Games Job Blog / Interactive News / Recruiterblog » Recruiterblog David Smith

Sharon Price UK Game Producer speaks with Women in Games Jobs

David — Thu, 05 Aug 2010 11:57:53 +0000

Sharon Price was a Senior Producer at Outso and was previously a Project Manager at Free Radical Design. She considers herself good at solving problems on the fly, and diffusing crisis situations efficiently and effectively. God of War, COD5 and Tomb Raider help keep her button mashing thumbs ready for action. Sharon met Antonia Cullum of Women in Games Jobs at the recent Develop conference in Brighton. A former hairstylist she switched very successfully to the games industry 2 1/2 years ago. Her advice for those considering joining the games industry: “I would say just do it, take the chance you’ve got nothing to lose. The industry is incredibly welcoming. People really do bring new comers into the fold and if you show people you are willing to learn, that you want to be in the industry and that you have a passion. There are so many skills that are transferable, so I would say go for it, take a chance, you’ve got nothing to lose.”

Guillaume de Fondaumière of Heavy Rain studio Quantic Dream with David Smith

David — Thu, 05 Aug 2010 10:42:32 +0000

In 2003, Guillaume de Fondaumière joined the video game development company Quantic Dream as Chief Operating Officer. He currently is co-CEO with David Cage, the founder and creative figure of Quantic Dream, CFO and executive producer of Fahrenheit, and Heavy Rain. He was elected President of the French video game trade body Association des Producteurs d’Oeuvres Multimédia (APOM) (today Syndicat National du Jeu Vidéo or SNJV) in April 2005 and was re-elected in June 2006 for two years. He has been appointed Chairman of the European Games Developer Federation. Guillaume met with David Smith from Interactive Selection at the recent Develop Conference in Brighton, UK. His tip for joining Quantic Dream: ” We are interested in candidates that are really specialist, that own something very special, very specific that really want to develop there know how at the highest level, so that is the first thing. The second advice is play our games. Try to understand what you can bring to the studio. We are a relatively demanding group whenever we ask a candidate to come to the company we ask a lot of questions about themselves, how they would see themselves in our organisation. I would recommend them to be prepared to “pass the test” but also be themselves. It is very important for us to have people that are genuine we want to see they are passionate about what they do. We want to make sure they can really fit into an international team that is really striving for the best game.”

Andy Robson of Develop award winning QA firm Testology speaks to Game Careers

David — Tue, 03 Aug 2010 15:42:30 +0000

Andy Robson has been working in QA and test in the video games industry since 1994 when he joined Bullfrog Productions and ran the department as Head of Testing, working closely with Peter Molyneux. In 1998 he followed Molyneux to work at the newly formed Lionhead Studios as the Head of Testing. During this time, Andy has worked on over 30 AAA titles spanning all platforms. David Smith from Interactive Selection met with Andy at the recent Develop Conference in Brighton, UK. Andy’s advice to prospective teters: ” “I would say the biggest challenge is getting into the industry. Testing is a good way to get a foot into the door. A lot of people think that road isn’t viable, but is a massive way into the industry. We like to give people an opportunity as there is a lot of untapped talent out there that play a lot of games in their bedrooms and in their lounges at home that don’t know they have got the skill set suited to this industry. At Testology, that is what we are really great at is giving people opportunities to get into the industry whether they have experience or not. Most of the best people come from not having any experience so we are willing to see anyone or anybody.”

Is your games recruiter commited to the recruitment or the games industry?

David — Tue, 03 Aug 2010 13:52:45 +0000

Would you prefer to trust your career to a professional recruitment consultant that does not mind which industry he works in or a recruiter that considers himself only to be working in the games industry (and ahead of the recruitment industry)? There is a way to tell! Look up the recruiter on the social media site LinkedIn and see what the recruiter has down as his primary industry? Does he (or she) consider his industry as “computer games” or “staffing and recruiting”? Interactive Selection has the best of professional recruiters but every single consultant is committed to working for the good of the games industry, not the staffing and recruiting industry. There is a difference.

Simon Nelson Controller, Portfolio & Multi-Platform, BBC Vision talks with GameCareers.BIZ

David — Mon, 02 Aug 2010 16:33:00 +0000

Simon Nelson is responsible for BBC Vision’s multiplatform strategy – allocating budgets, commissioning content for both linear and multiplatform scheduling, and overseeing technical production. He sits on the BBC Vision Board. His team is at the heart of the BBC’s multiplatform approach to scheduling and windowing, extracting maximum value from creative programme ideas and developing digital services. Simon is responsible for building the comprehensive service for every BBC programme, which makes them findable and prominent online, and powers delivery of ambitious and innovation websites at marginal costs. He has led the team that built new search services, nature products such as Wildlife Finder, a mass experimentation science offer, a revamp of lifestyle areas and new arts partnerships as part of Knowledge offer. He has pioneered online storytelling with short-form comedy site developing new talent for BBC Comedy, original drama with Eastenders E20 and innovation in gaming and new web formats. Simon’s teams have won awards including the Prix Europa, Sony Awards, BAFTA, RTS, BPG and Webby Awards. Simon speak with David Smith of Game Careers at the Develop Conference in Brighton 2010.

