Applying for Jobs (and maximising your chances)
Your goal is to maximise your chances. Key is communication and staying in touch with opportunities. So what can you do….?
Obviously, you now have a killer cv.
An artist will have a killer show reel. An audio specialist will have a killer audio reel.
If you are applying to be a game designer, our advice to maximise your application and make you stand out in the crowd is to:
- Demonstrate creativity through a game design document or
- Take an EA game and list your personal views on its strengths & weaknesses and how you would improve further iterations or
- User Generated Content is a perfect way to show your creativity eg through Spore and creating creatures and worlds. Or levels on games like LittleBigPlanet or
- Creating full games via software like Microsoft’s XNA
Game Designers have a great chance to go the extra mile to stand out and show their skills…
So now you are fully prepared to find a job.
- Ensure that you are registered on the jobs sites of the companies that you would love to work for. More often than not they will send you an email when a new job is posted which matches your skill set
- Ensure your cv and details are with the major companies you want to work for…most companies allow you to register on their database
- Register your details on the larger job web sites like Monster, TotalJobs etc to ensure that you are kept informed of latest jobs
- Look at events coming up and where you can meet with staff from the business of your choice. If you want to meet EA, see who is at GDC, Siggraph, Develop and get yourself known
- Social Networks are growing in importance. Are you on LinkedIn, with details that companies can search on?
- Have you joined the Social Media and Social Networks of the companies you want to join eg EA has social networks on Twitter, LinkedIN, Facebook, YouTube and of course this InsideEA blog
- Whilst many companies recruit directly, some still use recruitment agencies, hence select the best and be loyal to them and they will work for you but please remember……this advice
Advice when using recruitment agencies
- Ensure they meet you face to face. If an agency does not want to get to know you and understand you—how serious are they in representing you?
- Ensure that they have all your details and expectations from the start. There is nothing worse than getting to offer stage for a company only to find out that an agency has not represented the expectations of their candidate correctly and the offer can break down
- Ensure that you control and know at all times the companies that your agency are sending your personal details to. Some agencies are currently under a lot of pressure and have decided to email out candidates to all their clients on a speculative basis. This does not reflect well on the brand of the agency and it also does not help the candidate. Imagine your cv/resume arriving with a company via 5 agencies!
- If you register with multiple agencies, ensure that agencies are not sending out your details to the same clients.
I hope this advice helps in your job search but the last aspect is developing a positive mental attitude…..
EArl
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