I have an interview next week as a games tester and wondered if anyone had any good advice. Maybe a list of do’s and don’ts Cheers

Don't be phoney.

Do explain why you think you'd be a good tester (hint - wanting to play free games isn't the right answer -- I'd tell you the right answer, but if you don't know it you probably shouldn't get the job).

Do be professional.

Do know the company and it's titles.

Do ask questions.

If you are getting this job in hope of moving on to "bigger" things (eg a programmer in the company) tell them. It will show that you are interested in the bigger picture and that you want to have long term future with the company.

Also let them know that you understand that game testing isn't "fun" and it's not just playing games. Explain to them the technical skills you have, this is important as the people reading your bug reports will usually be programmers and the more technical you can be the easier it is for us.

And as my dad always said, talk slowly and clearly, good luck and let us know how you get on.

Doolwind

They may ask you what games have you played lately and if you've found any bugs in them. If you have, they'll ask you about the bug, so try to describe it as if you were writing a bug report (a description of the bug and how to reliably reproduce it). They may also ask why you think that a bug actually made it into a shipped product. The wrong answer if that the test department must have missed it. The right answer is that the tester department more than likely found and reported the bug, but for some reason the development team decided not to fix it, usually this happens due to schedule concerns. And those issues are usually addressed in a patch.

Oh, also don't forget to ask questions to your interviewer, it shows interest, I worked closely to the people that interviewed me and they would always be more likely to pass on the people that didn't ask questions. You can ask stuff like, what product would you most likely work on if you were to be hired, when that project is expected to ship.

And it doesn't hurt to send a thank you email after your interview, nothing too long, just a short "thank you for your time" kind of thing.

I'd ask them what there testing system was - do they have a procedure for filing bug reports which the programmers read and subsequently file investigation results and a test, or simply you play it and see if it breaks.

I did interview testers before. Most want this job as a stepping stone to a better position in the company, potentially as a programmer; they're the smart ones but they have to prove their potential.

My usual question to them was: "You logged a major bug 2 weeks ago, and programmer X assigned to the bug reports he will close the bug because it cannot be reproduced. What do you do?"

The harsh reality is that there is no general answer to this one because each company has its own culture about it. But there are 3 reasons why bugs suddently dissapear (and no, they didn't go on strike and walked away!).

1) the tester smoked pot (i.e. bad/wrong build, incompatible game assets, spurious computer malfunction, buggy graphics driver, mixed debug/retail DLLs, ...)

2) the bug was fixed already (i.e. a similar bug was reported and fixed, programmer Y found the bug and fixed it, the code was removed / deprecated ...)

3) someone fixed another bug, thus masking this one in the process. This is by far the most dangerous case.

A programmer's job is to determine which case is the correct one and take appropriate action. YOUR job as a tester is to help the programmer eliminate case 1. The better tester will go the extra mile in trying to help eliminate case 2. The exceptional tester will also look at the code and help determine if case 3 is at work. It takes not only very skilled testers to cover all 3 cases, but only those with the political flair and tact will get respect from the prima donas.

I've found something good for any interview is getting some background about the company from its website, etc.

My now manager was really impressed in my interview when he asked if I knew anything about the company and I just reeled off loads of stuff. Don;t make it sound like you just memorised it though - they often ask this question to see if you've done your research, and to see how interested you are in working for their company. Loyalty is a big thing, and if you can show you not only want THIS job, but you want to work for THIS company then it's good.

Hope that makes sense!

Thanks for the advice guys, I'll let you know how I get on.