Aug
6
Let’s face it: it isn’t easy getting noticed amongst the hundreds of resumes that deluge our offices each year. It takes an exceptional resume, from an exceptionally talented individual, to stand out from the crowd. Unfortunately, we suspect many talented people are not getting the attention they deserve because of some simple mistakes in their resumes or a lack of understanding of what we are looking for in a game programmer, artist, musician, or other development position.
That’s where this guide comes in. While reading and following the suggestions in this guide won’t guarantee you a job at Blizzard, it will increase your chances by letting you know how you can best present yourself (and your talents). So let’s get started:
The Basics
Do us a favor. Before sending in your resume, ask yourself if you really want to work in the video-game industry. By no mere coincidence, the people we hire are excited by video games, play them regularly, and have an insane urge to create games themselves.
Once you have finished this little bit of soul searching, it is time to assemble your pitch. The basic idea is this: don’t give us any excuse not to hire you. This means paying attention to details and not making any mistakes. While we wouldn’t reject John Carmack for misspelling “Gouraud shading,” we might snicker a bit. The less snickering we do, the sharper you look.
Every good application needs a cover letter and a resume. We won’t go into all the details on how to write a good resume, but will recommend reading any of the excellent books available on the subject. The point we want to stress is that a resume is required. It should include your name, mailing address, phone number, work experience, educational experience, and more, printed or typed on a piece of paper or two. You won’t believe how many times we don’t receive a resume, or have to load some “interactive resume” on a floppy just to get a simple mailing address. Don’t send us your resume on a floppy or CD; it takes too much time to load all those CDs just to dig up your basic contact information.
Also, the resume is not the place to demonstrate your creativity or individuality. A standard resume lets us quickly find the information we need (and fits in a standard file cabinet… round resumes do not, for example). The place for your creativity should be in your portfolio or other supplemental materials you send along with your resume. For the artist, the portfolio is the single most important part of your application. WE DO NOT CONSIDER ARTISTS WITHOUT PORTFOLIOS. Also, avoid sending artwork on CD-ROMs or floppies. Videotapes (NTSC only) are fine, but a few shots or images should also accompany them on paper.
As for supplemental materials, please do send them. They give us a good idea of what you can do. You might, however, want to be selective in what you send and follow the suggestions listed later in this guide. Due to the number of applications we receive, among other reasons, we CANNOT RETURN ANY MATERIALS SUBMITTED. This is very important: Do not send originals; send copies. Do not send anything that you are not comfortable with never seeing again.
By now you have assembled your resume and cover letter and are starting to gather the supplemental materials you will include in your application. You’ve made sure to include a way we can contact you, and you are ready to tailor your application to Blizzard’s needs. The following are suggestions tailored to the different positions that open up at Blizzard from time to time.
The Programmer
Programmers form the inner workings of development. They create the secret technologies and engines that give life and energy to our games.
Aside from talent, the first and foremost thing we are looking for in a programmer is experience. Unlike most other companies, our definition of experience is pretty broad. We don’t need to see three years of Cobol background or nonsense like that. Our requirement that programmers be experienced is really a test of their passion for coding. Programmers who code for coding’s sake tend to write lots of little programs on the side, outside of school or the scope of their job. So if you don’t have two years of working experience in the game industry, let us know what you have worked on in your spare time, too. The more code you’ve written, the better.
For legal reasons, we do not want you to send us any game demo or program that you or your employer considers proprietary or confidential. So things like a game demo you want to have published eventually, the source code to NT 5.0, or the NSA’s encryption algorithms would be bad things to send to us.
It is okay to send us any shareware, freeware, programs for personal use, or currently available commercial applications you have worked on. In fact, it helps us to have a sample of your work. The only real exceptions are ideas or demos for games, unless they are already available to the public. A good rule of thumb is this: If the public can download your program from the net or buy it off a shelf for their own use, then it’s safe to send it to us.
If you do send us something, make sure to send your best stuff. It is better to send us one cool program than lots of mediocre ones. Pick the one best thing you have done and show it to us. We can read about the rest in your resume.
Finally, scan everything you send us for viruses! Nothing makes a worse impression than sending a resume or program that infects our computers.
The Cinematic Artist
Cinematic artists at Blizzard are responsible for crafting one of the main storytelling vehicles in our games: the cut-scenes. If you are interested in creating 3D-rendered movies whose production qualities rival those of full-blown Hollywood effects houses, then this job is for you.
