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有关应聘游戏公司的10个小贴士

发布时间:2016-06-16 17:25:39 Tags:,,,,

作者:Sara Casen

Midnight Hub是来自瑞典并由前Mojang和Paradox的开发者所运行的一家独立工作室。现在我们正致力于一款受故事确定的奇幻游戏《Lake Ridden》。

在过去几年里我在游戏产业中申请了多份工作,同时我也曾作为招聘者审视过各种履历并浏览了许多作品集(游戏邦注:这两种情况都是具有挑战性的,但却是基于完全不同的方式!)。

我将在本文描述你该如何在优化了自己的作品集后准备与你心仪的公司进行首次会面。

需要申明的是以下内容只是出于我的观点,所以即使你不同意也没关系!

1.仔细且反复浏览职位申请

你必须清楚该工作室想要寻找的人才是怎样的。如果你了解他们的需求,你便能够更好地突显相关经验并更好地在他们面前推销自己。

需要记住的是,那些工作要求通常都有点虚幻。就好似他们在寻找绝对的梦幻应试者。而事实是,即使你只拥有出色的Photoshop技能,但不像他们所列出的要求那般完美,他们也有可能对你感兴趣。通常这里都存在余地,而让人惊讶的是许多开发者都没什么自尊。如果你满足了7个工作要求中的5个,你便可以尝试着申请看看。也许你缺少要求中的某些内容,但或许你可以在测试中绝地反击!

2.创造一种双赢局面

我便看过许多申请者表示获得这份工作对于自己来说是非常棒的下一步。也许这并没错,但是当你说着“我敢保证这份工作将能帮助我学到更多东西”时,招聘公司听到的内容则是“我想要利用你们这些人去助我的事业更上一层楼。”事实上你需要做的是将获得这份工作描述为是你和公司之间的双赢机遇。你能够提供给公司怎样的优势和技能?你将贡献出什么?反过来你希望从他们身上学到什么?游戏公司总是在寻找那些能够相互协作,相互学习,且能够带给公司贡献的人。所以不要一味地表现出公司能够带给你什么,也要说说你能够为公司做些什么!

win-win(from sohu)

win-win(from sohu)

3.避开文本墙

是时候申请这份工作了!你应该避免在交流的时候呈现出一堵又大又结实的文本墙。这同样也适用于电子邮件和作品集中。你应该确保内容言简意赅。因为当我们忙于浏览无数自荐信和履历时我们往往没有时间去仔细阅读你的故事。所以你最好确保内容的简单明了,直切要点。我建议你最好确保自荐信的长度不会超过半张A4纸。

4.避免拼写错误

让我们看看你准备好发送的电子邮件。我们总是会尽所能地基于你的作品集去衡量你,但如果我们收到一封带有很多拼写错误的书面申请,我们将很难继续审查下去。因为这给人的印象便是非常不专业的。患有阅读障碍的我知道拼写是一件非常困难的事,但要知道现在谷歌具有检查拼写的功能,或者你也可以让别人帮你看看简历,作品集,履历和第一封邮件。

5.追踪

所以你已经在截止日期之前发给他们电子邮件并确保自己的作品集足够出色了!但是一周时间过去了对方还是未给你任何回复。这时候的你不能惊慌,要知道公司总是会分批处理大量申请并尽可能地审阅里面的内容然后做出回复。所以如果申请关闭后一周多时间过去了你还是未收到任何消息,那就给对方发封友好的提醒信。有时候对方可能只是忘记回邮件了。

6.如果你面试的时候迟到

恭喜你,你应聘的公司将安排你的面试时间!你最好能够要到安排面试的人的电话号码,并在确认时间和场所的电子邮件中附上自己的电话号码。如此你便可以在迟到或迷路的时候联系到对方。有时候你会碰上列车发生故障或者猴子攻击巴士等可能拖延你时间的情况,而如果毫无理由地让你未来的同事等你半天就不好了。

