mjq jazz bar
Banned
His name isn't efralope.
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What exactly IS your job? And how can I get it?
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kiss of a loved one
Banned
mjq jazz bar said:
Oops. Sorry. Sometimes I mix up the names of really cool people. How humiliating.
norinrad21
Banned
:LOL
SteveMeister
Hang out with Steve.
Doth Togo said:
Yup. Guess you're talking about Griff, he's a great guy!
Job : RF/microwave engineer. Basically, I design and test the innards of various systems that get sold to various parts of the government. Usually experimental military radars, but there's some flexibility.
How to get: Well, a bachelor's in electrical engineering is a good start. I specialized in microwave systems and communications, and it's the microwave part that I use most of the time. Knowing someone on the inside helps, and you'll need to be a US citizen or permanent resident if you're going to do it in the US.
But then again, I don't post during the daytime, since I'm usually somewhat busy.
How to get: Well, a bachelor's in electrical engineering is a good start. I specialized in microwave systems and communications, and it's the microwave part that I use most of the time. Knowing someone on the inside helps, and you'll need to be a US citizen or permanent resident if you're going to do it in the US.
But then again, I don't post during the daytime, since I'm usually somewhat busy.
The Job: L2 tech support agent
How to get it: Start as an L1, and do a kickass job long enough for an existing L2 to leave, then apply for the position.
What you need to qualify for L1: A pulse and rudimentary knowledge of using a computer (read: you know how a mouse and keyboard are used).
Tech support is a dead-end street. Especially if you work for an outsource company like I do. There's nowhere to go but management or out the door (and I don't wanna be a manager in this hell hole).
Nathan
How to get it: Start as an L1, and do a kickass job long enough for an existing L2 to leave, then apply for the position.
What you need to qualify for L1: A pulse and rudimentary knowledge of using a computer (read: you know how a mouse and keyboard are used).
Tech support is a dead-end street. Especially if you work for an outsource company like I do. There's nowhere to go but management or out the door (and I don't wanna be a manager in this hell hole).
Nathan
D
Deleted member 1235
Unconfirmed Member
gblues said:
Maybe with that attitude.....
I do L2/L3 support, its a good job with plenty of upwards oppurtunity, Microsoft certification/Cisco certification, start getting paid a crap load then move into network design and maybe one day selling those designs for megabucks to dummies.
mjq jazz bar
Banned
Don't we all!kiss of a loved one said:
Kuramu
Member
I'm a Flash developer/programmer. I used to specialize more in design and video, but wandered into flash because interactivity is just too fun.
I got the job by knowing someone, then working for a few web design companies, getting fired for yelling at my boss because he's a dick, and having enough conections by that point to make it on my own (and watching gleefully as my old dickhead boss sinks)
I got the job by knowing someone, then working for a few web design companies, getting fired for yelling at my boss because he's a dick, and having enough conections by that point to make it on my own (and watching gleefully as my old dickhead boss sinks)
Hitler Stole My Potato
Banned
I work at the Seattle LabCorp DNA forensic lab doing mostly PCRs and mtDNA sequencing but on occasion they'll move me over to the clinical side and have me bust out some good ol' micro bench work. Sounds more impressive than it really is.
I remember the day I got the job......I was raking leaves one day outside my house and some guy pulled up in a van and asked me if I could perform a polymorphic short tandem repeat on a mitochondiral genome. So I thought, "sure, how hard could it be?"
But I plan on quitting this job and becoming a bee wrangler. I'm looking for bees, gloves, possibly some sort of hat, and a set of dresser drawers where I can store my bees. Any help would be appreciated.
I remember the day I got the job......I was raking leaves one day outside my house and some guy pulled up in a van and asked me if I could perform a polymorphic short tandem repeat on a mitochondiral genome. So I thought, "sure, how hard could it be?"
But I plan on quitting this job and becoming a bee wrangler. I'm looking for bees, gloves, possibly some sort of hat, and a set of dresser drawers where I can store my bees. Any help would be appreciated.
Upper_Management
Member
The Job: Game Designer
How I got it: I went to art school for a bit, and I knew someone in the industry to get my foot in the door.
How you can get it: Be prepared to work long hours, juggle everything at once, know some programming, script, have some art skillz, and write too many word docs to count. Like Doth mentioned earlier, you will need to demonstrate your passion, and dedication to get noticed. Most designers get hired through test at most places, or occasionaly move from company to company. At times it can be stressful (read: now), toward the end of the project it can get pretty crazy working alot of overtime, and be prepared to give up a major part of your social life for a bit.
But I can still say that I love my job with a passion, and when that box is up on the shelf there's never a better feeling of accomplishment than that.
