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Opinion: Game Industry Interviewing 101
by Aurelio Reis [PC, Console/PC, Mobile Console, Career, Columns, Exclusive]
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December 18, 2008
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[Interviewing for a game industry position can be a nerve-wracking experience for both interviewer and interviewee, and in this opinion piece, Id Software's Aurelio Reis lays out a wealth of helpful tips to make the process run smoothly and effectively for everyone.]
A few months back, I was doing a heavy amount of interviewing for basically two months non-stop. I spoke to over ten game companies, and flew out to on-site interviews a total of seven times -- there and back. It was a grueling and nerve-wracking experience, but I ended up learning a lot and finding a great job.
Here are some things I learned that I hope can teach both interviewers and interviewees about the right and wrong way to interview.
DISCLAIMER: I don't pretend to be an expert on the subject. These are merely my opinions on the experiences I've had on both sides of the table. Please take all this with a grain of salt.
First, let's start with what both parties are looking for. From the interviewers' perspective, what they want is:
- To determine the skill of the applicant, who should be at least capable, and ideally exceptional
- To make sure the interviewee fits in well with the team
- To pay as little as possible
The interviewee's interests are a bit different. They want (ideally):
- Good pay
- Enjoyable and challenging work
- Job security
- Opportunity for growth and advancement
Although both parties obviously want different things, they both have many places where they meet. For starters, both parties want a long-term relationship. It's beneficial for a company to keep its employees for a significant amount of time.
The first year that an employee is on the job calls for a decent amount of training, and this is both costly in time and money for the employer. It takes an incredible amount of effort to find, interview, and sign an employee -- and then pay for relocation and benefits on top of salary.
Every engineer or artist you take off the job to interview a prospective employee means development time lost. Because of these factors. it's critical to hire employees that will stay with you for the long haul.
Both parties also want to put out top-quality titles. If you, as an employee of that company, can't get an interviewee excited about what you're working on, it's unlikely he'll be excited working on it there as well. It's even less likely he'll accept an offer if he has better prospects elsewhere.
As an interviewee, the entire process is extremely stressful, but the most important thing to do is not alienate your interviewer. An easy way to do this would be to:
- Bad-mouth previous employers or co-workers
- Point out mistakes you've made without addressing ways in which you've resolved or learned from them
- Show lack of knowledge of their company or their games
- Not be prepared, technically or personally
In the end, it's about finding a candidate that impresses the interviewer in some way or another. So, how can a candidate impress their interviewer? Well, there are a few easy ways:
- Show knowledge about the company
- Sell yourself, your ability to work with others well, and your skills
- Be early to the interview
- Show manners and be polite
- Maintain a positive attitude, no matter what
- Embrace game industry culture -- no suits! -- but take the interview seriously
- Thoroughly thank the interviewer for their time -- they're taking a chance on you!
The same goes for the interviewer. Interviewers need to realize that they are being interviewed as well. The candidate has a choice to work somewhere else, so it's important to show respect for the candidate and treat them as an important individual. A great way to put a bad taste in their mouth is to:
- Show lack of knowledge of their skills by not giving their resume full attention
- Not giving them time to answer questions, answering questions for them (in large groups) or asking questions not relevant to their day-to-day job (brain teasers are Satan!)
Having said that, an interviewer is still expected to do all they can to find qualified candidates. Some candidates are knowingly unqualified for the job, but apply anyway.
This does a disservice to all, and these interviewees should never have gotten to the on-site interview if the interviewer was doing their job right. Interviewing for a job is not shooting in the dark, and most employers know better.
Despite this, realize that some candidates can have a bad day. There are no such things as re-dos for an interview, but it doesn't hurt to be understanding. The worst thing a company can do, in my opinion, is end an on-site interview early. It's not like you just hung up on the employee on the phone -- no harm, no foul.
This person just made an effort to get out to your company, taking time away from their job, family and life. This is humiliating to the candidate, and shows a complete lack of professionalism on the part of the company. I've personally seen this happen before, and couldn't have been more disgusted.
