resume was another one of those things that went out of style ages ago? I still toss a "references available upon request" at the end of mine, but seems like you could probably save some space ditching that section. Would love to know if I've been wrong about this!

I've never put references or "references available upon request" on my resume, and have never been asked for them. Anecdotal of course, but it is across ~30 job offers.

# ? Aug 27, 2011 10:48

G.I. Jaw: Mar 26, 2003; More cake, Mrs. Tuffington?; Nap Ghost

Sigma-X posted:

the Guildhall grads I worked with were all top notch and currently are employed at Certain Affinity, Bethesda, and Irrational.

You get to make some actual games with their program and that is really important.

Awesome, that's really encouraging to hear! It also leads me to a follow-up question:

I went to the Guildhall's open house last year to get as much information as I could about applying. My GPA from undergrad wasn't so great, and as a result I'm in the process of taking courses to raise to to a 3.0 in order to qualify for their Master's program. However, they also offer a certificate program, which is nearly 100% identical in curriculum. The only difference is that I would not be writing a thesis at the end of the two-year program.

Have you (or anyone else) worked with Guildhall grads who completed the cert program rather than the Master's, and if so, was there any noticeable difference in the quality of work they put forth? I'd really like to shoot for the Master's, but I'd like to know if it makes more sense to just put all my time and effort into building a stellar portfolio rather than getting my GPA up as well for my Master's. I'm curious as to whether companies put much stock into that, or if the focus is solely on the quality of an applicant's portfolio.

# ? Aug 27, 2011 15:25

Sigma-X: Jun 17, 2005

G.I. Jaw posted:

Awesome, that's really encouraging to hear! It also leads me to a follow-up question:

I went to the Guildhall's open house last year to get as much information as I could about applying. My GPA from undergrad wasn't so great, and as a result I'm in the process of taking courses to raise to to a 3.0 in order to qualify for their Master's program. However, they also offer a certificate program, which is nearly 100% identical in curriculum. The only difference is that I would not be writing a thesis at the end of the two-year program.

Have you (or anyone else) worked with Guildhall grads who completed the cert program rather than the Master's, and if so, was there any noticeable difference in the quality of work they put forth? I'd really like to shoot for the Master's, but I'd like to know if it makes more sense to just put all my time and effort into building a stellar portfolio rather than getting my GPA up as well for my Master's. I'm curious as to whether companies put much stock into that, or if the focus is solely on the quality of an applicant's portfolio.

These guys all started at Volition around the same time I did, about 4.5 years ago, and I don't recall when they started their actual masters program (Guildhall was a cert only program for a while).

# ? Aug 27, 2011 17:46

Vino: Aug 11, 2010

tyrelhill posted:

Shoot lower.

Is this a reference to Rockstar's games or something?

# ? Aug 27, 2011 18:36

Note Block: May 14, 2007; nothing could fit so perfectly inside; Fun Shoe

GetWellGamers posted:

I'm also at PAX- I'll be speaking at the Gamers Doing Good" panel on Saturday and the "Testers Vs. The Game" panel on Sunday. I'll also be wandering around the show the rest of the time- look for the blue-and-tan backpack or the embroidered GWG logo (see avatar) on my chest. I'm terrible at remembering names and faces, so just flag me down and say hi. I love meeting SA peeps at shows like this, so don't be shy.

Do you know if/when transcripts will go up online to read/purchase? I'm interested in the "Testers vs. The Game" panel.

# ? Aug 27, 2011 20:43

Kitten Kisses: Apr 2, 2007; Dancing with myself.

Jaytan posted:

I've never put references or "references available upon request" on my resume, and have never been asked for them. Anecdotal of course, but it is across ~30 job offers.

That's about what I figured. Good to know. Think I'll go ahead and ditch my little line next time I'm looking for a new studio, yay

# ? Aug 27, 2011 22:10

Leif.: Mar 27, 2005; Son of the Defender
Formerly Diplomaticus/SWATJester

Dear thread: help me test this.

http://forums.somethingawful.com/showthread.php?threadid=3433715

-e- It's a blend of like 4 different PbP systems that we've developed over the years, combined with some good-ole-fashioned "DMing by the seat of your pants."