How I got it: I went to art school for a bit, and I knew someone in the industry to get my foot in the door.
How you can get it: Be prepared to work long hours, juggle everything at once, know some programming, script, have some art skillz, and write too many word docs to count. Like Doth mentioned earlier, you will need to demonstrate your passion, and dedication to get noticed. Most designers get hired through test at most places, or occasionaly move from company to company. At times it can be stressful (read: now), toward the end of the project it can get pretty crazy working alot of overtime, and be prepared to give up a major part of your social life for a bit.
But I can still say that I love my job with a passion, and when that box is up on the shelf there's never a better feeling of accomplishment than that.
Here's a website for my company. I do, um, stuff therehttp://www.kysorwarren.com/
Outlaw Pro Mod
Member
Job: Estimator / Detailer for a distributor of architectural material.
How: Check the classifieds at www.dhi.org or know someone that can get you in. Not sure if a resume is necessary since everything has to be taught to you through years of experience in the business.
How: Check the classifieds at www.dhi.org or know someone that can get you in. Not sure if a resume is necessary since everything has to be taught to you through years of experience in the business.
Jugendstil
Member
Job: Temp for Playboy doing data entry for their websites. Essentially, my job is to look at and categorize pornography all day. On the one hand, the job is hilarious and weird but it's mostly boring and really repetitive.
How I got it: I just graduated from college this spring, majoring in graphic design. Anyway, Playboy has their corporate headquarters here in Chicago, and I know a lot of people through the grapevine that work there. A friend of a friend was in charge of hiring temps for this job, and I got his e-mail and sent him my resume, got an interview, and they hired me. The best advice I can give for getting jobs is network. Go out, meet people, make friends. None of the jobs I've had have come from just walking in and applying, they all come from people I know either reccomending me, or giving me the heads up. It pays to have a social life!
How I got it: I just graduated from college this spring, majoring in graphic design. Anyway, Playboy has their corporate headquarters here in Chicago, and I know a lot of people through the grapevine that work there. A friend of a friend was in charge of hiring temps for this job, and I got his e-mail and sent him my resume, got an interview, and they hired me. The best advice I can give for getting jobs is network. Go out, meet people, make friends. None of the jobs I've had have come from just walking in and applying, they all come from people I know either reccomending me, or giving me the heads up. It pays to have a social life!
Stuggernaut
Grandma's Chippy
Job : Salesman for Dunn Lumber Co. in WA
How I Got It : Wife told me "Hey, they're hiring" after I got my work visa in US and I filled out an app...a few weeks later I was hired. I didn't know jack shit about lumber or building materials, but 4 years later I know enough to get by ;P
How you can get it : Apply...we have 10 stores
How I Got It : Wife told me "Hey, they're hiring" after I got my work visa in US and I filled out an app...a few weeks later I was hired. I didn't know jack shit about lumber or building materials, but 4 years later I know enough to get by ;P
How you can get it : Apply...we have 10 stores
Job: Tech Support clerk for an ISP
How: You do NOT want this job, but if you're crazy enough to think you're able to put up with these monkeys all day then all I did to get it was apply through an online jobs register (www.seek.com.au , it's Australian).
How: You do NOT want this job, but if you're crazy enough to think you're able to put up with these monkeys all day then all I did to get it was apply through an online jobs register (www.seek.com.au , it's Australian).
Hitler Stole My Potato
Banned
Jugendstil said:
WE NEED TO SWAP JOBS.
I can alphabetize (no vowels please) and I've seen a vagina once at the airport. Please give them my resume.
SteveMeister
Hang out with Steve.
RiZ III said:
We have hired paid interns in the past, usually during the summer, but it doesn't look like that's happening this year. However, we are expanding our QA department, so there are positions available for game testers. If you're interested, PM me & I'll give you the contact info.
SteveMeister
Hang out with Steve.
Upper_Management said:
Hehe I'm lucky in that regard -- my wife works with me
Upper_Management said:
You got THAT right. As I mentioned earlier I'd been out of college in mostly defense contractor jobs for 13 years before I got my game development job, and never had anywhere near the job satisfaction as when Morrowind first appeared on store shelves.
Systems Administrator for a school district. Im also the unofficial project manager for an apple grant ( 800 ibooks , couple xserves)
I maintain the desktop computers to the servers and everything else asked of me. Also do alot of training with students and teachers. Have alot of Apple junk as well as PC.
Obviously the network / server admin is the best part of job. Working with students is alot of fun as well.