So what are the different types of interviews?
- The Gauntlet. In this type of interview, the company throws interviewer after interviewer at the prospective employee, sometimes in pairs, for 30 minutes to an hour at a time. The idea is to expose the candidate to as many people on the team as possible, and later discuss as a group the merits of that individual. This is probably my personal favorite (as the interviewer and interviewee), as it gives you the most insight into the candidate, although it can be quite fatiguing.
- The Interrogation: Throw everyone and the kitchen sink at the guy all at once. See how you do under immense pressure. "Oh no, he's going to burst!" In my opinion, this kind of interview is a circus. It always leads to interviewers talking over each other and the candidate, leaving him in the cross-fire -- very uncomfortable. Also, most game developers tend to be more introverted personality types, so exposing them to a room full of people is just cruel.
- The Pow-Wow: This is the laid back, conversational style interview. I like this style a lot, but you have room to miss a lot about the candidate. I would only use this if I knew they were perfectly qualified and just wanted to get a feel for their personality. An experienced interviewer is great at sneaking in very in-depth questions in the guise of just shooting the breeze. It's a great way to get to know a candidate while having them lower their guard a bit.
The main purpose of these different types of interviews is the same, but how they get there is obviously very different. No matter what kind of interviewing style is used, there should be a few questions that are always asked both for the interviewer and interviewee.
For the interviewer:
- "Why should we hire you?" - This may seem condescending, but in actuality it's a valid question that any competent candidate should be able to answer easily.
- "What, in addition to your qualifications, do you bring to the table?" For instance, it's important that a programmer show some form of creativity, and an artist a thirst for technical knowledge (or at least not an aversion).
- Never, ever ask yes or no questions. This leaves conversations open-ended, and keeps the interviewer talking.
And for the interviewee:
- "Why should I want to work here?" This is the most important question you could ask yourself.
- "What exactly would my responsibilities be?" - Make sure you know what you'll be doing (and watch out for the switcheroo).
- "How do you encourage employees' personal and career growth?" Not only does this question impress employers, it's vital to the success of your career.
Both interviewer and candidate need to watch out for what I call "impostors" -- which can be both the company and the person interviewing. You'll know a company that's an impostor when they paint such a rosy picture that there's no way they could live up to that expectation.
These companies are often desperate for employees (due to high turnover or other factors) and are often not honest about work conditions, which are often very poor. Candidates who aren't capable but pretend to be (or are still aspiring to be) fit in the same category.
Remember what I said about the interviewer being interviewed by the candidate? If you treat an interviewee poorly in an interview, it's easy for them to believe that's how they'll be treated there. Here are some ways to impress the interviewee:
- Give them a studio tour.
- Show them your game!!!! Can't emphasize this enough. Too many companies seem afraid to show their game. Better to have a poor impression than no impression. Your fancy idea won't be stolen, and if it is, why should you worry? You are the only one that knows how to pull it off, right?
- Take them out to a nice lunch with people who have shown an obvious enthusiasm for the company. Stop the interview for lunch; this is a chance to see the interviewee's personality, not his knowledge of calculus.
The last thing to mention is actually one of the first things to happen: the phone interview. As the interviewer, there are a few guidelines that should be followed:
- Never have more than two people in the same room.
- Don't use interviewers with strong accents.
- Read the candidate's resume before the interview.
- Keep it under 30 minutes unless it's going extremely well. Still, be aware how much time you're taking, and offer to extend the interview for a later time.
As an interviewee, it's likely you'll be very nervous during your first conversation with the company, so keep these things in mind:
- Find a nice, quiet place.
- Don't pace.
- Use a land line if at all possible! This avoids drop outs, phone delay and bad reception.
- Have a notepad in front of you where you jot down notes and questions to ask.
- Never, ever interrupt the interviewer (can be hard to avoid with phone delay). This kind of goes with the previous suggestion (write down your questions as they come to you).