# ? Aug 27, 2011 22:29

Jagermaestro: Aug 25, 2011; Just add lobster.

That's what they told us. And we did. We added lobster to all our games. And that's how we saved Warhammer 40k, puppies, and the career of the former hit band 'Yes'.

BizarroAzrael posted:

<80% is A* if I remember right.

This is honestly the first I have heard that CVs shouldn't have personal profiles or interests. Including when I asked about this stuff five months ago.

You can hint at your interests in the cover letter if you'd like, but you can definitely omit it on the resume.

I personally had it in my CV when I swapped from EA to Relic 3 years ago, but more as a piss-take. I think I listed 4 things, 2 of which were "yelling at the TV", "drinking beer."

That said, I was applying for a senior position so the only thing anyone gave a poo poo about was my work experience.

# ? Aug 27, 2011 23:54

Jagermaestro: Aug 25, 2011; Just add lobster.

That's what they told us. And we did. We added lobster to all our games. And that's how we saved Warhammer 40k, puppies, and the career of the former hit band 'Yes'.

Vino posted:

I have a phone interview with Rockstar next week. Any tips?

Be likable and enthusiastic.

# ? Aug 28, 2011 00:01

Chasiubao: Apr 2, 2010

Vino posted:

I have a phone interview with Rockstar next week. Any tips?

Never try to fake knowing something you don't.

# ? Aug 28, 2011 03:31

GetWellGamers: Apr 11, 2006; The Get-Well Gamers Foundation: Touching Kids Everywhere!

Ramen Ocelot posted:

Do you know if/when transcripts will go up online to read/purchase? I'm interested in the "Testers vs. The Game" panel.

No idea, to be honest. I know the "Gamers Doing Good" panel was recorded and you'll probably by able to find that one on youtube soon enough, but I'm not aware of any plans to record the testing one. But then, no one ever tells me anything, so it could have a documentary crew there for all I know.

# ? Aug 28, 2011 03:42

Vino: Aug 11, 2010

Those are good advice. After a lot of thought I've decided that if I've made it this far then they're not testing me technically anymore - they already know they can do the job and they want to see what kind of person I am. So I think I just have to be myself, which I find pretty easy. Phone interviews are always a bit awkward (talking to someone you've never met before without being able to judge facial expressions? hard!) but I think most interviewers know that too.

# ? Aug 28, 2011 03:46

Bahanahab: Apr 13, 2006

Jagermaestro posted:

You can hint at your interests in the cover letter if you'd like

This brings up a good question. How many people actually require cover letters now? Every company I've applied with, interviewed with, or worked for since graduating college explicitly said not to post a cover letter.

# ? Aug 28, 2011 04:15

Kitten Kisses: Apr 2, 2007; Dancing with myself.

Bahanahab posted:

This brings up a good question. How many people actually require cover letters now? Every company I've applied with, interviewed with, or worked for since graduating college explicitly said not to post a cover letter.

Interesting. Every position I've ever applied for has explicitly asked for a cover letter along with resume and portfolio. From junior positions to senior, the bigger companies to indie places, all have wanted one.

# ? Aug 28, 2011 05:28

Backov: Mar 28, 2010

Kitten Kisses posted:

Interesting. Every position I've ever applied for has explicitly asked for a cover letter along with resume and portfolio. From junior positions to senior, the bigger companies to indie places, all have wanted one.

That's an HR requirement. When I'm screening resumes (as a lead engineer), the cover letter is basically pointless fluff.

Most of the time it's either omitted, useless, or has been written by the candidates agent.

You may find that there's lots of things HR does that isn't so practically useful.

# ? Aug 28, 2011 08:48

FreakyZoid: Nov 28, 2002

Vino posted:

After a lot of thought I've decided that if I've made it this far then they're not testing me technically anymore - they already know they can do the job and they want to see what kind of person I am.

No, they're wanting to see if your CV is bullshit before they pay to fly you out for an on-site interview. So expect questions about your CV and probably some light programming questions.

