Volition Sound Designer Ariel Gross has posted a blog on AltDevBlogADay on the process of getting hired for a game audio position.
The blog contains some fascinating insights on the hiring agents perspective , and is a valuable read for those trying to break into the industry, check out the except below;
We kept a central person to review all incoming applicants. That would be me. I’d scrap a bunch of incoming applicants because I could tell by reading the cover letter and resume that a person did not have the stuff. I will talk more about that later. If someone piqued my interest, I would pass their cover letter, resume, and demo materials along to the rest of the audio team. I’d get feedback and then decide if we wanted to proceed with the candidate to the next step.
The next step would be some kind of test. Previously, we had sent out a written test that had a bunch of questions on it. Stuff like, what do you consider to be the three most important areas of sounds in an open world game? What do you think would be difficult about working on audio in an open world game? And if you had to design a beam weapon, how would you put it together both creatively and technically? And a bunch of other riddles and puzzles and noodle-ticklers that usually had no specific correct answer but plenty of potential incorrect or awkward answers.
This is awesome, a lot of key information about what we’re up against in the game audio world.
I feel the occupation of “video game sound designer” is becoming more and more popular, which puts those who have experience on top of the list, and making it very difficult for students to even land an internship.
After reading this my conclusion is that It might be easier to get a job at NASA.
Well I am glad not to be looking for work in the Video Game industry. It sounds like a hellish process. A few things Ariel should be looking for in a person. Someone that is designing sound regardless of a paycheck waiting. This individual should also have created his/her own software for designing sounds (Vst or Exe). They should not be tone deaf. When you ask them about midi Synths and Samplers they should love Samplers more than synth’s but know synthesis concepts to the core. They should know the midi spec. The words Granular and Pitch-shifting should fall from their lips without you asking. You should ask them to show you what they have in their pockets….if they do not produce a small digital recorder out of one of those pockets the interview should end on the spot.
I don’t think the current hiring practices described are good. I for one would never except a job from a company that has such a hellish introductory process. I’m sure they will find many that will … but the question remains will Ariel being the current Gatekeeper find anyone good at what they do using these techniques?