OVERVIEW
Interviews in the games industry are not something often discussed so in this article we will explain all the steps involved and hopefully help you on you journey into the games industry!
So let's start with the foundations, why do companies do interviews at all? So you know what you should watch out for and what you should put extra focus into.
GOALS OF AN INTERVIEW
Interviews are there to check on how you fit into the studio as an artist, looking at your current location, your skillset but also making sure you are genuinely a nice person to work with.
We can break this up into 6 general things that companies always have in mind when they are looking for candidate and will be discussing during the interview process.
- SKILLS
(Hard skills, your technical ability to execute and perform tasks according to the role you are trying to fill) - TEAM FIT
Soft skills, your ability to work within a team, how helpful you are. - BUDGET
Your personal salary expectations and how they match with the companies budget and salary brackets - TIMELINE
If your timeline of when you will be available lines up with the expected start date of the company. - LOCATION
If you are willing to relocate if the company doesn't offer remote positions. - PERSONAL REQUIREMENTS
There might be additional specific requirements you have from your side that will be discussed as well, to make sure that the company can accommodate for them too.
TYPES OF INTERVIEWS
Since the industry is global with studios all over the world constantly looking for talent it's good to know that not every company will expect to see you in person for each interview.
That's where it's important to know that there are different types of interviews that you could expect.
- REMOTE
Very common for the first round(s) of interviews usually conducted over an online platform like Microsoft Teams, Zoom or others... - IN HOUSE
After a one or multiple rounds of interviews usually the company will invite you over for an in person interview if you don't live close already.
We recommend to also ask for the company to compensate you for this if they don't bring it up themself.
INTERVIEW STEPS
Think about these different steps in the hiring process as different modules, a studio can switch them up if needed. So the interview process can look really different depending on the studio as well as based on your seniority in the industry.
DISCOVERY & OUTREACH
The first step in the process is getting the word out, this is either done by yourself as you share your work on multiple social media platforms, friends or communities out there or by filling in applications for recruitment agencies or companies themself.
During this process, most communication happens through email, messaging platforms like LinkedIn and Artstation, or initial calls with recruiters. To give yourself the best possible chance of success, it's important to present a polished CV, a strong portfolio or sometimes even a personalized cover letter.
But by far, your portfolio is required here to make a great first impression.
THINGS YOU NEED AT THIS POINT
- ONLINE PORTFOLIO:
Artstation is definitely recommended (It's really the standard at time of writing this), but your own site can work as well. - A CV:
A one page document that has all the important information on your professional knowledge, working experience, skills and more...
MORE INFORMATION ON CV'S HERE
- COVER LETTER:
A personalised letter that informs the company of your motivations for joining them and also why your background and skills are going to be important and relevant to them.
MORE INFORMATION ON COVER LETTERS - SOCIAL MEDIA PRESENCE:
Especially for reaching out to recruiters on LinkedIn for example. Having an online presence can be a great signal booster as well.
This article focuses more on the interview process itself, so if you're looking for additional tips on how and where to find jobs, feel free to check out: FINDING A JOB ARTICLE
RECRUITER INTERVIEW
The job interview process can be a daunting step to take, but your first interview usually begins with talking to an HR representative or a Recruiter from the company. They will guide you through the process of what they are looking for and asking you questions about what you are looking for in a studio.
A thing to be aware of is that usually there's a different between talking with a recruitment agency representative or a studio recruiter. The recruitment agency representative aims to find the best role for you across various companies, while the studio recruiter is more focused on finding the ideal fit within their specific company.
DIFFERENT RECRUITMENT TYPES
A thing to be aware of is that usually there's a different between talking with a recruitment agency representative or a studio recruiter. The recruitment agency representative aims to find the best role for you across various companies, while the studio recruiter is more focused on finding the ideal fit within their specific company.
- RECRUITMENT AGENCIES:
Usually focus more on a wide variation of companies with multiple applications at once between them and have a wider client base. - INTERNAL RECRUITERS:
(People working full time for a dedicated company) Focus their sole attention on getting your hired for positions within that company.
