Hi, I''m a college student and when I''m not in college (3 months during the summer) I''d like to try to get some practical experience related to games. I think the best thing would be if I could get something in the game industry with an established company. I have some questions, if anyone might be able to answer I''d really appreciate it! 1) Do game companies even hire for "summer jobs"? 2) How much in advance should I apply for a job? 3) I will probably go into QA since I don''t have years of experience under my belt as a programmer. So, for a testing job is there anything I should do to prepare myself to be a more qualified candidiate? Thanks a lot, Raj

1) The larger ones do


2) As far in advance as possible - some have waiting lists!


3) For testers:
a. Be able to complete games. No good if you get stuck early on in a game you''re testing. [Though cheat modes are put in for test too].

b. Be a decent games player (expect interviews where you might be going head to head with another tester on a popular game ).

c. Keen eye for detail and things out of place.

d. Excellent communication skills (face to face, phone, written) - if a tester finds a bug they need to be able to communicate that bug to the programmers in such a way that the problem is clear and the steps required to reproduce it are clear.

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Simon O''Connor
Creative Asylum Ltd
www.creative-asylum.com

Thank you for the reply! It was really helpful. By the way I checked out your webpage for Creative Asylum. It''s very impressive!

Raj