So what does this mean when you apply to Blizzard? Make sure that your reel and portfolio demonstrate a wide variety of skills, from modeling to animation….Which leads me to another point: A demo reel is required! We can’t tell how well you animate from a piece of paper (unless, perhaps, it’s a flip book. And don’t send a flip book). It seems obvious, but if we had a dollar for every time…
Now, let’s get more specific on the stuff we like to see on a demo reel. How about this: NO FLYING LOGOS. If you have more than one flying logo on your reel, get rid of them. You can keep the one introducing the reel, but we are not interested in seeing the logos you did for corporate customers or for broadcast. We don’t care if they were for NBC, Disney, or MTV; we don’t want them.
Also, keep it short, and only show us your best stuff. Again, a single 60-second clip demonstrating your best work is far better than the same clip surrounded by five minutes of stuff you did when you were in the 9th grade using your school’s Commodore 64.
We want to see incredible character animation. You’ll want to communicate your sense of timing, balance, and the dramatic moment. Since most of our work is action oriented, having a scene with lots of effects and movement would be good to submit. Since we are looking for people who model, texture, and light as well as they animate, you’ll want to pay attention to the scene’s lighting and make sure all your models and textures are dead on. If your animation segment features a simple character (either to concentrate on motion or to reduce render time), make sure you include at least one example of a highly detailed and textured model in a scene to give us an idea of your eye for detail and photorealism.
In addition to your reel, include any examples of concept work or storyboarding that you have done. We find that having the basic ability to draw, conceptualize, and set up shots is very helpful to the type of work we do at Blizzard. Once again, please remember that we cannot return any materials, so send copies, and not originals.
The Game Artist
Game art is the meat and potatoes of our products. These characters and environments give life to the ‘gameplay’ and create the illusion of a complete, believable fantasy world. Today, 3D art skills are a prerequisite for a game artist, so please make sure your demo reel contains 3D work generated in an art software program such as 3D Studio Max.
We don’t have much interest in seeing fine art, though. Games are definitely a commercial endeavor, featuring highly polished commercial art. A sample or two of fine art is acceptable and sometimes helpful, but you need to show us you can do the commercial stuff, too. The same goes for samples of graphic design. We do some work with type and layout in our interfaces, but this kind of stuff should be in the minority when you submit your portfolio. The kind of art we are really looking for falls along the lines of what you see in current video games, fantasy/sci-fi movies, comics, and such.
If you can take a character completely from pencil concept to a 3D-animated, living, breathing entity that appears full of life, style, and attitude, then you are almost guaranteed a spot on the team. It is fine to specialize in either texturing, modeling, or animating, but let us know your area of expertise in your cover letter, and make sure you show it off in your demo!
Producer
Producers are the organizers of the team; they help coordinate the efforts of the programmers, artists, and designers to ensure the game can be completed within a realistic timeline. They are in charge of meetings and schedules and assist in the overall development of the game.
A Blizzard producer would have to possess a lot of experience in the game industry. If you do not have this experience, then you should at least possess a strong management background and a huge passion for games. If you lack experience, you can try to work your way up through the ranks from departments such as Quality Assurance or Technical Support.
Producer job openings can be rare, so finding a solid avenue in Level Design, QA, Art, or Programming may be your best ticket to get into a game company.
Game Designer and Level Designer
Game designers and level designers are often the most sought-after positions in a game company. Who wouldn’t want to be the guy who designs the heroes, villains, and dungeons? Game designers are the creative minds that help flesh out all the cool ideas into gaming reality. They are in charge of balance, storyline, and the background world. Like producers, game designers are rarely hired from outside the company, and if we do hire someone, that person would have extensive experience within the gaming industry. Often, the best chance of moving into a major game designer position would be to excel in level design.
Level designers are in charge of creating the actual game world–placing monsters, mountain ranges, and villages throughout the realm. A good applicant for level designer would send a demo CD containing 3D levels designed for another game, such as Quake or Half Life. Remember, the future of gaming is 3D, so please do not bother sending us old 2D maps of StarCraft or Warcraft II. Include a text file with your levels to give instructions on how to load the levels and to provide a brief summary of your thought processes that went into making the levels.
Quality Assurance Game Tester
QA game testers are a very important piece to the development puzzle. Playing and testing games are entirely two different things, as testing a game requires patience, a keen eye, and a creative flair to try and break the game in a myriad of ways. Game testers are brought on to help finish a product as it goes through its final stages of development. Testers work in large teams to ensure that the entirety of the game has been checked for bugs.
Good game testers need a strong work ethic, strong reading and writing skills, and of course a passion for games! Game testers are normally hired on a temporary basis, but may later be promoted if permanent tester positions are available.
Getting into QA is a good start to working your way up the ranks, but remember that a game tester must be local to our Southern California office and must be available to work full time, evenings and weekends.
