Interview in gamedev industry
Although the article about the interview in Zingu already skipped on Habré , I want to tell you about how interviews are held in gamedev programmers and how to prepare for them. Interviews are very different, and what is asked for interviews in Sweden, in Canada or in Russia may differ markedly. So, first things first.
Programming interviews are useful even if you are not looking for a new job. First, you can find out your weaknesses. Secondly (if successful), find out your value. Thirdly, practice before the skill becomes useful. Unfortunately, no one has yet come up with the perfect way to interview programmers, so the skill of passing an interview does not always correlate with the real skill.
So, you decided to pass an interview and even roughly imagine where. Fine! What are the ways to get to the interview?
So, going back to point 2, what are the good and bad external eychary? Let's start with the pros.
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Firstly, he has connections within the company, which means that the resume will not fall into spam, but will come to Eychar. Secondly, in the case of delays, he will kick anyone, and the interview will not hang for weeks (months). Thirdly, he can forward you to several companies and try to arrange interviews so that you have time to compare offers. Fourthly, through him you can often get hints on what can be expected at the interview - because his former colleague Haychar works there, he has already arranged someone there, etc. Finally, in the case of Feil, he can try to get a feedback In all other cases, Western companies never give out feedback to avoid risks. Through him, it is sometimes more comfortable to bargain, and often can suggest what is worth asking and what is not.
Minuses? Obviously, the company pays such a recruiter, and a lot. Therefore, all other things being equal, the candidate who came in another way (internal referral, by sending a resume, the nahanti themselves, etc.) will be cheaper. But, usually external recruiters are attracted precisely for hard-to-fill positions, so there will not be a long queue. Secondly, if you have already sent your resume to the office, the recruiter will not work with you - this law has a law under which you "belong" to the one who first regreted you. You can consult with a recruiter, but keep your ear open - external HRN is interested in arranging you for a company as soon as possible under any conditions.
Questions, suggestions, comments in the comments, as always, are welcome. Well, your experience, of course.
So, your resume was attracted to the specialists in the office, the office theoretically agreed to deal with your relocation (to issue a visa, if necessary, to pay for the relocation, etc.), and your name is for an interview. What will happen next?
If the office is western - there will definitely be several phone screenings. The goal is simple - weed out as soon as possible worthless candidates, spending as little money / time as possible. In Russia, for some reason, this form is often neglected - but in vain.
The first screening will always be with HR. It is very difficult to file it. Usually, they will ask about experience in general, the reasons for wanting to change jobs (even if they contacted you) when you can start and the possibility of moving. There may be slightly exotic questions: during an interview from Montreal I was asked how I feel about what they say in French. All obviously need to respond positively. In game devs, technical questions are rarely asked even by technical aid engineers.
If successful, screening with technical experts happens. There may be several screenings, as well as several specialists. They last from 15 minutes to one and a half hours. What questions are there to expect?
Sometimes instead of / with technical screening a test happens. It happens the following types:
With the successful completion of these stages, usually (but not always) you will be called on onsite. But about this - in the next issue, there will be interest among the respectable public.
Why
Programming interviews are useful even if you are not looking for a new job. First, you can find out your weaknesses. Secondly (if successful), find out your value. Thirdly, practice before the skill becomes useful. Unfortunately, no one has yet come up with the perfect way to interview programmers, so the skill of passing an interview does not always correlate with the real skill.
How
So, you decided to pass an interview and even roughly imagine where. Fine! What are the ways to get to the interview?
- The internal member of the company wrote to you. One of the best options is to achieve this, you need to have the desired company profile and detail it on linkedIn'e
- Posted external Eychar. A good option, has its pros and cons, see below;
- There is a friend in the company. This acquaintance sends a resume to internal Eichar (receiving a bonus if successful), then (if there is a vacancy) see clause 1;
- Fill out a form on the site / respond to a vacancy on a bulletin board / write an email, etc. Once a year and a stick shoots. I shot a couple of times.
Who
So, going back to point 2, what are the good and bad external eychary? Let's start with the pros.
')
Firstly, he has connections within the company, which means that the resume will not fall into spam, but will come to Eychar. Secondly, in the case of delays, he will kick anyone, and the interview will not hang for weeks (months). Thirdly, he can forward you to several companies and try to arrange interviews so that you have time to compare offers. Fourthly, through him you can often get hints on what can be expected at the interview - because his former colleague Haychar works there, he has already arranged someone there, etc. Finally, in the case of Feil, he can try to get a feedback In all other cases, Western companies never give out feedback to avoid risks. Through him, it is sometimes more comfortable to bargain, and often can suggest what is worth asking and what is not.
Minuses? Obviously, the company pays such a recruiter, and a lot. Therefore, all other things being equal, the candidate who came in another way (internal referral, by sending a resume, the nahanti themselves, etc.) will be cheaper. But, usually external recruiters are attracted precisely for hard-to-fill positions, so there will not be a long queue. Secondly, if you have already sent your resume to the office, the recruiter will not work with you - this law has a law under which you "belong" to the one who first regreted you. You can consult with a recruiter, but keep your ear open - external HRN is interested in arranging you for a company as soon as possible under any conditions.
Questions, suggestions, comments in the comments, as always, are welcome. Well, your experience, of course.
Screening
So, your resume was attracted to the specialists in the office, the office theoretically agreed to deal with your relocation (to issue a visa, if necessary, to pay for the relocation, etc.), and your name is for an interview. What will happen next?
If the office is western - there will definitely be several phone screenings. The goal is simple - weed out as soon as possible worthless candidates, spending as little money / time as possible. In Russia, for some reason, this form is often neglected - but in vain.
The first screening will always be with HR. It is very difficult to file it. Usually, they will ask about experience in general, the reasons for wanting to change jobs (even if they contacted you) when you can start and the possibility of moving. There may be slightly exotic questions: during an interview from Montreal I was asked how I feel about what they say in French. All obviously need to respond positively. In game devs, technical questions are rarely asked even by technical aid engineers.
If successful, screening with technical experts happens. There may be several screenings, as well as several specialists. They last from 15 minutes to one and a half hours. What questions are there to expect?
- Technical, requiring a clear answer. A good list is here . In principle, this is the upper bound, more difficult, usually, they do not ask;
- Writing on an online notepad is usually a problem that can be easily solved in 5 minutes;
- Subject questions are obviously without much detail for which pen and paper are needed. For example, what are the methods of GI, if the position of the graphic programmer;
- How did this and that of the specified in the summary - with about the same details as the previous paragraph.
Sometimes instead of / with technical screening a test happens. It happens the following types:
- Write a small program (function) for a limited time (an example is a link from the previous list);
- Write a game (space invaders) / optimize something in the framework / write a system utility (for example, a memory manager) / a small application during the week (maximum two). It is very important to understand what they want to see. Usually, it is better not to wind up virtual functions and features - but write as clean, simple and optimal code as possible;
- Test for time. There is a certain list of questions and a fixed time (from 45 minutes to 2 hours) for which you need to send the test back / fill out the form online. Questions are divided into sections (C ++, algorithms, hardware, specialty, etc.) - you need to answer at least a question from the section. Often (but not always) the test is made up in such a way that there is not enough time to answer all the questions (even if you immediately type from the head). Obviously, you must first respond to the most simple. Quite often, questions can be downloaded / compiled - but this is entirely on your conscience. Sometimes a similar test is given for a week - usually, then the questions are more difficult / require a more detailed answer.
With the successful completion of these stages, usually (but not always) you will be called on onsite. But about this - in the next issue, there will be interest among the respectable public.
Source: https://habr.com/ru/post/238205/
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