7.做好功课

我曾经参与过一家大公司的面试,但却未曾玩过他们的任何一款游戏。所以当他们问我我最喜欢他们的哪一款游戏以及原因时,我真的超级尴尬。在面试前未了解应聘公司是一种浪费时间的表现,不管是对你还是对公司来说都是。你应该至少玩2至3款他们的游戏并了解他们的公司历史。如果你能够明确说出自己喜欢的内容,那便说明你在乎这份工作。这将给招聘者留下深刻的印象。然后便换你提问题了,这时候你便可以尽情地释放自己。

8.面试后

做得好!你已经通过面试这一关了!这时候你最好能够给对方发封邮件感谢他们给予你这次机会并询问一些你在面试期间忘记问的问题。有些公司在筛选新员工的会经历多重过程,所以你有可能需要参加多次面试,这主要取决于你所面试的职位。就像我曾经应聘过King,那时候我整整参与了6或7次的面试,甚至还飞到斯德哥尔摩又参加了2次会议。

9.是时候向对方展示你的所得

恭喜你!你获得了这份工作!我建议你可以去阅读J.T.O’Donnell写的有关如何度过新工作的前90天的文章!里面包含了一些帮助你避免新手常犯的错误的技巧。你必须清楚你需要花些时间去融入新环境。对此的经验法则是:不要害怕提问题,并且比起说你更应该多听。就像我所认识的所有聪明人总是会问许多问题。

如果你未能获得工作,你也可以想办法给对方留下好印象。你应该感谢对方让你知道自己未能达到他们的标准。并礼貌地询问对方原因或希望他们指出你可以改正的问题。获得这些反馈将更好地帮助你拿到下一份应聘的工作!

10.寻找隐藏的机遇

如果你所心仪的公司并未明确列出需要你这类型的员工,那也并不意味着他们就不在寻找这样的人。有很多招聘其实是发生在公司内部或前同事的人际网中。有时候公司会意识到需要具有特定技能的特定员工,但是因为没时间他们可能不会特定将其列在招聘栏上。许多公司也会接受一些未指定的申请。所以请勇敢一些,努力为自己去争取,发送给对方带有你的作品集的友好邮件,并呈现给对方这会是一种双赢机会,没准你便能够实现梦想呢!

本文为游戏邦/gamerboom.com编译,拒绝任何不保留版权的转发,如需转载请联系:游戏邦

10 Tips When Applying For A Games Industry Job

by Sara Casen

Midnight Hub is a Swedish indie studio run by former Mojang and Paradox developers. Right now we’re hard at work with our story-driven mystery game Lake Ridden. Feel free to reachout on Twitter if you got any questions!

For the past years I have applied for a fair share of jobs in the games industry, as well as been sitting on the other end of the table, judging CVs and browsing links to portfolios (both situations are equally challenging but in completely different ways!).

Here I will offer some quick and easy pointers on how to approach your first meeting with the company of your dreams, after you polished your kick-ass portfolio and tracked down a job opening!

Please remember that the following list are from my point of view, feel free to disagree with me in the comments! Or perhaps I forgot something obvious?

1. Read The Job Application. Then Read It Again!

It’s important to know what the studio is looking for. If you know what they need you’ll be better equipped to highlight relevant experience and create a better edge for marketing yourself towards them (more on that later)!

Remember this, the requirements listed for the job are usually a bit of a fantasy. This would be the absolute dream candidate. The chances are that the company might very well be interested in you even if you only have great Photoshop skills, not excellent as the opening lists. There’s usually a bit of a wiggle room, and surprisingly many developers lack a bit of self esteem. If you meet five of seven requirements, just take a shot and apply. Perhaps you lack something listed, but get a chance to blow them away once you get assigned that art test!

2. Make It A Win-Win!

I’ve read many applications where the person states what a great next step this job will be for them. This might be true, but when you say things like “I’m pretty sure this position will be the perfect next step for me to learn even more”, what the companies hear are “I want to use you guys as the next step on my career ladder”. Doesn’t sound so sexy, right? What you need to do is to present this as a win-win opportunity between you and the company. What strengths and skills can you offer the team? How can you contribute? And what are you hoping to learn from them in return? Game companies are usually looking for someone to cooperate with, team members who can both learn but that also contribute to the body of knowledge within the company! Don’t (only) ask what the company can do for you, ask what you can do for the company!