# ? Aug 28, 2011 10:11

Archetype: Feb 4, 2003; The once gutter trash Dark Hero has risen, like a freakish garbage phoenix, to capture our hearts again.

When I'm reviewing applications for entry-level positions in QA I definitely want to see cover letters. It helps me gauge the interest level and how much research the applicant did before applying. Of course a rote cover letter with no mention of the studio name or games just screams laziness to me, so something like that doesn't work in their favor.

# ? Aug 28, 2011 16:52

Vino: Aug 11, 2010

Cover letters these days, I usually consider them to be the email that you send with your resume attached. The idea of a separate .pdf cover letter I think is kind of antiquated, we don't send mail by post anymore and a resume can be given the context it needs by the text of the email.

FreakyZoid posted:

No, they're wanting to see if your CV is bullshit before they pay to fly you out for an on-site interview. So expect questions about your CV and probably some light programming questions.

Well I already took a programming test and I don't live quite far out enough to have to fly, but yes, fair point. I can probably expect a lot of questions about my CV.

# ? Aug 28, 2011 20:17

The Oid: Jul 15, 2004; Chibber of worlds

Vino posted:

Well I already took a programming test and I don't live quite far out enough to have to fly, but yes, fair point. I can probably expect a lot of questions about my CV.

It doesn't matter if you've taken a programming test already, a technical phone interview is likely to involve technical questions (programming and 3D math related). At least that's my experience. They generally won't involve writing code though, as that's a pain to do over the phone.

Don't assume that they already know you have technical skills. Even final stage interviews where you fly out, involve lots of technical questions. (Those are the most intense actually, because it's generally a whole day of solving problems on a whiteboard)

# ? Aug 28, 2011 20:20

Chasiubao: Apr 2, 2010

If it's a non-technical phone screen, prepare a bunch of scenarios ahead of time. You know, the 'Tell me about a time when you had to do X' where X is 'deal with a difficult coworker' / 'communicate bad news to a client or management' / 'realized a solution you had committed to was unworkable'. You want to have ready the brief description of the scenario, including an accurate description of the problem, what you did to resolve or handle the situation, and what the result of your actions was.

It's not to say you should have it all written down so they can tell you're reading from a script, more notes so that you're not hemming and hawwing and going, "Um, let me think . . I can't remember a time when X happened!"

# ? Aug 28, 2011 20:34

Vino: Aug 11, 2010

I have a lot of difficulty with questions like that. I always tend to describe my process instead of specific situations because my memory is terrible and I can never remember specific situations. I fare equally poorly at the standard "What is your greatest weakness" questions because I have trouble getting past how horribly unspecific they are to decide what exactly I want to say that's productive.

# ? Aug 28, 2011 22:59

waffledoodle: Oct 1, 2005; I believe your boast sounds vaguely familiar.

For the "greatest weakness" question, the key is to identify something broken and then tell them what you're doing about it. The point is not really what your weak points are, it's what you're doing to better yourself. For example: "I'm horribly scatterbrained and disorganized... but I started using a daily todo list and calendar to keep on top of my deadlines."

It doesn't really need to be your GREATEST weakness. You don't say "I'm a struggling alcoholic, but I recently stopped drinking in the bathroom." And obviously avoid self-serving crap like "I'm a workaholic!" and "I don't take enough vacations!" Amazingly people still try to sneak this poo poo in, but they phrase it like this: "I'm a workaholic! I know you're not supposed to answer that way, but it's true lol!"

That's the question that always brings a good interview to a halt if you try to try to wing it, so it's good to think about it now and get a response ready. As for all of the "tell me about a time when..." questions, they can be hard to prepare for since there are so many possibilities, but there can be overlap in the answers, so it's still good to pick a few to have answers for. I think this about covers all of the ones I've been asked before (implied in most of them is the followup question "And how did you fix/deal with this?")

code:

Tell me about a time... 
     ... you had a bad coworker who...
          ... wasn't doing their share of the work
          ... was your supervisor
          ... you didn't like
     ... you dealt with a bad client
     ... you failed / made a bad decision
     ... you helped a coworker / helped the company
     ... you made a big contribution to a project / solved a big problem

# ? Aug 29, 2011 01:03

Jan: Feb 27, 2008; The disruptive powers of excessive national fecundity may have played a greater part in bursting the bonds of convention than either the power of ideas or the errors of autocracy.

