Hmm. I'll address the general first, then the specific.
The most important thing in the small-business field right now, even more than in the job market in general, is that there's no longer any room for BS. Three years ago, all you needed to get a job was a good line of blather. Now, they want real resumes with relevant experience (and a lot of it, preferably), demonstrable compatibility with the team, and up-to-date skills. The thing that got me my current job was largely that I spent my unemployed time learning new relevant skills, some of which happened to be the ones that they were looking for.
The other thing is to keep in mind that recruiters are nearly useless in the small business field at this point. There are so many good people pounding the pavement that many small companies see no reason to bother spending that kind of money. It's an old truism, but holds even truer now: there's no substitute for networking. Your chances of getting in the door due to a friend are several times higher than due to a recruiter.
As for gaming specifically, the thing that's bitten me on the ass is that they are mostly looking for fanatical players. Despite having worked on two A-list games, I largely can't get an interview, because I can't honestly claim to be a hardcore gamer. The other critical qualities are serious technical chops (in many respects, the gaming field is at the forefront of today's programming world), and passion. You don't need as deep a programming resume (most people at game shops are quite young), but you have to be able to show that you write this stuff for fun, and you're good at it. And meshing with the team is even more important in the game world than in small businesses in general, because the hours often get loony.
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
(no subject)
Date: 2003-04-17 04:31 pm (UTC)The most important thing in the small-business field right now, even more than in the job market in general, is that there's no longer any room for BS. Three years ago, all you needed to get a job was a good line of blather. Now, they want real resumes with relevant experience (and a lot of it, preferably), demonstrable compatibility with the team, and up-to-date skills. The thing that got me my current job was largely that I spent my unemployed time learning new relevant skills, some of which happened to be the ones that they were looking for.
The other thing is to keep in mind that recruiters are nearly useless in the small business field at this point. There are so many good people pounding the pavement that many small companies see no reason to bother spending that kind of money. It's an old truism, but holds even truer now: there's no substitute for networking. Your chances of getting in the door due to a friend are several times higher than due to a recruiter.
As for gaming specifically, the thing that's bitten me on the ass is that they are mostly looking for fanatical players. Despite having worked on two A-list games, I largely can't get an interview, because I can't honestly claim to be a hardcore gamer. The other critical qualities are serious technical chops (in many respects, the gaming field is at the forefront of today's programming world), and passion. You don't need as deep a programming resume (most people at game shops are quite young), but you have to be able to show that you write this stuff for fun, and you're good at it. And meshing with the team is even more important in the game world than in small businesses in general, because the hours often get loony.
Anyway, that's a few thoughts on the subject..