Tags: CGQ Job Board, Studio Guidelines, Blizzard Studio, career, resume
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25 Responses to “How to Get a Job at Blizzard Entertainment”
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Hi, im currently looking to apply at blizzard as a customer support person to help in-game situations and i need to know what to do to become the best
Interesting. Very interesting.
Blizzard is by far the best company in the world for desgining and graphicing games. I am currently learning how to design video games. I would love to become a tester. Try out video games and see what needs to be added to make it better. And design also. I am curious what would i have to do to get a job working for blizzard? I could be one of the best and top workers blizzard is looking for!
What about the positions within Blizzard that have nothing to do with gaming? My experience is all financial related. I have a passion for gaming and would love to be considered for a position in their accounting / billing departments. I’ve sent my resume and cover letter in multiple times but dont get any responses regarding these kinds of openings within Blizzard. Help!
I was so excited to learn that Blizzard had a call center in Austin Texas and then got even more excited they are seeking someone to manage it! Do you have any insight to the best way to get in the critical path of this position and or learn more ? I have both software management and sales experience, and world class call center management experience but do not know anyone at Blizzard that can give me any insight - hence my google request “working for Bizzard, Austin Texas”. Thank you !
Hi,also trying to look for a job at blizard to help in-game situations and i will try to be the best at it.^-^
hey would like to get a job to work with blizzard from home willing todo account support and anything you have ill take
Does Blizzard have a campus in Ireland?
TO SARAH
im do believe blizzard opened up a campus in Cork,Ireland and i do think there taking on people! im from Dublin
Are there jobs in the blizzard in Sweden
Hi,
I had an experience as a DBA. I would like to work in NAS environment. And I love gaming,
played wow with all standards. i want to get in blizzard. help me in this regard….
I am 16 and i think that major corperations are taking the whole job market and when someone my age want to get a job or a 18 year old its taken by 40+ year old people. If that is the future no jobs for anyone other than those people who are right now 40+ then really there is no future for the youth in this world.
Blizzard should buy someplace up in Seattle Washington. Microsoft and Nintendo are based out of seattle. I think also it would bring Blizzard a lot more money due to the fact which is seattle has a lot of people more than Ivirine California with the people who visit included.
What about hardware and securities of Blizzard’s Computer Networks And Systems? I am looking at a path in the Network Administration field. Any tips, pointers, information?
Nyte
I’ve been playing World of Warcraft for 3 years now. I notice a lot of things in game that could be changed to help out game play. I want to go to college for gaming design this summer but am unsure as to where I should go? I would be a great character designer, map coordinator, or tester. I’m not really interested in doing design for World of Warcraft I’m more interested in the next level of gaming do you have any suggestions?
Hi Im thirteen living in utah and I ‘m just wondering does anybody think blizzard will be around long enough for me to get a job there? I love gaming and starcraft and starcraft 2 Are the absolute best. I would like to get hired as a Game Designer will there be much demand or job openings for them in say 6 or 7 years?
I am wondering at what age are you able to apply for a job in 2d artist game designing, and also how to put together the portfolios. please reply.
Also one other thing is it possible to work from England, Coventry even when their isn’t a station near to wear I live and is unable to move, please reply.
as a gamer id love to work with blizz but are there any centers in australia?
ive been playing world of war craft for a while now and ive seen many video’s on youtube that have gm’s that can do cool stuff and im really interested in becoming a gm.
im also looking for a good online job as a game designer so send me a response!
Hello, I have a question, I love to play you game WoW, but problem is I do not see like other people see. I have trouble playing the game, my son and daughter try to help me, but it dont work. I was wondering if you could do something in the game that would help me with that. It makes me feel bad that i cant keep up with other players, in instances or raids. I feel like i suck, i would like to maybe be someone who could help others like me. If you have an answer for me or more comments just email me please. I have played the game for 5 years now, with no luck on my goal. I want to be good like everyone else. Thank you for your time. I know this is off the subject, but i would really like do help others in the game like me.
yall some dumb niggas
The odds of finding work in any game company is slim to nill and I’ll explain why. All gaming companies, especially big ones like Blizzard, have thousands of resumes from all over the world for every job opening. On top of this is the sad fact that in the current economic climate they can hire an individual with years of work experience for entry level pay. Recent college graduates with degrees in animation and game design can’t compete with the far more experienced work force that is now unemployed. My advice is to work on your own game and publish it for a mobile device like the iPhone or as freeware on the internet.
Hi, my name is zach and i need any info about getting a job at blizzard, Its either getting a job at blizzard or its the Military, and I dont want to do that.