The process shouldn't be grueling -- it should be fun and rewarding for both parties. I hope you take these tips to heart and keep them in mind during your next interview. Though these tips are geared towards the game industry, proper interviewing etiquette works well in any field.
[Aurelio Reis has been programming and designing games professionally for over 6 years. He's contributed to numerous AAA titles for some of the biggest names in gaming. Right now he's using his dark arts to summon forth demons as a programmer at id Software.]
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Now we just need someone to write an article on how to get through the HR / resume filter and get that interview in the first place.
@Seth: Agreed, I wouldn't mind reading that.
It will also give me insight into how ambitious the team is, and the level of commitment to quality tools for development (which is very important to me).
No mystery there, you need a kick ass portfolio.
Yes a great portfolio but you need to focus on who is the person that will be reading the resume. The HR filter is usually a combination of what priorities are handed down to them and the technical insight they have to the position.
So how would I go about submitting an article to address this issue in detail??
Click on the "write" link at the bottom of the page. It has all the information you need to submit an article idea.
- Don't expect to hear back if you are rejected
- Don't expect an honest answer as to 'why' you were rejected
- Expect 25% of postings to be already filled by internal candidates
- If you are rejected, you are pretty much done at that company. There is no reality to 'we will keep you on file for the next opening' that just does not happen
My final recommendation is to never confront a company on its unprofessional/disorganized behavior. I did not a couple times and became blacklisted at those companies.
@ Rebecca wow just like hollywood huh?
Now if only someone would post an article about getting your foot threw the door for us soon to be graduates...
One thing I have to disagree with is the whole "applying for a job you're not qualified for". A lot of job postings will have idealistic requirements, such as expecting an general artist to know how to script, or commonly with all disciplines is the "X years of experience" line. A lot of companies don't expect applicants to have such qualities, but put it on to scare away timid applicants. Since so many companies do this, a lot of job hunters will flat out ignore a lot of points asked for. This is mitigated with some developing studios, with separate lists of "Required Qualifications" and "Extra Assets", but it's something that will likely always persist.
@Leo: Kickass portfolio doesn't get you squat at a lot of places if you have connections, and the quality of your portfolio means nothing if it's not the style/type/etc that the company is looking for. Targeted portfolios, for what the company plans to make, is a far better idea (ie don't submit a 3D portfolio to a 2D company, and so forth).
I feel your pain about being a fresh graduate! It's really a daunting task. I graduated in 2006 and found a good job in the industry a few weeks later. Here's some advice - I hope it helps you on your way!:
-Do an internship. I did one, and I still know/talk to the people I met there. The internship is a shiny spot for your resume, too. The people at my company really loved seeing previous industry experience. Get that experience however you can!
-Make a ton of acquaintances. You're probably in a decent sized class, so try to get acquainted with as many as them as possible. Some will find jobs, and if they remember you, they might help you get on board too. This is precisely how I got my first job - I knew someone at the company from my school who told me of an open position.
-Get on networking sites, post your artwork online, and just "be accessible". If you can't direct someone to your work in under 30 seconds, you've probably lost any chance of them ever looking at it. The internet is critical for your job search.
-Be willing to relocate - I got my second job by moving to a new city.
-LOVE what you do! Just freaking LOVE IT!! People will tell that you do, and they want people who love what they do so much that they're willing to work evenings and weekends to do it. Only say good things about your work, and be as obsessed with adding new work and improving your skills as you can be. :)
Best of luck to you!!
For the Hiring Manager:
- Clearly define the role. Not just artist, programmer or designer, but more like design tools programmer, technical artist (effects) or mission scripting designer (technical). This will help HR screen better and the candidate make sure the role is right for them.
- Create a one-page screening questionnaire tailored to the specific role and have them fill it out before your final screening pass. It pays to have one version on hand for each specific role in your discipline - say three to four for design - technical, conceptual, levels and mechanics/systems. Such a form will allow you to weed out unqualified candidates and will ultimately save you both a lot of time.
