QA as a stepping stone?
polycounter lvl 10
In December, I will be moving from North Carolina to San Franisco, due to my wife's job. I, personally, don't think I am skilled enough to get an Environmental Artist position... yet. You could look at the edit <Art> Dump I call a wip Portfolio and tell me I am wrong, but I doubt you will.
I am hoping to avoid working in Food Service, while continuing working on my portfolio and mod projects. Currently, I am doing a closed beta for a iOS beta, and it is actually kind of fun trying to break the game and point out flaws, for hours and hours on end... Which, finally, leads me to my questions:
How tough is it to get into a QA position?
When should I apply for a posistion, since I won't be in the the city until December
Do I need to do a resume geared less towards Modeling and more towards... what?
Is it a good idea to try to do this?
Breasts in return for help!
I am hoping to avoid working in Food Service, while continuing working on my portfolio and mod projects. Currently, I am doing a closed beta for a iOS beta, and it is actually kind of fun trying to break the game and point out flaws, for hours and hours on end... Which, finally, leads me to my questions:
How tough is it to get into a QA position?
When should I apply for a posistion, since I won't be in the the city until December
Do I need to do a resume geared less towards Modeling and more towards... what?
Is it a good idea to try to do this?
Breasts in return for help!
Replies
Which studio? Our inhouse QA are pretty integrated, in fact our Associate Producer came up through our inhouse QA ...
I have been working in QA since 2006. I had heard that working in QA was the first step towards a rewarding career in the game industry. In the years that I've worked for a number of studios, I've had some of the best, most memorable, experiences as well as the worst that I do not care to look back on. I've led one of the best team of professionals, but also worked along with those whose jobs could easily be done by arm-less monkeys. I've gone from a faceless minion in a dark, cold, windowless cave, to an office with a view as a Lead, and back again. It matters little what you know as long as QA is still in your title.
How tough is it to get into a QA position?
Again, depends. For the larger studios going through expansion, all you need is opposable thumbs and two brain cells to rub together. You'll most likely start as a Contract worker, and remain that way as long as legally possible. That way they can boot your ass at any time for any reason. You're expendable and always the first to be laid-off. This goes to show how valuable any single QA person is viewed within the industry. In my experience, most large studios will hire anyone for QA, and it's often about who you know. In more than one occassion I've work with folks who were barely computer literate, but at one occassion in their life, played World or Warcraft. It's sad to think that's a resume piece. You'll likely work in a separate building, floor, or country from the developers. You'll be last in line to receive any perks, like a T-shirt of the product you spent years on working 10-14 hour days. But you may be provided all the soda and candy bars you want.
As mentioned, for smaller (smarter) studios, you'll work along side the developers and get the chance to network, and build friendships. You'll have more of an opportunity for advancement as the team grows. But you're still at the mercy of an unexpected layoff, leaving you back in the job market to start over again.
The one aspect of QA that will benefit you as an artist looking to land in the industry, as that it will give you the viewpoint to observe how the development process works. You'll possibly learn Agile, Tracking Software, SVN, etc., maybe even some design tools.
In your resume, highlight your knowledge of game genres, recent titles, and design aspects that appeal to you. More importantly, demonstrate your writing skill, and knowledge of office software. Overall, be a nice person that most people can get along with. You'll be stuck with a team that you spend more time with than your own friends and family. It's best not to be an asshole.
Don't gear your resume towards any other departments. QA managers are looking for one thing in particular, and it's not artistic talent. Keep that within a separate resume to send out while QA teaches you the ropes. In the meantime, network. Make friends that will not only inspire you, but could one day assist you in landing the position you aim for.
Good luck.
So..nope, didn't work for me at least. But I did end up getting an art job in an unrelated field, in part due to my experience there.
Start now. Any Industry related job opportunity I've been presented with took a few months from the time I applied to landing(or not) the job. Of course, its highly unlikely you can expect any help with relocation, so they will probably expect you to show up for an in-person interview on your own dime.
Not tough at all, as long as you are personable. Many of the people I worked with were straight out of high school.
I kinda had a hybrid...I mentioned skills I learned in school and whatnot, but it was pretty generic otherwise. Its not like I really had much to put on there at the time anyways.
