Showing posts with label game testing. Show all posts
Showing posts with label game testing. Show all posts

2010/02/02

Video Game Tester Job Openings - 2 Quick Tips for Faster Employment

Getting video game tester job openings is no easy task. Truth be told, it can be damn near impossible for beginners, especially for those whom don't know a thing about video game testing. So, the big, game review, question is: how can a professional video game tester make landing jobs easier? Well, he can start by reading a few game testing tips.Tip 1: Start Networking With Others!Believe it or not, the success of your video game tester career may heavily rely on your network of contacts. What is a network? Basically, it's a group of people that you know within your industry that can help you progress in your career.



Will any type of network help you advance in your testing career? No, unfortunately. In order for your, game review, network to be able to actually help you, it has to be filled with reliable contacts, game review, from the gaming industry. If your "network" is only made up of friends and family, how do you expect to land any video game tester job openings? With that being said, begin to network with, game review, as many people in the gaming industry as humanly possible. Concept artists, graphics designers, audio, game review, specialists, programmers, developers, testers,, game review, and anyone else that has a career related to video games.



The, game review, more, game review, people you know in the video game industry, the more strings you can ultimately pull.What can your network do for you? Plenty of things. The biggest of which is putting in a good word for you when you submit an application, game review, for a testing job. Having a man on the inside is definitely a great way to ensure that you get high paying assignments. Aside from that, they can also let you in on job openings and any big news that is being hidden from the public.



All in all, a reliable network is a great resource that no video game tester should be without. Second Tip: Stop Sitting Around & Get Yourself Out There!There are not going to be any "video game tester, game review, wanted" ads in the paper, so you'll have to get out of the old "newspaper job search" mindset. You have to realize that game developers are indeed looking for game testers,, game review, but they aren't searching high and low for them. Why not? Because they know that the game testers will come to them, that's why.



If they were to advertise the fact that, game review, they need, game review, testers, they would likely be swarmed with gamer, not game tester, applications. What's the difference? Well, a gamer application is submitted by a person who just wants to play video games all day long and get paid for it. A game tester application is submitted by a professional video game tester who knows that he will be paid to complete a job, period. Whether he has fun or not is of little concern;, game review, the fact in the matter is that he is being paid, game review, to test a video game, not just to play it.



As you can clearly see, developers want game tester applications and nothing else; which is precisely why they don't widely advertise their job openings.Since the companies & developers aren't actively searching for you, what do you think you should do? Look for them of course! Therefore, if you want a video game tester job, you must head directly to the developers and apply for one. It doesn't sound that tough, does it? Well as usual, it's much easier said than done.To get a developer to give you for a testing job, you have, game review, to convince them that you are indeed a qualified video game tester.



How can you do that? By simply telling them about your experience in the video game industry. Let them know about the games you've played, online communities you are apart of (MMORPGs, websites, clubs,, game review, forums, etc), accomplishments you've made, and what consoles you own & play regularly. Also, if you have a blog/website that covers video game related news, such as cheats, hints,, game review, tips, glitches,, game review, reviews, previews, etc. make sure that they know about it.



Remember, any and all experience with video games will help your cause, so don't be shy. The more experience you've got, the better off you'll be.



2010/01/11

The 2 Most Crucial Skills In Game Testing

There are two major skills that are absolutely crucial for a game tester to have.

I'd even go as far to say that even with all your qualifications and experience, without these skills you'd find it very hard to get a game testing job.

What are they you ask?

1. You must be able to communicate effectively.

I'll put in another way for you:

You must have great communication skills.
By this I mean you need to be able to express exactly what your, game review, thoughts are so that everybody is on the same terms and knows, game review, how to go about fixing the issue.



2. You must be able to transfer these, game review,, game review, good communication skills into your writing.

When programmers are reading your bug report, they need to know exactly what the problem is and how to reproduce it. They don't want to waste any time trying to understand, game review, what you have written.

Your writing needs to be clear enough that anybody in could pick up the bug report and understand what the problem is and how to fix it.

Now don't get me wrong, none of that is easy to do, even for those that are natural speakers or writers.



But there are a few relatively easy exercises you can do to improve your communication and writing skills, game review, .

Exercise 1

This, game review, exercise involves choosing a simple object (such as a paper clip, watch, flower etc) and without actually hinting to what the object is, writing a description of how to draw it.

Then see how many people can follow your instructions and draw the object, then correctly guess what they have drawn.

Exercise 2

This is an extension of the previous exercise, but bringing the game, game review, testing aspect into it.



Next time you are playing a game and happen to find a cool glitch, rather than just showing your friends, write a description of the glitch and email it to your friends to see if they can reproduce it.

Exercise 3

This exercise simply acts, game review, , game review, to improve your, game review,, game review, writing skill, but if you do it correctly you might be able to use, game review, it as an example of your expertise in the video game industry.

The exercise involves starting your own blog.



You can do this for free at blogger.com

Your blog could include game reviews, latest game news, cheats and tips... and of course descriptions of glitches.

Remember, these exercises don't have to be done all the time (however the more often you do them the better you will become), the key is to develop a simple routine to practice your writing skills.

It's going to take time but when it comes to game testing, you are going to have to do a, game review, lot of writing... and the only way to improve your writing is to practice.



For more FREE information on how to become a game tester, be sure to visit The FREE How To
Become A Game Tester Course

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