- Be prepared in the interview with a set of comprehensive questions. If the candidate takes the lead and answers without prompting that is great, but that happens only a small percentage of the time so make sure that all the relevant areas get covered. This also helps you keep to a specific time schedule since you will be repeating the same questions and are bound to get more efficient at it.
- I like a mix of open ended and specific questions, but definitely avoid the yes/no type.
- For team members who will also interview the candidate optionally provide a simplified short interview script with more open and generic questions since these interviewers are often from another discipline entirely.
For the Interview Candidate:
- Do not pad your resume beyond your capabilities. Any experienced hiring manager will be able to quickly expose any false claims.
- Do include all your experience on your resume at the professional, educational and hobbyist level. Include student projects, hobbyist or organized mod or map work and make sure those come out in the interviews.
- Get the specific details of the role and make sure you are a good fit before applying. If the details are not offered ask for them. If you do not get the right information, pose a small set of questions from your contact to elicit the information.
- Be prepared. Anticipate which types of questions will be asked on the phone and in the interviews and practice your responses.
- Pre-script and practice your 90 second introduction. There is a significant chance the hiring manager will start the interview with an open question like, "Tell me about yourself." Be prepared with an honest response that covers all your strengths, experiences, work/role preferences and personality.
- Be friendly, professional, exuberant and genuine.
- Be confident about the things you do know.
- Pre-define optimal candidate criteria. The candidate has this skill and answers these questions roughly with this approach.
- Take notes about candidates answers to review later. Just after leaving the candidate jot an overall impression and give a quick grade to the candidate's fit.
More for the Interviewee:
- Be on time. Show up 20 minutes early if you tend to be late.
- Ask follow up questions after the phone interview by email if there are things you want clarification on (save those about the secret project details until you meet in person and they get you to sign an NDA).
- Be prepared with say 3-4 questions about the company/team/role/project. This shows interest and allows you the opportunity to do adequate due diligence on the opportunity to make sure it is right for you.
- Determine a set of optimal criteria before hand for the company/project/team/role.
- Take notes on each interview with the more senior staff. After you leave write a summary of each of the key interviews and an overall impression of your time there an how well it met your optimal criteria.
- Before the interview determine a short list of skills or experiences that you want to be remembered for. Script a brief departure summary (30-60 seconds) and make sure you hit those areas.
Fairly often some studios will send a test to the applicant that is used as a means to determine the quality and skill of the candidate. While the practice in theory is fairly sound (in that a compitent prospect should be able to complete the test with little or no problem), the requirements of such tests sometimes require unrealistic solutions or can be misleading with respect to the skills of the applicant. Many candidates who could be exceptional are sometimes passed over simply because the nature of the test doesn't allow a prospective designer to showcase thier talents and strengths, or the test criteria poorly communicate the specific criteria that must be addressed to succeed.
Often these tests require the candidate to develop a solution for a specific scenario. This can sometimes trap the prospective designer into either questioning what specific solution the employer is looking for and/or cause unnecessary stress to the designer without truly testing the skill and ability of the candidate (and especially undue stress when the candide fails). In my experience, the best test you can give to a game designer is simply to ask them for a design. Have them create a level based on or within the universe of a particular well-known franchise, or simply write a casual GDD and ask questions of the designer about thier choices and method. Again, because cultures vary between studios it's important to ask a prospective designer questions because sometimes in design it's very easy for two designers to say/write something completely different that means or expresses the same idea.
Also, I believe testing a candidate from home is unrealistic, in the sense that the time frame and environment in which to complete a test is not representative of the real work environment. Designers need to work closely with artists and programmers, and it seems that both the interviewer and candidate would benefit greatly if a more realistic scenario were brought to the process. It could happen any number of ways but in particular I'm thinking of an artist, programmer, and designer, sitting with the candidate for half an hour attempting to solve a problem together as a team (such as brainstorming a level or feature). This can help easily discern the skills that the potential candidate brings to the table, gage how well he/she works within a group, and gives an overall view of what the working personality of the candidate is like.