Getting it was pretty lucky, I had been out of college for a year and was working electrical jobs and doing computer work on my own. I applied for the job and had a few interviews only to be passed up for someone with "more job experience". Couple months later they fired him and contacted me again, went through more interviews and finally landed the job. I couldnt of been happier.
Like mentioned above the best way into your ideal job is by knowing someone. I just got lucky, but being on the inside now I see how it works, and its by who you know. School wise I have a 2 year college degree (whoopidy doo) A+ cert as well as CCNA and some Apple certs. The certs are pretty useless, its really about who ya know and how many years experience ya got.
I maintain the desktop computers to the servers and everything else asked of me. Also do alot of training with students and teachers. Have alot of Apple junk as well as PC.
Obviously the network / server admin is the best part of job. Working with students is alot of fun as well.
Getting it was pretty lucky, I had been out of college for a year and was working electrical jobs and doing computer work on my own. I applied for the job and had a few interviews only to be passed up for someone with "more job experience". Couple months later they fired him and contacted me again, went through more interviews and finally landed the job. I couldnt of been happier.
Like mentioned above the best way into your ideal job is by knowing someone. I just got lucky, but being on the inside now I see how it works, and its by who you know. School wise I have a 2 year college degree (whoopidy doo) A+ cert as well as CCNA and some Apple certs. The certs are pretty useless, its really about who ya know and how many years experience ya got.
The Chosen One
Member
Job: Game Designer / Programmer. I worked at SCEA for a few years, but now I run my own little Independent game company.
How to Get it: If you're in the industry, quit your job. In all seriousness, it's one thing to be a tiny cog in a 150 person team with limited control/influence. It's another thing to actually create the games you WANT to make and have complete control and freedom. This is one of the main reasons why I left Sony. I got into the game industry because I wanted to design games. Unfortunately in many big companies game designers are almost an after-thought. A lot of the time the design is done by committee and many marketing heads tend to get involved. This means a lot of ideas get shot down almost instantly if it's deemed "too risky".
Plus big companies like Sony have their yearly franchises they need to churn out. This leaves little room to release "experiments" concocted by lowly game designers. If you actually want to make your OWN games (I like did), then going Independent is the only way to go. You have to be very very very very lucky to have a chance to make your own game in the mainstream retail market.
I know a lot of programmers and artist who want to leave the industry and strike out on their own. But their salaries at the big companies are too lucrative for them to just drop everything, so they try to make their own games in their spare time. Unfortunately, 95% of them end up with unfinished projects and they continue slaving away at their day job. If you're really serious about being an Independent developer, I say just go all the way. You can't waffle back and forth.
If you're not in the game industry and you're interested in being an Independent developer, gain some good programming and scripting skills. I'm more of a designer than a pure programmer, but I can use pretty much any off the shelf game engine or RAD tool. Also, most importantly you'll have to develop good business skills. Creating the game is really only half the battle. Learning to sell and market a game is just as if not more important. If you're not willing to learn how to sell your game, then you might as well just work at a big game company.
It's rare that you'll be able to live the "rock-star" life as an Independent developer. If you're an experienced programmer, you'll probably make more at a big company and have more benefits such as comprehensive medical and dental. However being an Independent developer, you enjoy one major benefit - freedom. You're free to make whatever game you want. You can could try developing the RPG of your dreams or a simple puzzle game. You're free to set your own schedule. You can wake up at 5am or 5pm. You're free to spend extra time with your family if you need to. And above all, you're free from rush hour traffic!
How to Get it: If you're in the industry, quit your job. In all seriousness, it's one thing to be a tiny cog in a 150 person team with limited control/influence. It's another thing to actually create the games you WANT to make and have complete control and freedom. This is one of the main reasons why I left Sony. I got into the game industry because I wanted to design games. Unfortunately in many big companies game designers are almost an after-thought. A lot of the time the design is done by committee and many marketing heads tend to get involved. This means a lot of ideas get shot down almost instantly if it's deemed "too risky".
Plus big companies like Sony have their yearly franchises they need to churn out. This leaves little room to release "experiments" concocted by lowly game designers. If you actually want to make your OWN games (I like did), then going Independent is the only way to go. You have to be very very very very lucky to have a chance to make your own game in the mainstream retail market.
I know a lot of programmers and artist who want to leave the industry and strike out on their own. But their salaries at the big companies are too lucrative for them to just drop everything, so they try to make their own games in their spare time. Unfortunately, 95% of them end up with unfinished projects and they continue slaving away at their day job. If you're really serious about being an Independent developer, I say just go all the way. You can't waffle back and forth.