HOW TO INTRODUCE YOURSELF
Usually the opening of an interview will be very casual, especially the HR part of it, since you won't have to answer any technical questions, it will focus more on the company, the benefits, your expected salary and others...
But to help you along if you're struggling with this here's two example for how I would approach an introduction in two different use cases.
📍 Introduction example (with Industry Experience)
"I'm Timothy Dries, I'm an environment artist with 5 years of industry experience and have been working on games such as Planet Coaster, Jurassic World Evolution, Planet Zoo and more recently Farcy 6."
📍 Introduction example (No Industry Experience)
"I'm Timothy Dries, an Environment Artist with a love for creating environments. Aside from Graduating university in Digital Arts & Entertainment, I've also been working on some personal work to expand on my skills such as composition and Environmental Storytelling."
The differences between these two are that if you have no experience then obviously you can't use that as the main thing to talk about, so you need to lean on the things that make you stand out. It's all about selling yourself to the company, so try and get comfortable with that aspect.
TIPS DURING THE HR INTERVIEW
Common discussion points during the HR interview that can come up can range between a whole variations of topics, however, here's a highlight of the most important ones.
- SALARY
The amount of money you are going to receive in exchange for your skillset and time contribution to the company. - RELOCATION ASSISTANCE
Companies can cover the cost of you moving countries, paying for relocation, moving furniture, gas prices, etc...
MORE INFORMATION HERE: RELOCATION ASSISTANCE - TYPE OF CONTRACT
Whether is a permanent, contractual (temporary) position, on-site, hybrid or remote position - COMPANY POLICIES
What's their overtime policy? How many holidays do you get? What are the core hours? - HEALTHCARE PLANS
Make sure that you've got all the most important things covered by your companies healthcare plan - BONUSES
Some companies offer yearly, performance or title bases bonuses. - PENSION SCHEME
Companies usually contribute towards your pension scheme as well, setting you up for the future. - OTHER BENEFITS
There are other benefits that can be included like bike to work schemes, children daycare, social nights, etc... so make sure to ask!
SECOND INTERVIEW
During the second interview you will most likely get to meet some of the talented developers from the team, who will ask specific questions about your work, technical skills, personality, and how you would fit within the team. Additionally, you'll have the chance to ask any questions you may have.
YOUR SKILLSET
The majority of the talk will focus on the skills you will be bringing to the table and how they align with the projects at the company.
You can expect to be talking about your portfolio, your workflows, which programs you use and what your artistic inspirations are for the projects you have on your portfolio.
Since you will be discussing a lot of the workflows this is also the perfect moment to go more into details and really dive into the technical aspects.
If the team has concerns about your abilities in one or more areas, they may request you to complete an art test to see if you can work with them and meet their expectations. But, no worries, this is a two-way street, and it's just as crucial for you to determine if the company is the right match for you.
A successful job search is all about finding the perfect match for both you and the company, so enjoy the journey and see where it takes you!
WORKING IN A TEAM
Then the team will probably also ask you other questions that are more related to scenario's you could be finding yourself in when it comes to working within a team.
Doing things like game jams, collaboration projects or even Team Challenges can be very helpful to add to your portfolio for that reason.
TALKING ABOUT THE STUDIO
Finally, there is just casually talking about the studio and your potential place in it, this is the perfect moment to ask all your questions you have about the company you are applying for.
In most cases this is also where the company takes you on a tour through the company itself and maybe even offers you the opportunity to talk to other developers working on the game, since you signed an NDA anyways, but this might depend on the company. This is the perfect moment to get glimpses into the company culture and ask questions about that.
And if an office tour is not on the schedule or people haven't mentioned it, then it might be worth asking for it yourself, since you are going to be spending a lot of time there.
ART TEST (WHEN REQUIRED)
Sometimes a company might be impressed by your work but is curious about certain aspects or interested to see how you work under a deadline. These tests are specifically designed to highlight your unique skills and help the company determine if you're an excellent fit for their team.
