Featured ArticleBecome A Video Game Tester - 3 Quick Tips To Land Your First Video Game Tester Job Some people believe that the life of a game tester is all fun and games. Although the games part is mostly true, it is rarely ever "all fun". Being a professional video game tester takes patience, experience, and a good deal of hard work. It would be nice if we game testers got paid to play games all day long, but that simply isn't the case. We get paid to test games, not play them. Here are 3 Simple Tips To Help You Land More Video Game Tester Jobs 1. Don't look through newspapers and classified ads and expect to find a huge need for video game testers; it won't happen. Game developers constantly need video game testers, but they aren't putting out ads to show it. They know that the testers are going to come to them, so they just sit back and wait for the applications. What does this mean for you? It means you have to go to the source. Don't sit around and wait for a game tester job to hit your lap. Go out there and start making contacts. Head straight to the gaming companies and developers and tell them who you are, what you do, and how great you are at doing what you do. Create a strong case for each company you apply to. Don't feel embarrassed about how much time you spend with video games. If you log 30+ hours with games per week, be proud of that fact and let them know it. Wear that accomplishment like a pin on your chest and make sure that the company knows how experienced you really are. If you own every gaming console known to man and have a collection of games that would make any average gamer crap himself, let them know it. Whatever your experience with video games, don't be afraid to brag about it and boost yourself up. Remember, you have to create the impression that you are video game tester material and no one, not even the companies themselves, can say otherwise. 2. Start networking with other testers, programmers, developers, customer support specialists, game artists, etc. The more people you know in the game industry, the more strings you can pull and the more references you will have. An excellent network of people & friends in your industry is 10 times better than any spit polished resume. The network of people you are in contact with could let you in on jobs that are opening up, deals that are going down, or even new developers that are requesting insane amounts of testers for an upcoming video game. Plus, the best part about networking is that most of your contacts can put in a good word for you and catapult your chances of being hired miles ahead of the competition. 3. Take video game testing seriously. Yes, it is a dream job and you can take pleasure in the fact that none of your friends have a job like yours; but that doesn't mean you can slack off and do whatever you want. You have to remember that a video game tester job is exactly that, a job. You are being paid to do a job, period. Sure, it's more fun than other jobs, but there is still work involved. Yes, actual work. Contrary to what you may have heard, you won't be sitting on your butt all day, hitting buttons on your controller, and getting paid for it. You will be filling out reports, answering questionnaires, and recreating glitches that you have come across. As the job title dictates, you will be a "video game tester" and not just a "video game player". So, are you still interested in being a video game tester? Of course you are. Who wouldn't be? No matter what work might be involved, you are still getting payed to play, "ahem" test, the newest and most advanced video games there are. It's a dream job for any and every gamer.
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