On Game Design: recruiters
In the videogame industry, nobody likes news like this: Game Over for Tomb Raider boss. People who've been working in videogame development for a long time probably know that the industry is far from being a picture of stability: developers lose valuable contracts, publishers release triple-A bombs, and companies reorganize at the slightest hint of financial trouble. More senior development staff have probably been through some or all of these situations and have developed the ability to recognize and react accordingly while less experienced staff may resort to professional panic. Inevitably, when any signs of real or perceived trouble reverberate through the industry, a third party becomes very interested in everybody's situation: recruiters.
The reports of my death are greatly exaggerated. - Mark Twain.
A recruiter (sometimes referred to as a headhunter) provides client representation between potential candidates and potential employers based on the needs of both parties. There are numerous benefits to using a recruiter whether you're an entry-level game designer or an experienced game designer. Recruiters can provide direct contacts with company hiring managers that would otherwise be difficult to attain. Recruiters can assist in negotiating different salary requirements for a position. Recruiters can also help locate specific roles for highly specialized candidates.
Very early in my career, I worked with a recruiter named Maria Barton to help me get one of my first big game design positions. Before she sent my resume to any of her clients, she took the time to become familiar with my job history, skill set, and, most importantly, my character. She helped me iterate on my resume with each potential position that came up. She kept in touch with me during the entire process letting me know what companies she was contacting on my behalf as well as refining the search to hone in on the most appropriate fit for my skills. When I finally got the job, she stayed in touch with me for the first few months to make sure I was happy in my new position.
Unfortunately, Maria's level of professionalism isn't always the norm in the videogame recruitment industry. In relation to the news I mentioned at the top of this post, my current place of employment has been deluged with phone calls from a whole slew of recruitment firms. Generally, they will look through game credits (usually available on MobyGames), find the main number for the developer, and then call everybody up on the team to try and lure them with the promise of exciting job opportunities. Nothing is more uncomfortable (or unwarranted) as having your work interrupted by a phone call from somebody who lacks the professional courtesy to contact you in any number of other ways (LinkedIn, Google search for email, etc.)! At one company I worked at, we employed the services of a recruitment firm who actually turned around and tried to recruit from beneath us! In the worst cases, I will actually put the recruiter on hold and then transfer the call to our Human Resources department.
Why don't we have that kind of relationship?
So, why do recruiters do this? It's a classic cold calling model (by Wikipedia's definition, a business to consumer approach). For every hung up phone, non returned phone call, and brush off, there's the one disgruntled or panicked employee who will bite. Recruiters work on commission. This means that they are paid an initial fee for referrals and paid a much larger fee (usually a percentage of a candidate's first year of salary) for placement. Bad recruiters will generally blanket the industry with a candidate's resume whether the candidate is qualified for the position or not. For example, an FPS project may be looking for a lead level designer and the recruitment firm sends over a resume for an MMO systems designer. The rationale is that if you throw enough material out there, something will probably stick.
At lunch yesterday, we were discussing the issue of why videogame industry recruiters may be a dying breed. To illustrate my point, I brought up the fact that most large print newspapers have lost a significant source of revenue from classified ads to free, online classified ad services like Craigslist. According to this article, http://www.smartmoney.com/sectorpatrol/index.cfm?story=20050907, newspapers may be losing as much as 40% of their advertising revenue to websites like Craigslist! Similarly, traditional recruitment firms are no longer the only game in town when it comes to job hunting. Craigslist and Gamasutra are two of the biggest sources of free job listings, websites like LinkedIn provide valuable resources for networking within the industry, and many of the bigger developers have their own internal recruiting departments and job postings.
Now, all this being said, there are still some good recruiters out there (like Maria). If you are going to use a recruiter, make sure they are referring you to companies / teams where your abilities would provide a natural / appropriate fit. Make sure to let your recruiter know who you may have approached on your own and, conversely, make sure your recruiter keeps you up to date on who they are contacting on your behalf. Stay in contact with your recruiter on a regular basis and make sure you that your recruiter doesn't do anything without your permission. Finally, do some research into recruiters and find one that has good word of mouth and fits your needs. Do not blindly take on the services of just any recruiter that may contact you since this can produce unexpected results that may not be in your best interests.
