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It's been a few years so I feel like I can talk about the interview I walked out of.
I interviewed for a QA role at a studio that had successfully crowdfunded development to the point where they had a physical location. A friend of mine was QA Lead and he referred me. (1/11)
I interviewed for a QA role at a studio that had successfully crowdfunded development to the point where they had a physical location. A friend of mine was QA Lead and he referred me. (1/11)
Walking in was awesome, there were some very senior people from the industry. The walls were covered from memorabilia from previous titles they'd worked on. There were fan-created things from the technically impressive to stuff made by eager kids. (2/11)
I was interviewed by 5 developers, including my friend and the studio head, along with 3 other highly experienced devs, all white men.
I talked about my previous QA experience, my goals for my career- in my goals I mentioned wanting to make the games industry better. (3/11)
I talked about my previous QA experience, my goals for my career- in my goals I mentioned wanting to make the games industry better. (3/11)
One of the interviewers asked a follow up question - "What do you want to make better?" I said I wanted to make the industry more accessible for women and racial minorities, and to improve working conditions. No one commented on this, and we moved on. (4/11)
Towards the end of the interview, one of the interviewers asked another question: "How would you feel about being the only woman working at the studio?"
(don't do this!!)
What I was going to say was: "It is a concern, but I've done it before." (I had!) (5/11)
(don't do this!!)
What I was going to say was: "It is a concern, but I've done it before." (I had!) (5/11)
I got as far as "It is a concern-" before 2 of the interviewers jumped down my throat. "We don't hire for diversity, we hire for talent." "We've had women work here before but they just don't stay." "We would expect you to help us hire more women, we don't know them." (6/11)
It got so bad that the studio head cut them off. I was very calm, I looked at my friend and the studio head and asked if I could speak to them alone. The studio head agreed and sent the 3 other interviewers out of the room. (7/11)
They said they understood and I walked out.
2 of my friends had given me a ride. I got in the car and sobbed. We went to eat pancakes.
The next day I received an email apology from the studio head. (8/11)
2 of my friends had given me a ride. I got in the car and sobbed. We went to eat pancakes.
The next day I received an email apology from the studio head. (8/11)
2 of my mentors at the time were incredibly supportive and furious for me. 1 told me I should have dealt with it and needed a job. I didn't have any lines on any other roles. It was terrifying. But I got my producer job at SMS a few months later (it felt like forever). (9/11)
I'm not going to name the studio because it's defunct now + how the studio head handled it.
I'm sharing because I want you to know that you don't have to deal with other people's bullshit just to get a games job. The first opportunity isn't the only one. (10/11)
I'm sharing because I want you to know that you don't have to deal with other people's bullshit just to get a games job. The first opportunity isn't the only one. (10/11)
tl;dr the jerks are out there, but this industry doesn't belong to them. There's decades of history of marginalized devs fighting for us, we have to fight for the devs of the future.
(11/11)
(11/11)