Usually these tests are unpaid, however, we think that you should always ask if you can be compensated for tests, especially for longer ones. Some tests can take up a couple of days to maybe even 2 weeks of solid work.
And getting paid for spending that amount of time should be the base expectation.
So if the company brings up that they want you to do an art test sometimes just asking if it's going to be compensated can be enough to convince them to do it.
During the art test itself you will need to watch out for a whole set of different things, but more on that can be found on our dedicated article on art tests right here: ARTTESTS FOR VIDEO GAMES
FINAL INTERVIEW
If the company liked your art test that you did and you have been amazing candidate so far you will get invited for the final interview, so make sure that this place is also the place where you want to continue or start your career.
This interview, often conducted by a Human Resources representative, will cover important topics such as contract details, salary expectations, benefits, relocation assistance, and any other necessary information or benefits provided by the company.
At this point you should already have a ballpark expectation of what you can expect for your seniority level and the area you are going to be applying in. So use this to your advantage an try to aim higher then your expectations, but be careful not to go to high as this might put people off.
The company you are going to work for has it in their best interest to support you as much as possible and make you feel at home as soon as possible. So ask for relocation benefits or packages, this will save you a lot of money! The next point also ties into this relocation package too, it might be good to ask about the cost of living to if you are going to be diving into talking about the salary at some point. How can you know how much you need to earn if you don't know what you are going to spend.
AFTER THE INTERVIEW
First of all, congratulations on making it through to the end, honestly, the entire thing can be really daunting and especially if you're doing multiple interviews for companies at the same time.
WHEN DO I HEAR BACK?
Usually the people in the interview will let you know a rough timeline on when you might hear back from them, if they don’t then you can always ask them at the end of an interview to give an estimation.
But sometimes it can take a while before you might hear back, I’ve had instances where it took them a couple of months. Don’t let it get out of control like this though, if you don’t hear back from a company after a week or two after last interview, then it’s time to reach out.
ADDITIONAL QUESTIONS?
You can simply send them another email and ask these questions, but keep the email tips in mind that we discussed in the beginning, send them one email that contains a couple of questions, don't send them single mail after single mail.
- 📍 More information on Emails can be found here: EMAIL CONVERSATIONS
LEAN INTO THE EXCITEMENT
When I have a good feeling about the whole deal then I tend to lean into the excitement a bit, start looking at interesting apartments, what to do in that area and just get excited in general about it. Even if I do this and I don't get it gives me something that I want to fight for and just keep at. The main thing with this is that a lot of people don't spend enough time thinking about the positive sides of it, but it's fun to lean in sometimes!
STAYING MOTIVATED
However, it can also happen that at any stage the company decides to not continue the interview process.
Rejection really sucks, it really does, and it can be really helpful to ask for feedback and take a step back yourself and reflect on what can be improved on your work or maybe the way that the interview went.
I'm a firm believer in taking personal responsibility and using that to make the next time better and improve your odds that way.
However, it must also be said that in a lot of cases rejection should not be taken a reflection of your personal skills as there are many other reasons on why you could have been rejected.
POTENTIAL REASONS FOR REJECTION
The reason why I lay these out here is just that there are so many reasons that are even out of your control.
- ARTSTYLE DOESN'T FIT
Your artstyle didn't fit what they we're looking for - FAILED ART TEST
Art test wasn't up to standards of their expectations - MORE EXPERIENCE PEOPLE
Other people with more experience might have said “yes” to the offer - PROJECT TIMELINE
The time of the project changes and now it wouldn’t make sense to hire you - STUDIO BUDGETS
The financials of the studio changed, changing the hiring budget. - INTERNAL CHANGES
The project might have fallen through, thus no longer needed someone with your skillset - etc...
An actional thing that you can do after getting rejected is asking for feedback if the company didn't offer it already. Especially ask for feedback when you have done an arttest and haven't received any comments or feedback on it.
This is all to say to never give up, keep trying and you've got this!
