compile a list of questions you want to ask developers, and i'll email them the questions and see what answers we get back? (like the artist thread started by souri).
-Do you prefer some one from uni, or from TAFE?
-What sort of demos do you like programmers sending in? and how do you like them sent in (CD, via website, email)?
-Do you want to see sample code from demos, or is seeing the demo in action?
add anything else?
I'll chip in with some answers from the perspective of Sidhe Interactive
-Do you prefer some one from uni, or from TAFE?
We prefer Uni students. In fact all our programmers, past and present, have a uni computer science degree.
TAFE or Polytech programming courses tend to teach you all you need to know about specific programming languages but lack the depth of theory a uni degree has. Its our belief that uni graduates are more flexible and have higher potential on average.
Of course, we consider TAFE or Polytech graduates for programmer, and would possibly hire such a graduate if they demonstrated good practical skills and solid theoretical ability.
-What sort of demos do you like programmers sending in? and how do you like them sent in (CD, via website, email)?
No real preference on demo content at the end of the day. The most important factor is that it is complete. A finished clone of Tetris demonstrates much more to us than a 5% complete MMORPG.
If I was pressed to suggest what a demo might ideally include I would say something that reads and reacts to user input, some basic graphics and sound, and some basic AI/game rules in play. Don't get too ambitious or you'll end up in the interview saying "yeah, at this point in the program this really cool thing was supposed to happen, but I didn't get it finished".
Delivery mechanism isn't really important, although emailing a very large demo without warning could annoy those of us on dialup laptops working on the road (its happened more than once).
-Do you want to see sample code from demos, or is seeing the demo in action?
We don't hire any programmer without seeing their sample code. Candidates have to have clear, well structured, and commented code to demonstrate they can work well within a team proramming environment.
Note, we don't need to see your 'secret stuff' or everything, but supplying code of a couple of complex modules would be good.
- When an advertised position states that we have a minimum 2 years of in-the-field experience, is this really that important?
We have never advertised for an experienced programmer. None of our current programming team had any professional game development experience prior to working at Sidhe.
However, if an employer is specifying it as a requirement for the role, then you should respect that, and be prepared for a quick knock back if you don't have it.
Note that some employers might consider work on MOD groups, team projects while studying, and extensive work on personal projects as a substitute for 'in-the-field' experience.
If you are unsure, give the company a call and ask.
- What fields/areas would you like to see students specialising in?
We prefer students to be all rounders really. Specialisation should be determined once successful candidates have had a chance to try a few things out on the job. Interest and proficiency will steer people towards a specialisation.
Besides a lot of what one might learn in a course might not be applicable in a live game development environment, so educational 'specialist knowledge' may not be valuable in the real world.
- What fields/areas would most draw your attention to a programmer applying for a job?
A programmer should have basic maths, basic physics, software engineering and an understanding of OO design and programming.
Additional feathers in the cap might be courses or demos demonstrating proficiency in AI, advanced graphics techniques, advanced physics/collision, programmatically generated content, sound processing etc
Hope this helps.
Mario
MD, Sidhe
Due to the success of the artist portfolio questions, I reckon the programmer questions would be great too. At the moment we have these questions which Mario has put out neatly for us:
-Do you prefer some one from uni, or from TAFE?
-What sort of demos do you like programmers sending in? and how do you like them sent in (CD, via website, email)?
-Do you want to see sample code from demos, or is seeing the demo in action?
- When an advertised position states that we have a minimum 2 years of in-the-field experience, is this really that important?
- What fields/areas would you like to see students specialising in?
- What fields/areas would most draw your attention to a programmer applying for a job?
Any more suggestions??
When an advertised position states that we have a minimum 2 years of in-the-field experience, is this really that important. I understand that the more experience you have actually making the games is more than beneficial. However, when graduates are wanting to apply to this position they are most likely going to be put off, due to the high amount of requirements wanted from them. I would think that the 2 years experience would be listed under additional requirements that could be beneficial, but not neccessary to get the job.