If you're not in the game industry and you're interested in being an Independent developer, gain some good programming and scripting skills. I'm more of a designer than a pure programmer, but I can use pretty much any off the shelf game engine or RAD tool. Also, most importantly you'll have to develop good business skills. Creating the game is really only half the battle. Learning to sell and market a game is just as if not more important. If you're not willing to learn how to sell your game, then you might as well just work at a big game company.
It's rare that you'll be able to live the "rock-star" life as an Independent developer. If you're an experienced programmer, you'll probably make more at a big company and have more benefits such as comprehensive medical and dental. However being an Independent developer, you enjoy one major benefit - freedom. You're free to make whatever game you want. You can could try developing the RPG of your dreams or a simple puzzle game. You're free to set your own schedule. You can wake up at 5am or 5pm. You're free to spend extra time with your family if you need to. And above all, you're free from rush hour traffic!
Necroscope
Member
Game Designer - Rockstar Games (Vancouver)
Started off as a programmer at EA, work my way to a designer position and it is not easy. The first designer position is hard to land, you need to convince a produer or lead designer that you know what make games fun and you know how to make it happen (i.e. all the little piece that glue to gather to form gameplay).
Started off as a programmer at EA, work my way to a designer position and it is not easy. The first designer position is hard to land, you need to convince a produer or lead designer that you know what make games fun and you know how to make it happen (i.e. all the little piece that glue to gather to form gameplay).
DaCocoBrova
Finally bought a new PSP, but then pushed the demon onto someone else. Jesus.
Multimedia Engineer/Coordinator - Federal Government
I basically run a state of the art conference facility/television operation center. I work by myself which is wonderful. My day consists of a lot of audio/video routing, editing and scheduling. I love it.
I just got a job offer to program touch screens (Crestron and AMX), but decided to turn the job down. Had I not done so, I'd be in Texas right for training, and then off to Florida.
No regrets though.
Oh, I got the job through knowing someone. My predecessor quit, and they got my resume that same day. Timing is everything.
I basically run a state of the art conference facility/television operation center. I work by myself which is wonderful. My day consists of a lot of audio/video routing, editing and scheduling. I love it.
I just got a job offer to program touch screens (Crestron and AMX), but decided to turn the job down. Had I not done so, I'd be in Texas right for training, and then off to Florida.
No regrets though.
Oh, I got the job through knowing someone. My predecessor quit, and they got my resume that same day. Timing is everything.
buck naked
Member
I'm a uni student, but I do a bit of freelance game reviewing. How to get the job? Hang out at the GAF.
I'm a Web Developer, for about 20 days at least, at which point I'll be moving on to a new job as a Systems Engineer (with a nice five-figure pay rise). You can have my old job by applying and being pretty good at coding in Java. You can have my new job over my dead body, and also by being good at coding in Java and passing through the second most grueling interview process I've ever faced (only the IBM pre-university scheme interview was more painful).
mjq jazz bar
Banned
roflmaoHawksley said:
mightynine
Member
I work in radio. Yes, it's for the devil Clear Channel.
In all honesty, you really have to want to work in radio to work in radio. And I'm lucky by coming up in AM radio, and learning all the various details that go into doing this side of the business. Trust me, I don't just talk into a microphone to do the news.
But how do you get into it? I did it by taking a shift in at my college radio station, fell in love with radio in the process, got an internship with CC while in college, busted my ass, and was in the right place at the right time when they needed a full time guy on the AM. It wasn't what I thought I'd be doing, but I'm loving it.
I will say this, it's hard to get your foot in the door these days....and for that matter, it's getting harder to find people who have half a brain to take the really lousy overnight shifts and other undesirable timeslots.
In all honesty, you really have to want to work in radio to work in radio. And I'm lucky by coming up in AM radio, and learning all the various details that go into doing this side of the business. Trust me, I don't just talk into a microphone to do the news.
But how do you get into it? I did it by taking a shift in at my college radio station, fell in love with radio in the process, got an internship with CC while in college, busted my ass, and was in the right place at the right time when they needed a full time guy on the AM. It wasn't what I thought I'd be doing, but I'm loving it.
I will say this, it's hard to get your foot in the door these days....and for that matter, it's getting harder to find people who have half a brain to take the really lousy overnight shifts and other undesirable timeslots.
TAJ
Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that.
>>>ob: I ghost color for a couple of colorists for Marvel. <<<
I know someone who got fired for ghosting on an X-Men book a few years ago. There was a no-moonlighting policy, and his work got recognized by a backbiting co-worker.
You've definitely heard of both people involved.
I know someone who got fired for ghosting on an X-Men book a few years ago. There was a no-moonlighting policy, and his work got recognized by a backbiting co-worker.
You've definitely heard of both people involved.
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