So im finishing up a contract position with a very large very well known software giant. Before I had this contract a job was hard to find. Well a week ago I submitted my resume and have 5 interviews. Two of which are huge game studios, three are more commercial software of varying types. Heres my delima my first interview I had today, it went great. It actually went so great they want me onboard now. They even skipped the the original offer of 12 month contract to hire and went straight to hire (with more pay then I asked for). The issue is the company dosent make games. Although I have never currently worked at a game studio it is where my heart is if you will. So they wanted to know now if I want the job, but I convinced them to give me until tommorow to decide. I dont have my first game programmer interview until friday. So im not sure if I should play it safe and take the position, or barin it out for more time and go for the game position interview, or go all out and deny it and hope that I get the game position (which is guarented not to pay as well, but I may enjoy it more) Any advice? thanks.

You should wait.

If they actually want you that bad, they'll be willing to wait. Even if they want you for something urgent, they should be willing to wait at least one week before needing a decision. Depending on the position and the company's need, you might be able to get several weeks, but I wouldn't push it.

Just say "I have some other interviews I need to complete before I make my decision." Ask them when they need to hear your decision by. Contact them as soon as you make a decision.

That would be a good time to negotiate your pay, paid time off (PTO), and other benefits with them. Pay extra critical attention to PTO and holidays, since company policies vary greatly. Some places will try to give you only 5 or 10 days, which is only 1-2 weeks, less than what other industries use for sick leave. Also, some places require you to use PTO on holidays. Find out their policies before signing.


You should call the other companies and tell them that you have had offers elsewhere. Explain that you are interested in working with them, and would like them to speed the process along if they still consider you as a candidate. If they know you are a hot-potato, they will often act quicker -- for better or worse.

Once you have offers in hand, make a decision and notify all the people who offered you jobs about your choice.

Oh, and congratulations.

I was recently in the same position myself. I was phone screened/interviewed for maybe 7 positions, and was offered the 6th - by the way, has anyone else noticed that most recruiters that call you appearantly don't even bother *reading* your resume? My first 5 interviews were wildly off-base from my interests and skillset - Anyhow, I still had an interview scheduled, as well as some outstanding applications I had yet to hear back on. The 7th interview was in the games group at microsoft (the standing offer was in the Mobile group) which was more where I wanted to be: Closer to my interests, Higher position, More pay... Obviously, I wanted to see where that would lead, so when I was offered the first position I simply said that I would love to work for them, but that I had other opportunities to see through before I could make a decision.

If they're serious about you, they will give you a week, you could probably even get two, depending on the circumstances and the strength of other applicants. They aren't going to pull a "take it or leave it" approach with you, and if they did, odds are that you wouldn't want to work for such a childish company anyhow. Good developers are worth their weight in gold, most companies know this. If they've made a strong offer so soon, you can bet that they're very intent on having you.

Also, don't worry about hurting their feelings if you are offered another position and turn theirs down. Business is business, which is another fact that they're surely aware of. Be professional and curtious about it and everything will be fine.

Alright thanks guys, I will see if I can get a week and wing it to see if I get any better offers. I will also check the PTO policy thanks for that I would have skipped right over it thinking only about the pay.

Thanks again.

Quote: Original post by Wolfdog
Alright thanks guys, I will see if I can get a week and wing it to see if I get any better offers. I will also check the PTO policy thanks for that I would have skipped right over it thinking only about the pay.

Ask for two weeks if you think you might need it. If they say they can't wait that long, then settle for one.

I agree with everyone else, if they say the deal is off and they cannot wait a week, then they are just trying to pressure you into taking the position before you finish looking into anything else.

I'm in a really similar position right now. I don't want to hijack your thread, but I'm interested in hearing what people have to think.

I moved to Japan a couple of months ago, and right now am working as an english teacher. I have been applying for other work in development and have also had one interview, which I'm waiting to hear back from over the next couple of days (admittedly, I'm not too confident about it. Was grilled on a lot of technologies I'm a little unfamiliar with)

Obviously, I'd love to work in game development. But right now, my language skills aren't really there, and I suspect my games portfolio would be nowhere near strong enough (it just takes so much time to put these demo's together!).

The thing is, I know that in my current position I'm not advancing my career (or life, really) at all. My experience teaching english is going to be useless anywhere else. Maybe whilst I'm working on my language skills, I should just try and land a job in application development where there is a greater demand for english speaking developers. Either that or stick out the english teaching gig and spend all my free time hammering out some better demo's, then hoping for the best....

(I think I've already made my decision really. I guess I'm just hoping a few people post "yeah, your doing the right thing!" :P)

"Tesl" wrote:

>I'd love to work in game development. But right now, my language skills aren't really there, and I suspect my games portfolio would be nowhere near strong enough (it just takes so much time to put these demo's together!).

It DOES take time to get ready for a game career. You have to keep working at it.

>The thing is, I know that in my current position I'm not advancing my career (or life, really) at all.

I'm guessing that you're very young (in your twenties)? Just working and living, you are maturing - and that's very important for both career and life. It takes time to become an adult worth hiring. Make use of the time.

>My experience teaching english is going to be useless anywhere else.

You are learning about responsibility, human relations, psychology, and communication...

>Maybe whilst I'm working on my language skills, I should just try and land a job in application development where there is a greater demand for english speaking developers.

Any kind of job is fine.

>Either that or stick out the english teaching gig and spend all my free time hammering out some better demo's, then hoping for the best....

If you don't make demos, you won't get into the game biz. It sounds like you are only making demos TO get into the game biz - not because you have a passion for making demos. That's a shame. Because if you don't have a passion for the work, you won't get into the biz (or if you do, you won't stay in it long).

>(I think I've already made my decision really. I guess I'm just hoping a few people post "yeah, your doing the right thing!"

You're doing some things right, and some things wrong. You have some attitudes that need maturing, in my opinion. And you need to improve your Nihongo too. All that stuff is going to take more time.

Thanks Tom, I appreciate your insight :)

Who knows, maybe I don't have the passion of game development that others have. I certaintly enjoy making games (more than playing them, I expect) but at this point in my life am finding it difficult to find the time to put into them! =)

Yeah, I'm 21 so still got plenty of time. I do have material I can show and I have written a variety of small games. I'm at times a little overwhelmed when I see some of the work being done by other developers on here (many of whom are still looking for work in the field) and I appreciate that I'm not quite there yet =)

As for my comment about teaching english, I'm referring more to improving my skills relating to this field. Though I do appreciate that it is these experiences that help me grow as a person, the job satisfaction isn't there (because I know I'm not doing what it is I want to do!)

Right now I'm searching for a few positions as an application developer, and I think this will probably suit me fine right now. Given a few more years to improve my japanese and my skills, and giving myself more time to perfect some small games/tools, I will hopefully be in a fairly strong position by this stage :)

Quote: Original post by Tesl
I'm referring more to improving my skills relating to this field. Though I do appreciate that it is these experiences that help me grow as a person, the job satisfaction isn't there (because I know I'm not doing what it is I want to do!)

You think I didn't know that? I've been there. I read between the lines. It's going to take TIME to get where you're trying to go. In the meantime, you're living in Japan. How great is that?