New hire comes into your studio -- what skills are they usually missing?

Alex_J

Is there some general things new people struggle with? The same type of stuff you see questions about here and elsewhere online? Baking issues, general workflow questions, lack of software understanding, so on?

Or is it more related to lack of game development experience? Struggles to get work done in time. Issues maintaining compatibility between lots of programs and lots of people. 

Or, maybe just trouble meeting art directors vision? Issues communicating in a team working at high speed? 


Just curious -- I understand every individual has their own experience, but maybe long-timer's notice some trends and can share wisdom.

CrackRockSteady

Required skills can vary depending on the exact position and the project being worked on, so if someone doesn't know a particular software or workflow that's generally not a big deal for me provided they're willing to learn.

What I've found to be the biggest issue are much more generalized skills like the ability to independently problem solve and overall organizational skills.

If a person gets frustrated easily and needs somebody's help at the first sign of trouble it can be a huge time sink that adds up over the course of a project.  I'm not saying you should never ask for help, but you should at least be able run through some basic attempts to solve an issue yourself before involving other people.  If you ask me for help with something and I'm able to solve your issue in under a minute because you didn't even put in a modicum of effort yourself, I'm probably going to quickly become annoyed.

Similarly, people who can't be bothered to name/organize files and documents in a way that makes it easy for other people to understand and pick up where you left off if needed.  I can't count the number of times that I've had sift through someone else's PSD file with 80 unnamed layers, turning each one on and off again to try to figure out wtf is going on, or dig through a .max file with every model dumped on a single layer and nothing named properly.  Even if you're working on a small scale project and you don't think anyone is ever going to touch the files except you, get into the habit of properly organizing and naming everything.  Chances are at some point somebody else may have to use the file, and they're going to want to punch your face in if they have to dig through a pile of crap just to export some model.

I wouldn't have expected these 2 things to be as big of a problem as they are, but I've seen issues with people lacking these basic skills come up again and again, even at the senior level.

Brian "Panda" Choi

Understanding how long it takes for them to complete things.

Professional tact. Looks in the mirror

Understanding office politics and culture.

Naming Conventions.

The stress involved with shipping a game.

Testing your own work IN ENGINE in a VALID BUILD/ENVIRONMENT.  Looks in the mirror

Etc.

Alex_J

Brian "Panda" Choi said:

Understanding how long it takes for them to complete things.

Professional tact. Looks in the mirror


Testing your own work IN ENGINE in a VALID BUILD/ENVIRONMENT.  Looks in the mirror

Haha. Well, you know, if you are too professional all the time nobody will trust you. So you got to say something off the wall every now and then. Let people know you're a human with moods and all that.

But yeah,  I can imagine some big issues being related to knowing how to communicate. Getting people on the same sheet of music and sticking to it is tough in any job. I kind of would expect -- at least in an established studios -- that new hires would be indoctrinated to a common language, enough that if you weren't using the professional lingo, people might look at you funny. 

beccatherose

That they have the responsibility to ask questions when they need to.  Choosing to not to ask how to do something/where to save a file/what their next task is/what task they need to prioritize due to nerves is a major and common waste of time.

Alex_J

Sounds like the kind of stuff I did when I was younger. Mostly due to a lack of confidence, insecurity, and trying to keep it all a big secret. What I learned later in life though is that people really like when you ask them a question (assuming you're sincere and not a pest about it), because it shows a certain level of respect towards them. I think, also, as you get older, you tend to just think less about yourself and your image and more about practical things. Like the work. So you just don't really think about "will this person think I'm a dummy?" You are just concerned with getting the job done right. I really think this sort of thing is just related to age and experience (or maybe maturity, which is not always correlated.)