This is going to sound cheesy, but more than all of the "Prepare for (x) and (y) type of questions", all I have to say is... Try to have fun at your interview. It's about making video games, about having fun. If you're in there for a good time, to kick rear end while taking names, you won't feel stressed out and all the tricky questions will just roll off your back.

So if you ever reach a point where you feel you don't have anything more you could prepare for the next step of interviews, just sit back and roll with the punches. That way, even if it doesn't work out, you'll learn a lot more by being relaxed than stressing out and being unable to remember anything afterwards other than the massive amount of stress.

# ? Aug 29, 2011 02:31

1stGear: Jan 16, 2010; Here's to the new us.

Submitted my resume for QA tester jobs at Vigil, Bioware Austin, and Trion today. Looking forward to spending the next week or two in terror until I finally accept they aren't calling me back. :ohdear:

# ? Aug 29, 2011 02:42

NextTime000: Feb 3, 2011; bweeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee
eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee
eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee
<----------------------------

Welp; PAX and Gamescom are done, and Riot just implemented a lot (if not all) of the UI changes for Dominion, so come Tuesday I am gonna drop the hammer. Gonna e-mail my contact on Tuesday, and if I don't hear anything back by Thursday I will see if I could prod someone here into prodding him.

# ? Aug 29, 2011 03:15

Chasiubao: Apr 2, 2010

Vino posted:

I have a lot of difficulty with questions like that. I always tend to describe my process instead of specific situations because my memory is terrible and I can never remember specific situations. I fare equally poorly at the standard "What is your greatest weakness" questions because I have trouble getting past how horribly unspecific they are to decide what exactly I want to say that's productive.

That's why you think about them ahead of time and prepare your notes

I'm sure the Internet has tonnes of examples of these sorts of questions, and waffledoodle already gave you some of the more common ones! I actually used the STAR ( :smug:

) method to prepare for my last non-technical screen, and it really did work. I never felt like I was rushing through my memories trying to find something, getting all flustered in the process.

# ? Aug 29, 2011 03:16

Chainclaw: Feb 14, 2009

Anyone who hasn't been to a PAX yet should really go to one next year. Being around so many people who are so into games helps remind me why we make games, and who we make them for. Spending so much time only really talking to other game developers, you lose site of that passion of people who play and enjoy the things you make.

What I do every year for PAX, even if I don't get tickets, is I sit down next to groups of people in bars near the convention center and ask them what their favorite game at the show was, where they came from, and why they came to PAX. Almost everyone I talk to has an interesting story, and everyone is in such a good mood and so happy to be there.

# ? Aug 29, 2011 03:21

treeboy: Nov 13, 2004; James T. Kirk was a great man, but that was another life.

1stGear posted:

Submitted my resume for QA tester jobs at Vigil, Bioware Austin, and Trion today. Looking forward to spending the next week or two in terror until I finally accept they aren't calling me back.

good luck! we need more goons at Vigil

# ? Aug 29, 2011 04:07

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# ? Jun 4, 2024 00:39

Vino: Aug 11, 2010

Yes, I spent all day going over the generic interview questions.

If the interview is just a conversation where I tell them about my work history and they ask questions about it then great! I can be myself, which I'm good at doing. The trouble is if they start asking those trick questions where they try to make you say the wrong thing, or whatever sadistic things interviewers like to ask to make the interviewee squeam because they don't have enough hobbies. In that case I have to think of what to say and also think of how not to say anything dumb at the same time ... tough.

But picking a bone with stupid questions won't help me. I've been going all day through the standard "difficult" interview questions and I think I have pretty good answers for most of them.

# ? Aug 29, 2011 07:55

The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > Video Games > Game Jobs Megathread: Wear clean underwear to avoid the smellz.

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