SUMMARY
This document provides tips for preparing for an interview with a games studio. It covers researching the company and role, estimating salary and cost of living, using your network, presenting yourself, and preparing questions to ask during the interview. The document also includes quick links to related topics and resources.
QUICK LINKS
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Getting a new job can be life changing, especially when relocating to another country, so make sure you do proper research on both the company itself but also on the location of the studio itself. You want to move to a place that both works for you on a personal and professional level and also allows you to afford your lifestyle.
AS A QUICK OVERVIEW
<aside> 1️⃣ The role you apply for, and if it matches your skillset
</aside>
<aside> 2️⃣ The company, their recent games and the game they are currently working on.
</aside>
<aside> 3️⃣ If the companies values align with your personal values.
</aside>
<aside> 4️⃣ How expensive the city is you’re moving too (Cost of living).
</aside>
<aside> 5️⃣ What you can expect as your average salary.
</aside>
<aside> 6️⃣ The benefit package and support the company offers when moving.
</aside>
So let’s dive into these sections a little bit deeper to really know how to prepare.
When researching a company online, there are several things you can do to gather information and gain a better understanding of the company:
<aside> 📍 COMPANY WEBSITE tart by visiting the company's official website to learn more about their products, services, mission, and values.
</aside>
<aside> 📍 IN THE NEWS Search for news articles and press releases related to the company to learn about recent developments, projects, or any major announcements.
</aside>
<aside> 📍 SOCIAL MEDIA Many companies have active social media profiles that can provide insights into their culture, values, and engagement with customers or clients.
</aside>
<aside> 📍 EMPLOYEE REVIEW SITES Websites like Glassdoor or Indeed can provide you with reviews and feedback from current and former employees of the company.
</aside>
<aside> 📍 EXPLORE THE COMPETITION By researching the company's competitors, you can gain insights into the industry and how the company compares to others in the same space
</aside>
Joining industry-specific Discord servers can help you to connect with professionals in the same industry as the company you are researching. You can ask questions about the industry and gain insights into the company's position within the industry.
These are also good places to ask for personal opinions from people that work or have worked there and even reach out for recommendations or suggestions on where to look.
Some available options are:
<aside> 📍 BEYOND EXTENT https://beyondextent.com/
</aside>
<aside> 📍 EXPERIENCE POINTS https://www.exp-points.com/
</aside>
<aside> 📍 DINUSTY EMPIRE https://www.dinustyempire.com/
</aside>
“Networking” has a bad connotation at least to me as it makes it feel like you are only there to build connections with people because you want something from them, but that doesn’t make a successful network of people.
But using this network or even talking to people that work or worked at a company you are applying for is always the best resource for getting to know what you are getting yourself into. These conversations can be tricky as most of the time you will be dancing around sensitive topics and just be mindful when asking for this that you stay away from anything NDA sensitive, so keep it pretty high level.
There are also a bunch of online community discords out there where you can ask around. However, just dropping in and asking about a company is not really a good look. Make sure you get to know people and ask them personally.
When applying for a job, it can be helpful to try to understand what a company is looking for in a candidate. One way to do this is to carefully review the job posting and identify the key qualifications, skills, and experience the company is seeking. You can also research the company's values, mission statement, and recent initiatives to get a sense of their overall priorities and how they align with the position you're applying for. Additionally, reviewing the company's current team and their backgrounds may give you insight into the type of candidate the company tends to hire.
The first thing to properly read when you are thinking about applying to a job is to dissect the application itself. Especially when you are sending out a lot of applications it might be tiring to really dissect all of them, but you need to do it, it’s your future and you should be picky about the job and if it aligns with your interests and enjoy it as much as possible.
However, If you don’t do this step yourself, then the company will also in part do this for you. If your portfolio doesn’t match the required skills need for the job, the company is highly likely to reject you straight away.
<aside> 📍 ENVIRONMENT ART JOB EXAMPLE
</aside>
Example from Artstation Jobs
You can actually see that this example let’s you know that you won’t be working in the level so much. But are actually more responsible for asset, material and texture creation instead. So if you have a passion about creation stories and working in environments you might want to look for another job instead.
Environment Art positions are usually treated as a container for all kinds of specialisations, so make sure to read through the application and know the role you are applying for to the best of your abilities.
<aside> 📍 More information on roles and specialisations can be found here:
</aside>
Make sure to also check if the application is remote, on-site or a mixture of both. There are a lot of companies out there now that offer a more flexible working environment, especially for more experience people.
It might be less common for Juniors, especially fully remote jobs, but there are some out there if that’s the thing you are looking for.
A more diverse working environment makes for more dynamic games and office vibes. If this is something that is especially important to, then time to check out the people that work there and how diverse it is.
When going through an application it’s useful to know more about the company you are applying for, especially because this might be your place for the next couple of years.
A studio will be very specific in the people they want to hire for a team and you should do the same for your own career too.
TRY AND FIGURE OUT:
<aside> 1️⃣ The games they work on, was anything announced recently, or wat was their latest release? (What games and type of games you will be working on)
</aside>
<aside> 2️⃣ How the Studio portray themself to the outside, are they very open or more closed off. (This helps you to align with their mission and maybe even contribute to sharing knowledge)
</aside>
<aside> 3️⃣ What do employees say about the company (through glassdoor or personal connections)
</aside>
<aside> 4️⃣ What game engine, programs and workflow do they use for their projects? (Allows you to prepare for the work itself and if you want to work with those programs yourself)
</aside>
<aside> 5️⃣ Are there a lot of seniors at the company? Or does it mainly consist of Juniors? (Really helpful to know if you are going to learn a bunch of things when working there)
</aside>
<aside> 6️⃣ How long has the company been around? How is their track record? (Good to know the rough spots and what to keep in mind)
</aside>
All these bits of research can help you get to know the company on a deeper level and how you are going to grow when working for that company. It can also be important during the interview, since the people doing the interview might ask you questions to determine if you’ve really done the legwork as a measurement of interest in the company.
<aside> 📍 An example question could be: ”Are you familiar with our latest game “X”? What would you improve on it if you had the opportunity to do so?”
</aside>
Also, after doing this research this also allows you to look at the type of projects they are working on then you can also make some assumptions about the workflow they use and how yours fit into it. There is also no need to make a full timeline of the company itself either, focus on the relevant an more current information.