Interview advice

teaandcigarettes

Hey guys, I'm sorry for making another interview topic, but I have been searching for information that relates to my case and yet I have not been able to find anything even remotely similar.


I am not sure if I should be even posting this, so if you think that this post is in any way unprofessional, I will remove it. However, I wasn’t able to find anyone who could offer me advice.

Recently I have been contacted by some great UK studios, who have seen my work and decided to invite me for on-site interviews. I am really happy to be even considered to work for them, but I did not even dream of getting such offers any time soon. Considering that I am still a student, the most I have been hoping for was to get a placement, starting in summer or early autumn. I am not too worried about the interviews and I am really excited; after all it's a job I have always dreamed of doing. I will just try to be myself and answer all their questions honestly.

However, there’s an issue. I do not want to get ahead of myself and sound arrogant, but if they do decide to give me an offer, there's a high chance that I wouldn't be able to start working any time soon. Not only I would like to finish at least this year of the university, I also have an important business in my home country that I need to take care of. As a result, there’s a chance that I might be unavailable for 3 to 6 months, depending on the dates of my assignments.

I haven't told them this yet, as all my friends and tutors advised me against speaking of it before I am asked about my availability. However, I have this bad feeling that by doing so, I am being rude and unprofessional. Of course, I do not intend to hide it and I plan to speak openly about my circumstances. But I'm increasingly worried that I would be wasting their time. I do not want to offend anyone, nor burn any bridges.

I do not know if they need someone straight away and I don't know if it's common to interview people a few months before their eventual start. I also have not applied for any specific vacancy. But I wouldn’t want to miss such great opportunity due to such petty reason. I can always try to negotiate with my university. I have spoken to my course leader who intends to help me out and learn more about options available to me. However, he also advised me to quit the course if nothing could be worked out and I agree with that. I am not sure of the consequences, but I would try to be as flexible as I can.


So here are my questions; had any of you ever met with a similar situation? Do you think that my circumstances could jeopardize my chances of getting a job? I would love to break into the industry and work with such talented people, but the timing is a bit inconvenient.



I’m sorry for such a lengthy post and thanks in advance for any help.
I am both feeling excited and shitting myself at the same time :poly142:

seven

It sounds like you have things pretty well handled all ready. A job in the industry doesn't require an education. It is however a stepping stone for some people. If they offer you a job and you are unable to work university in then take the job. If you need to you can finish school later. Experience in the industry is almost always > school.

Most employers are flexible with the start of your job unless they are under a tight deadline. I would recommend finding out what their requirements are but again... it sounds like you know what to do.

Xoliul

Recruitment could take a really long time man, so 3 months might not be an issue. I'd just tell them, see what they say. Then decide for yourself based on their answer. It's not like they're gonna wave their arms in the air and get really upset when you say you might not be available straight away. People sometimes even do job interviews without the intention of actually taking the job, so they won't mind that much.

Tom Ellis

Remember most employers will expect at least some delay since one usually needs to give notice to their current job.

For example, I'd have to give a months notice before I could even finish my current position. Also, if you're relocating, that could easily take another month.

Having said that, I'm not sure if it may depend on the project the studio are working on. I don't work in the games industry so I don't know how it works, but I'd have thought if a company is hiring with a specific project in mind, then the start date might be more important.

For example, I noticed on LinkedIn, Splash Damage is hiring 'Environment Artists to work on Brink'. Now, Brink is set to release in May, so with that in mind, one could assume they are looking for a starter within the next few weeks.

Either way, if the studio's have come to you rather than the other way round, it's clear they are keen to get you on board, I wouldn't have thought some realistic reasons for a delayed start (like yours) would be a problem. I can't imagine them saying 'We love your work, and would really like for you to come work for us... wait, you can't come now? Oh sod you then'.

teaandcigarettes

Thanks a lot for the replies guys. I tend to overanalyze things a lot, so it looks like I might have been just worrying way too much.

I'm happy to hear that most employers are flexible when it comes to such things. I don't have the industry experience yet so I assume that no company would put me in a role that involves tight deadlines and proper understanding of their pipeline.

But as I mentioned, I haven't been given any specifics regarding the position, so I am hoping that they are merely looking for people to become a part of their team, rather than someone to quickly dive into the production. Of course, there's many people who are more skilled than me, so I don't want to get full of myself.