Up to you, but the way I see it: Its a jerb. You'll get paid, and have the chance to possibly network with people. If it doesn't pan out for you, find another job. At least youll have something to start, and who knows, it might work out for you.
Thanks for the breasts.
Don't ever talk about your work like that...even if you feel that way, lack of confidence in yourself will make other people doubt you more.
Good luck with the hunt! San Fran would be a cool place to live.
I've been stuck in QA for longer than I care to admit and it just drains me mentally and physically and gets in the way of everything I love.
Where I work there's been little to no chance to move into a development role, although myself and some other exceptional peers have been forcing a trend of it. I think it is like this in a lot of cases. Companies want you there to find bugs, they don't care if you're an artist. The people you work with might, and it might be good times, but there will always be some kind of management and bureaucracy in place to keep you down.
Sorry for the pessimism. Good Luck with whichever path you choose to follow.
It was really nice, but I would be very careful of going that route as well, you might get stuck and it's a lot of work. I'd say you're good enough, just keep working and try to apply to different studios in the area you're moving to.
My plan:
1 Do a resume stressing schooling and love of games and apply for the QA posistions around San Fransico.
2 Whip my art dump into shape, Do a bunch of break downs and post in the PnP
3 Maintain my 4.0 through this last semester of school.
4 Finish my environment in PnP and get it into my portfolio.
5 Send Portfolio out to studios around San Fransico.
6 Continue working on my Group project and hope they get the engine running at some point...
In a QA position, hope I don't get a job that works me 18 hours a day so I can continue improving.
The reason I am hoping for a QA position rather than just getting a job at McD's, is that I want to immerse myself into games, rather than just when I boot up Max. Being able to talk to actual artist face to face a would be tremendous help, but I don't expect it or feel entitled to it, just because I would be a tester. Does that make sense?
Thank you guys so much for taking time to post!
You want to immerse yourself in game development? Get Unity or UDK, join an independent team, and make games.
If possible, get into art QA in a developer support role, though there aren't many of these positions out there. It took me many months of working part time and then many more months of full time before I had even met an artist. Now I work with the Art Director, lead modelers, technical artists etc. every day and have a chance to do a bit of art as well.
The most important thing is that you keep doing art. This cannot be stressed enough. Many people (including me) have lost motivation at some point. It's tough, but that's what we signed up for when deciding to go into a very competitive field.
@Greevar Living without a job is not possible for some people.
What is this UDK thing of which you speak?
Is it like this thing? (made by me)
[ame]
Or this?
http://www.polycount.com/forum/showthread.php?t=86920
Of this unity project, programming and models by me.
http://dl.dropbox.com/u/4593834/Tube%20Runner/WebPlayer/WebPlayer/WebPlayer.html
Or the group project for Dreambuild I have been working on?
Sorry Greevar, but come on....
I appologize greezar
You'll hear it on a rare occasion, but most of the time you'll end up just building a resume of QA experience... which leads to more QA work. Once that happens, you start to realize, now that I have 3 years of QA experience, do I really want to gamble in trying to apply for positions outside of what I already have several years of experience with?
I have a friend that is a pretty good artist, but started doing QA. Now she has almost 2 years of QA experience and a decent portfolio, but has been funneled into the spiral of QA now that she has experience as QA on 4 different major AAA titles.
Just practice, practice, practice. You can always apply for positions to other studios as well.
So do freelance art, QA, and inquire (though not too aggressively) to companies for internships and junior positions. These positions are often not advertised, and even though they have nothing for you now, they may down the road. If your clients or arthouse let you post the work you've done for them on your portfolio, great. Keep working on the portfolio.
It doesn't work the same but everyone, but for me, when I had more things going on as opposed to being unemployed and just doing portfolio stuff, it was easier for me to set deadlines and focus. And I was generally happier too.
Good luck man, there's already tons of advice from people who've been through the ropes of QA here. Just keep in mind that working your way up is a lot harder now than it was a decade or two ago. The market is over saturated and it's tougher to stand out, even if you're going to be an internal applicant.
Sweden tend to have internships and entry-level positions