A recruiter (sometimes referred to as a headhunter) provides client representation between potential candidates and potential employers based on the needs of both parties. There are numerous benefits to using a recruiter whether you're an entry-level game designer or an experienced game designer. Recruiters can provide direct contacts with company hiring managers that would otherwise be difficult to attain. Recruiters can assist in negotiating different salary requirements for a position. Recruiters can also help locate specific roles for highly specialized candidates.
Very early in my career, I worked with a recruiter named Maria Barton to help me get one of my first big game design positions. Before she sent my resume to any of her clients, she took the time to become familiar with my job history, skill set, and, most importantly, my character. She helped me iterate on my resume with each potential position that came up. She kept in touch with me during the entire process letting me know what companies she was contacting on my behalf as well as refining the search to hone in on the most appropriate fit for my skills. When I finally got the job, she stayed in touch with me for the first few months to make sure I was happy in my new position.
Unfortunately, Maria's level of professionalism isn't always the norm in the videogame recruitment industry. In relation to the news I mentioned at the top of this post, my current place of employment has been deluged with phone calls from a whole slew of recruitment firms. Generally, they will look through game credits (usually available on MobyGames), find the main number for the developer, and then call everybody up on the team to try and lure them with the promise of exciting job opportunities. Nothing is more uncomfortable (or unwarranted) as having your work interrupted by a phone call from somebody who lacks the professional courtesy to contact you in any number of other ways (LinkedIn, Google search for email, etc.)! At one company I worked at, we employed the services of a recruitment firm who actually turned around and tried to recruit from beneath us! In the worst cases, I will actually put the recruiter on hold and then transfer the call to our Human Resources department.
Why don't we have that kind of relationship?
So, why do recruiters do this? It's a classic cold calling model (by Wikipedia's definition, a business to consumer approach). For every hung up phone, non returned phone call, and brush off, there's the one disgruntled or panicked employee who will bite. Recruiters work on commission. This means that they are paid an initial fee for referrals and paid a much larger fee (usually a percentage of a candidate's first year of salary) for placement. Bad recruiters will generally blanket the industry with a candidate's resume whether the candidate is qualified for the position or not. For example, an FPS project may be looking for a lead level designer and the recruitment firm sends over a resume for an MMO systems designer. The rationale is that if you throw enough material out there, something will probably stick.
At lunch yesterday, we were discussing the issue of why videogame industry recruiters may be a dying breed. To illustrate my point, I brought up the fact that most large print newspapers have lost a significant source of revenue from classified ads to free, online classified ad services like Craigslist. According to this article, http://www.smartmoney.com/sectorpatrol/index.cfm?story=20050907, newspapers may be losing as much as 40% of their advertising revenue to websites like Craigslist! Similarly, traditional recruitment firms are no longer the only game in town when it comes to job hunting. Craigslist and Gamasutra are two of the biggest sources of free job listings, websites like LinkedIn provide valuable resources for networking within the industry, and many of the bigger developers have their own internal recruiting departments and job postings.
Now, all this being said, there are still some good recruiters out there (like Maria). If you are going to use a recruiter, make sure they are referring you to companies / teams where your abilities would provide a natural / appropriate fit. Make sure to let your recruiter know who you may have approached on your own and, conversely, make sure your recruiter keeps you up to date on who they are contacting on your behalf. Stay in contact with your recruiter on a regular basis and make sure you that your recruiter doesn't do anything without your permission. Finally, do some research into recruiters and find one that has good word of mouth and fits your needs. Do not blindly take on the services of just any recruiter that may contact you since this can produce unexpected results that may not be in your best interests.
posted by weezie at
10:43 AM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home