Previously, Simon was Controller, Radio and Music Interactive (now Audio & Music Interactive), and before that Controller of New Media, Radio and Music. He was responsible for the development of BBC radio and music brands and content on digital platforms and devices, including DAB digital radio, the internet, digital television and mobiles. His advice for applying for jobs at the BBC: “The BBC is like any other media organisation riding a wave of unbelievable technological transformation, social change and change in audience perception. We really need people who understand new media innately and also have the respect and understanding for the traditional values of the BBC, traditional media and who are able to work with radio people, TV people in order to help break new ground and develop new services that really exploit what new media has to offer.”

Ali Bergstrom-Allen Production Head for Sony PlayStation Home speaks to WiG Jobs

David — Sat, 31 Jul 2010 12:10:03 +0000

Ali Bergstrom-Allen, Head of Production for Sony PlayStation Home, met with Antonia Cullum of Women in Games Jobs at the Develop conference in Brighton. Her advice to those seeking a job in the games industry. “The games industry is massive with lots of different sides to it – production, marketing, pr, music etc so don’t just go for the obvious roles if you are not sure. Investigate as much as you can in all the levels of what you could possibly do. Once you are in, get in at a low level, get on as many training courses as you can. If you are getting in as an Assistant Producer, offer to take notes at every meeting, even if it is not in your immediate area, as you learn so much by doing this. If you don’t know what they are talking about, write it down and ask them later. That’s how I learnt. It is the only way you can learn by being in there and asking.” And apologies to Ali that technical issues have given her hair the green tinge.

Ana Kronschnabl CEO of Fluffylogic in South West tells all to GameCareers.BIZ

David — Fri, 30 Jul 2010 14:27:50 +0000

FluffyLogic is based in central Bristol working in film, digital media, Internet (and networked) content, video games and hand-held devices (such as PlayStation Portable). Ana met with David Smith of Game Careers at the recent Develop conference in Brighton. Her advice to anyone thinking of working for one of he hottest studios in the South West of the UK is “”Email me. But email me with why you like games and why you want to work for Fluffylogic. If what you want is a career ladder, then we are probably not the best company because we are not huge. You are not going to work your way up the company in that kind of way. What you will get is lots of experience, and experience in a pretty open organisation. We have meetings where everyone can put into what our next games idea will be. It’s very approachable and easy going and from that point of view it is a very nice place to work.”

David Amor, Director of Relentless Software meets GameCareers.BIZ

David — Wed, 28 Jul 2010 15:12:47 +0000

David Amor is Creative Director of Relentess Software which is synonymous with the Buzz! franchise that’s sold over eight million copies. Relentless has grown from a small team of 11 to a 100-strong studio that specialises in making games to be played in a social environment. They are proud to have won many awards and accolades along the way. David met with David Smith from Game Careers at the Develop conference in Brighton in July 2010. His main tip to work at Relentless is “you must have demonstrable talent. If you’re asking people for a leap of faith with your talent described only through the CV given, that is hard. I think any employer about to hire someone is going to expect the new person not to start and be useful on day one but at least help them feel that in a month’s time this person can be used on a project. So you need something that demonstrates your talent. The other thing that is more pragmatic is that sometimes the ideal job doesn’t come out and perfectly fits what you want to do in your CV. But if you’re in a company and you demonstrate you are smart at what you do then other opportunities will arise from that. So I would say be ready to start in a position that isn’t exactly what you want to do or the salary you want, but get in and demonstrate that you can do a good job and it will lead to other things.”

Over 3000 join Games :: Tester on Facebook in less than 6 months.

David — Tue, 27 Jul 2010 09:10:17 +0000

Join Games :: Tester on Facebook just as over 3000 have already done. The original destination site for game testers now has a sucessfull networking group on Facebook as wall as LinkedIn.

Log in to your Facebook account and go to http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=289340128181 or search groups for “games tester”.

Click the button to Join Us. Games :: Tester was the first site for game testers created in 2002. This site and the facebook group is completely FREE. It has never charged anyone a fee to join. Beware of any site or group that asks for money upfront. It could be a scam. Happy Networking wth fellow game testers!

Microsoft Games in Redmond, USA post jobs on Games Job Board

David — Mon, 26 Jul 2010 14:54:01 +0000

Job Category: Software Engineering: Development, Location: United States, WA, Redmond, Job ID: 707140 15829, Product: Xbox Live, Division: Entertainment & Devices Division

Are you passionate about games? Movies? Social networks? The future of interactive entertainment? How about service infrastructure? The Xbox LIVE Core Platform team is looking for a passionate, dedicated senior developer to help us shape the infrastructure of the 21st century entertainment experience. Our business is based on agility, and agility for a service as broad as Xbox LIVE requires someone who lives and breathes solving service deployment, management, health and monitoring, BI instrumentation and storage problems. The right candidate will be active involved in writing production code and tools in each of these areas, and will literally shape the architecture of our business for years to come.

We’re looking for a senior developer with strong service experience who is passionate about the vision of Xbox LIVE, and about the infrastructure challenges within our business. We’re looking for self-motivated individuals who are interested in helping to build a technical vision for the future of our service, with all of the skills to help us implement it. Candidates will also be expected to act as a mentor to junior developers. The job will require work in C# and SQL, as well as a bit of C++. Experience in deploying or managing internet scale services is a huge bonus. To apply for this role and other jobs posted by Microsoft, please do the the Games Job Board.