interviewing pt. 1: before the interview

hi friends, it’s been awhile! 

this week i had some thoughts about interviewing. I’ve learned some tricks over the years but really most of it is one thing: research. all of this might be common sense but i was never taught how to research for a job so i wanted to blurb a little about it!

Scenario: you’re applying for game company Meowy Studios (lol)

Quick facts:

• – You will be an associate sound designer/audio coordinator/producer/whatever you imagine
• – You realllly want this job

AHHHHH!! Now how do we start researching?

1. LinkedIn

LinkedIn is your best friend. I’m a big fan of LinkedIn Premium – i know we’re artists and our discipline isn’t quite applicable (music or audio), but LinkedIn is quite honestly the grooves of the key to the job you want. LinkedIn Premium gives you X amount of searches. It’s worth it, especially for one month if you’re crunching (haha) on the job search. The base price is $30/month – think of it as a one time investment and you can always cancel it as soon as you don’t need it anymore.

What do you search on LinkedIn?

Search Meowy Studios

Navigate to the company page and view their list of employees.

What shows up first are your 1st and 2nd connections. Take note of any connections you see that work there; depending on the situation you might want to reach out to them for advice. Your 2nd connections are also helpful, maybe you might have run into them at a mutual event or seen them at a party. I’ll talk more about this later! 

Search Meowy Studios [Job Position] (the job you’re interviewing for)

Here you see three things:

• – the current job listing that is open
• – anyone at the company who had/has that role
• – any previous employees that previously held that role

From ^ the above you can then gauge:

• – what the turnover of the position is
• – the trajectory of previous people who held that position (whether they were promoted to a more senior role, whether they left the industry, switched disciplines within the same org, etc)
• – the potential for yourself if you get this role
• – the experience of past candidates

Search a combo of these things Meowy Studios Audio, Meowy Studios Producer, Meowy Studios Sound Designer, Meowy Studios Sound, Meowy Studios Music, etc.

You can find out how many people are exactly on the team and who your Hiring Manager might be.

2. Straight up Google

Google the sh** out of the company. Look at press releases, follow their twitter, pay attention to any publicity that might have come out.

• – Were there any mass layoffs covered in the press?
• – What organizations or non-profits does Meowy Studios contribute to?
• – Wikipedia (yeah, wiki the history of the company)
• – Game information (new IP, past projects that have been cancelled, etc)
• – LORE OF THE GAME YOU’RE APPLYING TO WORK ON haha

3. Glassdoor 

This is a big, big eye into the company culture that you so badly want to ask the Hiring Manager about. What is it like to work there? Well, no one can tell you better than Glassdoor. Make sure to make an account so you can see anonymous comments and salary ranges. 

4. The Vault

Look up talks in GDC Vault, not only is this generally applicable but it also gives you insight about the tools Meowy Studios uses. Are they on a proprietary engine? What Wwise version do they use? Are they Agile?

And if you don’t know any of these things…study buzz words.

5. So I know a few people who work at Meowy Studios…what do I do?

Time to take a closer look and see whether it’s worth reaching out. I look at it pretty simply…most companies have an internal referral system where if an employee refers a candidate that successfully gets hired, the employee gets a cash bonus. An internal referral essentially puts you at the top of the massive HR pile; and sometimes goes straight to the Hiring Manager!

You reach out to someone, mention that you’re applying to the job, and if they’re not comfortable putting your resume into the system…Well, they weren’t very interested in helping you out.

But it’s not a big deal! A No from them still puts you in the same exact spot as before. Some people really are into the idea of referrals, some people are not. Take note of the ones who would go that lil extra mile to help you out <3

Tl;DR you have got nothing to lose when you’re looking for a new job. Go ahead and be confident in asking for help. At least you asked!

6. Play the game

Self explanatory

7. Here are also some more tips from #gameaudio!

At a minimum, have a look on YouTube for game walkthroughs to familiarize yourself with their work. The GDC vault has a lot of free talks so see if anyone from the studio has presented recently. If you know what tools they use, familiarize yourself with them.

— Chase Combs (@sonicbarber) May 25, 2019

Take two+ weeks if you can. Play every game all the way through, research every thing your interviewers have ever said online about gamedev, watch every studio dev diary, make a list of potential questions, practice daily with a friend, forget it all on the day of and be yourself

— Justin E. Bell (@sonic_presence) May 25, 2019

My biggest obstacle in interviews is getting nervous and forgetting everything I know about myself haha. If it’s a remote interview, I try to write down details about me and my work beforehand. In person, I’ll take some time to calm my mind and internalize important info

— Joe Marchuk (@joechuk_) May 25, 2019

Play the games. So much about game audio is about how the sound feels in combination with the games.

— 💀 Trevor Dikes 💀 (@TrevorDikes) May 25, 2019

Seeing/playing the games and having insight into the studio's process is key for two important parts of the interview. You'll almost always be asked how you'd approach solving an interdisciplinary problem, and you'll almost always be asked if you have any questions for the team.

— Sean LaValle (@SFLaValle) May 25, 2019

Research! Know the games and the history of the studio. Both of which shape the culture of that studio. Know the tools the audio team use and their sound design aesthetic. Is it grounded, hyper-real, design heavy? This will inform the questions you should ask.

— Pax Helgesen (@paxsonh) May 25, 2019

Think about the context of the interview. Did they reach out to you or did you apply? If they reached out, it’s because you’re already interesting to them. Keep that in mind. You have nothing to prove. Use time to be inquisitive about company culture and attitudes.

— Andy Martin (@soundeziner) May 25, 2019

Write a page on a notebook explaining who I am, what my career goals are, my interests, may fave games etc. Basically a mini profile bc as soon as the nerves kick in all those details go out the window

— Oscar Coen (@oscar_coen) May 25, 2019

Thanks for reading today!! next blog i’ll talk about the actual interview process :O (conversational tips, what questions to ask, etc)