3. No Walls of Text

Time to apply for that job! Always avoid big, dense walls of text when communicating. This applies both to emails and almost always to portfolios as well. Make every word matter. When we’re busy reading dozens of personal letters and CVs we are not going to have time to read the story of your life. Keep it short, informative and positive. Get to the point. I recommend you keep the personal letter to no more than half the size of a A4.

4. Always Spellchek

Let’s look at that short, sweet email you’re ready to fire away. We always do our best to judge you based on your portfolio work, but if we get a badly written application with a lot of sloppy spelling errors it’s hard to see past that. It just comes across as unprofessional. Affected with dyslexia myself I know spelling can be a hassle, but Google really got awesome spell checking and you can always ask someone to read your resume, portfolio, CV and first email for you!

5. Follow Up

So, you sent them an email ahead of deadline and made sure your portfolio was top notch! Time has passed and a week later the company still haven’t responded. Don’t panic, companies usually like to “batch up” applicants and go through them all at once if possible, then get back to them. If a week or more has passed since application closed, and still not a sound, send them a friendly reminder. Sometimes people actually forget to reply to emails or things fall between the cracks.

6. If You Happen To Run Late For The Interview

Congratulations, the company wants to schedule an interview with you! Always make sure to get the phone number if possible to someone at the company who’s responsible for scheduling the interview, and remember to include yours in the email verifying the time and place as well. This way you can easily text or call if you get delayed or get lost on your way there. Sometimes trains do break down or a gang of violent monkeys attacking the bus will slow you down, and it’s not nice to keep your future colleagues waiting without a VERY GOOD reason. Being late on your first real meeting (Skype or face-to-face) with the company might very well cost you that job.

7. Do Your Homework!

I once showed up at an interview for a big games company without having played even one of their major titles. When they asked me which of their games I liked the best and why, the whole situation turned super awkward. Not researching the company before you meet (or even apply to them) is a waste of time, both for you and them. Always play 2-3 of their titles and read up on the company history. If you’re able to point out specific things you liked or things that could be designed differently it shows that you care. Impress them! And then it’s your turn to ask questions, fire off a few of these darlings to make them sweat a bit.

8. After The Meeting

Great job! You survived the interview! It’s a good idea to send an email saying thanks for the opportunity and also to ask any questions you might forgot to ask during the meeting. Some companies have quite the process when screening for new hires, so chances are you’ll be called for more than one interview, depending on the role. When I was interviewed for King I went through a total of six or seven interviews, lunches, coffees and was flown to Stockholm for two additional meetings.

9. Time To Show Them What You Got

You got the job! Congratulations! This is where the fun begins! I recommend you read this great post by J.T. O’Donnell on how to tackle the first 90 days of your new job! It’s packed with hacks on how to avoid common beginner’s mistakes. Remember that it takes time to get into the flow. As a rule of thumb: don’t be afraid to ask plenty of questions, and try to listen more than you speak. All smart people I know constantly ask a lot of questions.

If you did not get the job there’s still things you can do to make a good impression. Always thank the company for letting you know you did not make the cut. Ask them politely if they are able to state any particular reason or point out a skill you could improve. Getting that feedback for your next job application could make all the difference!

10. Find The Hidden Opportunities!

If the company of your dreams aren’t listing the need for someone like you on their page it doesn’t necessarily mean they aren’t looking! A lot of recruitment (perhaps the majority) is hidden and takes place inside the company or through networks of former colleagues. Sometimes the company has recognized the need for a certain person with certain skills, but due to lack of time they might not have posted the opening on their page. A lot of companies also accept unspecified applications. So be brave, just go for it, send them a friendly email with a link to your portfolio, present it as a win-win situation and who knows, you might land the job of your dreams!(source:gamasutra)

 


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