Secrets to Nailing a Job Interview
Tags: Job Interview, Startup, Game Development, Game Design, Games

Sometimes you can have all the skills necessary and tick all the boxes in the job description, however all of it can go in vain if you can’t interview well. For some of us connecting with other people comes naturally, however others struggle quite a bit, and although they can pass all the tests and do well in technical tasks what fails them is the ability to show that they can also be great coworkers and team players. Games industry is notorious for rejecting people based on the ‘bad culture fit’, and there’s nothing you can do about it.

So how do you overcome this eternal struggle?

Do your research

Nobody is going to give you a job just because of your impressive AAA background. Yes, we know good programmers are difficult to come by, and so are good Tech Animators or the Art Directors, however the fact that this market is candidate driven doesn’t give anyone the right to be arrogant or expect companies to simply hand out the job offers out. You need to do your research about the studio, the job itself, and the people whom you are going to speak to. You also need to have played the games the studio has shipped (unless they haven’t shipped anything), and you need to have ideas on how those games can be improved and why.

Be nice to people

This is an easy part. Just a little bit of empathy can go a long way. Asking your interviewer how’s their week been, or paying them a compliment can make a world of difference in their post-interview feedback.

Be yourself

Sometimes we may think that if we seem to look better than we are at a job interview, or if we somehow disguise our flaws, then we can have better chances in securing a position. This is bullshit. One of the main reasons people fail in job interviews is because they pretend to be someone they are not, and that shows. On the other hand those who are self aware, who know what they are good at, and what they are bad at, and are not afraid to say it, those people are much easier to understand, and they also stand a much better chance at nailing a job interview. If I am an employer, I’d much rather hire someone who can be taught a skill, than hire someone who’d be afraid to fail.

Interview is a conversation

And if it’s not a conversation, then you might as well log out of that Zoom call, and stop wasting your time. If an interview feels like none of you have anything to say to each other except for following the protocol of asking ten standard questions that require generalistic answers, and there is no flow, then I’m sorry to break it to you, but there is no way anything positive is going to come out of that. Interview is a conversation, it’s a chat between two people who have the potential of sharing the same office space sometime in the very near future. Nobody wants to hire someone and then feel awkward chatting over a cup of tea — be it in the office or at a conference call.

Say that you want the job

A lot of people forget this basic rule. But this is so effective! However, it has to be done in a genuine way. If you are doing it just for the score or for the sake of it, then forget it. You need to believe in what you are saying, and you can’t seem desperate. The best way to do it is to say it at the end of the interview just before you are about to leave the office or exit the call. Whatever words you choose to deliver the message, make sure you thank them for their time and tell them that you’d be very interested in the position. That’s it. Don’t go over the limit, don’t use long sentences, just simply tell them that you are genuinely interested, and that you want the job. Studios want to hire people who want to work for them, not because they were the last option, but because people genuinely do want it.

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