Not loads sure if this is quite the right forum for this, but I have got an interview with E.A. in the UK next week and I was wondering if anybody has any tips? And yes, I have heard all the horror stories about E.A., but it's such a thrill to think that my life-long dream of working for a games company might actually come true that I don't really care. By biggest question is a slightly silly sounding one - do I need a haircut? I've been living by the coast for the last year, and in that time I've developed a fairly long, shaggy-haired surfer look - do I need to 'smarten up', or are games companies likely to be a bit more chilled about that kind of thing than some other employers?

If you get the job with short hair you can grow it back (and if they don't like it they will just tell you). If you don't get the job because they don't like the way you look it is going to be a lot harder to get a second chance. Of course you could always phone HR and ask.

You only get one chance to make a first impression. So think about how valuable the job is to you, and how badly you want to prepare for it.

I would go in trying to make the best possible impression I can, and in my experience, this often happens in the first few seconds: how you dress, how you look, how you make eye contact, how broadly you smile, how comfortable you make the other party feel by the way you acknowledge them with your body language, how well you shake their hand, and the eye contact (length of time, look of genuinity, confidence; you get the idea).

That's all the intrinsics. Move on to the socialities: thank them for their time, be glad to meet them and say so warmly, make a compliment about the architecture of the structure if warranted, and then make an observation about something in their office that catches your eye that you can express (and possibly create a mutual interest) something briefly but knowledgeably about.

Use that as a transition to more professional topics after a few minutes, ask them how long they have been working there, how do they enjoy their position, etc. HR ppl often dread interviews. They can be amazingly boring, and your job is to be the opposite of that. Give them a little interest in what they are about professionally, and it will pay off professionally and personally for you. A lot of people who give a good interview, even if they don't get the job, have made a great impression that the HR person will make a positive remakr about at the HR ppl's local organization meeting, and that can pay off in networking at the next firm or the next.

As to the interview: do your homework. What is the job you are applying for, how articulate can you be in the subject, demonstrating how capable you are of doing the job, and knowing a lot about it before hitting the ground in their firm. Talk also about how your job interfaces with other departments, so they know you know how to work with other people. Be *really* articulate. People skills rate high, and listening is a big part of that. Use phrases like, "I really want to understand what you just said, so do you mean this or that?" Above all, people want to be understood, so make sure you are displaying communications sensitivity and adroitness. Use it to create synergy.

In the personal part of the interview before the business talk begins, give him a little history about you personally (they might even ask about it formally) so you can relate how you are broad, stable, not insane, love what you do, have stable and happy relationships and backgroud. I'd avoid the lone fanatic coder approach unless they answer to the affirmative when you ask, "What are you looking for in the "blahdeblah" position?"

Try to show some forsight by talking about how you would like to grow out of the position you are applying for into the next level of your career, and where you would like to go from there and then the ultimate of the career of careers.

Good luck, and break a leg, as we say in show business for good luck.

Adventuredesign

If it's for a technical position your appearance probably won't matter much. You don't want to be a slob but you don't need perfect teeth and hair either.

As somebody who's been on the interviewer side of things a lot, people trying to schmooze me is just annoying. I have a very limited time to get a grasp on your skills and want to get to business right away. A question or two in the beginning is fine but don't spend 15 minutes trying to impress me with your social skills.

Know your basics. It's amazing the number of people that apply for programmer positions but can't code atoi or something similarly trivial. My advise if you're a C/C++ guy is to work your way through the various C string handling routines and re-implement them yourself for practice. Don't hedge your resume - if you claim to be an expert C++ programmer with 7 years experience and I find you don't know what a virtual function is you've pretty much got a no-hire.

If you have to code something up ask a few questions to make sure you understand the problem and the scope of the expected solution. As best you can keep up a commentary about what you're doing - watching somebody spend 20 minutes coding in silence doesn't tell me much about how they solve problems. Getting something that works is more important than writing the tightest code. Point out areas that could be optimized as you're going and come back to them afterwords if there's time. Describe test cases, important boundary conditions, assumptions, etc.

Don't forget to breathe. It can be a stressful experience but try to relax and you'll do better.

Hm, my paragraphs disappeared...

Quote: Original post by AndyGeers
Not loads sure if this is quite the right forum for this, but I have got an interview with E.A. in the UK next week and I was wondering if anybody has any tips? And yes, I have heard all the horror stories about E.A., but it's such a thrill to think that my life-long dream of working for a games company might actually come true that I don't really care.

By biggest question is a slightly silly sounding one - do I need a haircut? I've been living by the coast for the last year, and in that time I've developed a fairly long, shaggy-haired surfer look - do I need to 'smarten up', or are games companies likely to be a bit more chilled about that kind of thing than some other employers?

Probablly not for the job, though I'd reconsider the long hair look in general for other reasons (its not popular among women anymore ;). A nice well trimmed hair cut isn't a bad investment.

Anyway, I interview developers all the time. Sometimes, they wear suits. Sometimes they have long hair, sometimes they have no hair. It doesn't matter. If you love your long hair, don't cut it.

There is plenty of good advice. My personal advice - be firm but polite. You need to strike a balance between being assertive but not arrogent. If your not an expert in something, don't pretend to be. One thing I will say : If you have projects you have worked on for fun, then talk about them! These are major plusses because they show initiative.

Of course, I interview developers, not artists, designers or other positions. However, those positions are far more portfolia based anyway.

Quote: Original post by AndyGeers
I have heard all the horror stories about E.A., but it's such a thrill to think that my life-long dream of working for a games company might actually come true that I don't really care.

This sentence will haunt you.