@Bryce Walters - It's rough being a first-timer. The best you can do aside from having a great portfolio is sheer networking power. Get names of people in the industry, show your resume and portfolio to them. Often times these people will refer you to thier HR/Recruiter because many studios offer bonuses to employees who's referrals are hired.
I believe there is great value in posing a series of professional questions to a prospective candidate as long as those are tailored to the role and skill set required; the answers will help screen out those with overly padded resumes and the nature of the questions should give the candidate some insight into the role and required skill set. That said I do not think it should be posed as a "test" and certainly it should never be designed to stump the candidate.
I feel the questions need to be fairly straight forward and the overall time commitment should be reasonable (say 1-2 hours max). Also, the hiring manager who creates the questions should be consciously trying to find a candidate with skills and experiences that contrast and compliment the skills and experiences on the team to make it stronger. Too ofter the tests are designed to find clones with identical skill sets and experiences to everyone already there or to themselves and the team will be weaker for it. They need to so some analysis of their current team and find skill sets and experience that is lacking, then communicate that through the role and guide the candidate through the written questionnaire.
What?
No. Don't work for companies who have that on their agenda, unless there really aren't any better opportunities available (hey, it's a recession - maybe you just have to accept a second-rate job right now).
A company that wants to pay as little as possible cares less about you than they do about sucking value out of you for their profit and spitting you out once you've been used up.
I wouldn't mention this, except ... there are MANY companies who do NOT set out to pay "as little as possible". Stop propping up the bad business models of the companies that do, and work for the most decent company you can find!
I'm not at all stating that the design test is an invalid and unnecessary step towards progressing to an interview. In the spirit of the article I'm merely suggesting that a number of places who have implented these tests that both my collegues and I have been subject to should perhaps take a cue from this article. The tests I'm referring to either poorly communicate the expectations of the reviewer (such as imply that a particular task should only take a limited amount of time or effort), or give the wrong impression of what the duties of the applicant will entail (like writing a level design document without a GDD or frame of referrence for identifyable game mechanics). These sorts of challenges that leave the applicant open to failure because constraints and expectations were not clearly defined are a poor unit of measure for determining what a studio wants in it's employees.
Rebecca...as far as unprofessional HR/Recruiters. It can be a mixed bag for both. I would recommend visiting www.peer-org.com, a group of games industry recruiters, myself included, that have agreed to adhere to a higher standard of conduct when dealing with candidates and clients.
As far as "getting by the HR Filter"...There are great HR functions at some studios and not so great HR at others.
If you genuinely feel that you are spot on for a position and your resume is getting lost in the HR inbox, network! Who do you know at that studio that can put in a good word for you.
A good recruiter serves this purpose and has an established relationships and can assure you are getting consideration. Absent a good recruiter, you need to find out who you know there and ask them to make sure your resume is getting reviewed appropriately.
I would add a few more basic tips for interviewing.
- Never act stand-offish or arrogant. Interviews are not the place to play hard to get. Show enthusiasm throughout the entire interview not matter what happens. A positive attitude is critical. Remember it is always better to recieve an offer and not be sure you want the job than the other way around. You want the ball in your court.
-Dress...No suit and tie, but no torn jeans and tee shirt either. You want to dress nice enough that the interviewer knows you are taking the interview seriously..khakis and nice shirt, maybe sports coat.
- Remember to smile and relax. Sometimes an interviewer will throw you a curveball on purpose and how you respond is just as important as your answer. They want to see how you respond to stress or difficult situations.
- Take notes as to who you speak with and get cards/email addresses and follow up after the interview thanking them for their time and reiterating how you think you can address their needs.
So many other tips, but those are a just few off the top of my head. If anyone wants specific advice, please don't hesitate to ping me.
Also...
Design tests and other tests..they vary widely.
One option is to ask specific questions as to what the company is looking for on a given design test and clarify any confusing directions or questions. It is better to ask questions than to just wing it and hope you gave them what they were looking for.