Neverthless, thanks for the replies. Now that I'm starting to put those worries past me, I should be able to feel more confident during the interview.

sltrOlsson

I am also a student - so wouldn't really know. But if you look at where the bar of quality lays, for getting a job in the biz, the company would wait a year to get you! :P That bar, you passed it like a year ago. No but seriously. You'r so good that the company will pretty much fight to get you hired.

Good luck!

Purplepaint

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=se0HnTUTOMY[/ame]

chrisradsby

I don't know man, the thing is: If they like your work and have someone else lined up as well and if you bring the bomb down that you'll be unavailable you might not get the position. I'd say take the job, industry experience is way better for learning than Uni anyways.

Can't do much about your personal stuff you need to take care of though. But then again, if you're good enough you will always have people contacting you about jobs, and from what I've seen man, you're really good.

Ride it out for now and see what happens, you'll get offers from other places as well in time. Studios always need good and efficient environment artists.

Autocon

I cant speak to studios having long interview processes as the two jobs I had and the third job offer I didnt take all wanted me to start immediately after the on site interview/job offer.

Totally agree with chrisadsby. I would defiantly think long and hard before you drop out of Uni to take a job right now when you are close to finishing. A degree helps so much if you are trying to work over seas its almost mandatory. You never know what the future might bring so I would take some time to think about that.

Everyone says "oh you can go back to Uni after a bit of experience" But really I think that is almost total BS. That is never going to happen, unless you get laid off, and even then you would be searching for a job too much. If you drop out just figure you will never go back and finish up because most likely you wont.


Like chrisadsby said, if you're good enough you will always have people contacting you about jobs.


And its clear form your folio you have a lot of talent and wont have a problem landing a sweet gig somewhere.

aesir

I had a similar experience. Finished an internship and was offered a job. My choice was quit school a year early and take the job, or stick with school. I stuck with school. The job certainly wasn't waiting for me when I got out. Who knows if I made the right choice or not. I got my current job in a large part because of my degree.

imyj

Hey there,

I figured I'd throw my opinion / experience into this thread too since I recognise your name Throughout my university course I was offered quite a number of interviews in different areas of computer arts. I was in the same position as you are now and I was unsure of what to do. I asked tutors/friends/colleagues what they would do if they were in my position and there wasn't really a definitive answer. It's the kind of thing you can only really figure out for yourself.

The main piece of advice I would give to you is that if you're good now; you'll be even better once you've graduated. In the games industry a degree doesn't mean much, but in the real world it actually counts for quite a lot, as mentioned above. The last thing you want to do is quit your course only to find out that the company you quit the job for has had to make cuts - it happens often in our industry.

I was given an interview at one of my fav companies at the start of my final year, and I went in thinking they would want to pull me out of uni but it turns out they just wanted to show that they were very interested and that they would take me on after I graduated. Because of this, I was super-motivated in my final year and pushed myself more than ever. In the year that I could have spent working in the industry, I had time to explore my own ideas and really push myself as an artist. I think I would have missed out on a lot of that if I just took that job on the spot.

I graduated, got my degree - and the job offers increased by a crazy amount, allowing me to have options I never thought would have existed a year or so ago. I never ended up at the company who offered me a job worth quitting uni for, but I went to a lot of other interviews (which all went well) and ended up at the job I'm at now.

TLDR; Enjoy your degree, push your art knowledge (including traditional), socialise, accept any interview which comes your way and do things you enjoy (like playing games? :P). A lot of working folk would kill for 4 month long summers again Oh and check out www.daretobedigital.com - it's a good way to spend your summer.

teaandcigarettes

Thanks a lot for the honest thoughts guys :thumbup: You’ve all made some really good points. I feel a lot more confident now that I know more about the experiences of others.

There’s one thing it think I should address. While I do agree that degree is not necessarily needed for a job I would still like to finish my course. I've always dreamt of travelling and working in various places and, as Autocon says, that's when a degree will come in handy. Also, I have to agree with imyj, student's life isn't all that bad :poly121:

I certainly won’t make any rash decisions and you've given me a lot to think about. I guess I will just try to go with the flow and do my best, regardless of the outcome. Thanks!