I'm on the verge of finishing university right now, just waiting for my thesis to be all marked off as good then I'm done. Yey.
I'm wanting to get into the industry as a producer and the like somewhere down the line, for now though to gain exerience in the industry I'm trying to get a job as a tester.
This though is proving....damn hard.
Everywhere I look if there's testing jobs on offer they all seem to have requirements of previous experience, its a major catch 22. I've experience in testing web sites but nothing on games, it just wasn't part of my degree (HCI).
How do you crack the first job? How do you secure a job as a tester?
I'm not looking for anything great and high end here, I'm not even fussy about location, I'm just looking to get a job for my first experience but still its proving hard.

[Edited by - Tyrr on October 21, 2010 9:18:04 AM]

If nobody could ever get hired in QA without experience, it would be a strange world that could not sustain itself for more than a few months.

Stop looking at ads and just apply to every company within commuting distance.

If every company within commuting distance turns you down, then move. Read FAQ 3 (View Forum FAQ, above).

Or maybe you, Tyrr, are applying for the wrong job. You said you had to write a thesis - does that mean you're completing a Master's degree? That may make you overqualified for QA (they usually hire people with mere Bachelor's degree, or applicants who never got a Bachelor's degree at all). I don't know what HCI is, but maybe there's another way to break into the industry for you.

I've done a masters yeah but I had to do a thesis for my bachellors too.

So I should just spam companies with (targeted) speculative applications?
Dear sir/madam (hey, you never know, could be a woman :p), I'm looking for a entry level job as a tester, I like your company because of xxxx, I have experience in yyyy, yours sincerely, me?

I'm willing to move anywhere and don't expect help with relocation costs (I've moved country on my own twice before with little bother). I'm willing to travel far and wide for an interview too (thank god for ryan air and their ilk!). Do companies still hold back on interviewing people who don't yet live in the area though?

HCI=Human Computer Interaction.
Lots of stuff on usability, human factors, design, management of IT projects, etc... sort of a halfway degree between computer science, psychology and business.

Quote: Original post by Tyrr
1. So I should just spam companies with (targeted) speculative applications?
Dear sir/madam (hey, you never know, could be a woman :p), I'm looking for a entry level job as a tester, I like your company because of xxxx, I have experience in yyyy, yours sincerely, me?
2. I'm willing to move anywhere and don't expect help with relocation costs (I've moved country on my own twice before with little bother). I'm willing to travel far and wide for an interview too (thank god for ryan air and their ilk!). Do companies still hold back on interviewing people who don't yet live in the area though?
3. HCI=Human Computer Interaction.
Lots of stuff on usability, human factors, design, management of IT projects, etc... sort of a halfway degree between computer science, psychology and business.

1. Don't be glib. How many game companies are there in Uppsala? Read FAQs 5, 24, and 27.
2. You haven't read this forum much. Entry-level applicants have to be local. You will NOT get hired for an entry-level position, with no experience, if you are not local. Read FAQs 5, 24, and 27.
3. That's a great degree. Maybe instead of QA, go for a junior assistant producer position. Believe it or not, game companies want their project production personnel to be cheap. But remain open to anything you can get to get yourself in the door. Read those FAQs.

How about Finland? Lot's of IT stuff. Okay, most of them are in the Helsinki area where the accommodation costs are quite horrible (and not games), but anyway...

Quote: Original post by Tom Sloper
1. Don't be glib. How many game companies are there in Uppsala? Read FAQs 5, 24, and 27.
2. You haven't read this forum much. Entry-level applicants have to be local. You will NOT get hired for an entry-level position, with no experience, if you are not local. Read FAQs 5, 24, and 27.
3. That's a great degree. Maybe instead of QA, go for a junior assistant producer position. Believe it or not, game companies want their project production personnel to be cheap. But remain open to anything you can get to get yourself in the door. Read those FAQs.

I wasn't trying to be glib, I appreciate your advice here. I'm just not sure how to go about contacting these companies for unlisted jobs and was summarising a guess.
Uppsala isn't so bad apparently according to the games industry map, a few related companies about. And of course many people who live in Uppsala commute to Stockholm. Stockholm seems pretty crowded.

Seems odd to me they wouldn't take people from far away if all the struggle is on the person rather than them. They're worried of people who have to move being unable to adapt or being worse employees for a few months due to having to adapt? Oh well. I guess its their place to be choosy.

Junior assistant producer...now that sounds great. What I'd love to be doing. So this sort of thing is meant for unexperienced people starting out? Would jobs like this (fancy title....) be just through speculative applications too?
And yep, I'm open to all to get my foot in the door, I was thinking a low grade tester would be the easiest way in here (easiest to get that is).

Quote: How about Finland? Lot's of IT stuff. Okay, most of them are in the Helsinki area where the accommodation costs are quite horrible (and not games), but anyway...

What I hear from Finland is jobs there are even harder to come by than Sweden, esecially for non-Finnish speakers...were there something I'd be willing though, its a nice country. And of course games are my ideal, where I'm aiming for, general IT jobs are a second choice way to get some experience and keep my belly full.

You are right about the lingo, but you are Swedish, so it's a bit different. I even know a guy, who literally fucked himself a job. Okay, he had work experience, but doesn't speak the lingo, and his colleges don't speak it either...

But maybe you could even continue your studies in FL somehow.
Just an idea, but maybe it's worth looking into a bit.

Quote: Seems odd to me they wouldn't take people from far away if all the struggle is on the person rather than them. They're worried of people who have to move being unable to adapt or being worse employees for a few months due to having to adapt? Oh well. I guess its their place to be choosy.

No. There are probably a lot of applicants for a place and lot of them are locals. Why would they bother with you if you don't stand out from them?

Quote: Original post by Tyrr
Seems odd to me they wouldn't take people from far away if all the struggle is on the person rather than them. They're worried of people who have to move being unable to adapt or being worse employees for a few months due to having to adapt? Oh well. I guess its their place to be choosy.

You guys all say this (the other 20 guys we told the same thing in the past month also whined about how unfair hirers are for not going to the extra trouble of dealing with far-off job applicants when they're being besieged by an army of local job applicants practically camped at the front door). Look at it from the hirer's point of view, not yours. Typical hirer's scenario:
I have 50 guys who live within 30 miles all begging to work for me, and I can't hire them all. Some guy from 150 miles away sends me an application, and I should go out of my way to get him in for an interview instead of the 50 guys who can just walk in today if I ask'em to? What for?
If you want to get into the game industry, you have to do the smart things (FAQ 27) and not the dumb things (FAQ 24).
Also read FAQs 5 and 42.

Quote: Junior assistant producer...now that sounds great. What I'd love to be doing. So this sort of thing is meant for unexperienced people starting out? Would jobs like this (fancy title....) be just through speculative applications too?

There isn't really a title "junior assistant producer," I made that up. But there are jobs that loosely fit what that title entails. The way to get a job like that is to work on some indie projects and network and yes, cold-email. Read FAQs 4 & 54.