Game Testers

Now lets talk about what some people consider to be video game testing….
Stay as home game testing should be considered an Urban Legend. Winning the lottery would be easier than finding this as real employment. If it was real, what percentage of the US or world population would like this as a job or career? 40% or more? How many billion people is that…

Becoming a game tester is do-able but sometimes you need someone to show you the way.
Of the people offering help, this will help you avoid SCAMS…

Here are some articles

http://www.gamedev.net/community/forums/…

http://www.gamedev.net/community/forums/…

http://www.gamedev.net/community/forums/…

http://www.gamesetwatch.com/2006/09/why_…

http://www.gamesetwatch.com/2006/03/game…

http://www.affiliatebling.com/gamer-test…

ALSO:
Never pay for a job or job list.
If they make a claim on their website, will they put it in writing in a contract?
If not, stay away, it looks like they don’t believe in their own program.
Never pay for a subscription to find a game testing job. They are probably scams.
To see if they are… Email them and see how long takes them to respond to a specific question.
Make sure you get 2-3 phone numbers of people who have been with them for 6 months or more
and call them to see if they think it was worth it. Ask these people 2-3 specific questions about what they got for the money, how helpful was the staff, what jobs they applied for etc…
Who they worked for.
Has their education ever been used by some company involved in the industry?
How industry connected are they?

To increase your chances of getting a career game testing position…
Become familiar with what game testing is, terminology, etc and build out a good cover letter and resume.

Get some good experience and be able to talk about what you did in with the knowledge and terminology you have learned about Game Testing.

Become familiar with the basics of game testing so after you land a position, you can keep it.
(there are some companies that will hire 10 game testers knowing that after 2-3 days, they will know the best of the group and will lay off the rest. It is cheaper than doing a deep interview process)

Remember, there will be several hundred people applying to any game testing position and you have to get your resume to the top for a phone interview and past the face to face interview so you can get the position and show that you know what it is and that you know what you need to do to become a Game tester.

Have someone in the Game Industry review your resume and cover letter. Get someone who was a game tester or even better, someone who has hired game testers.

If you want help completing the above steps, please investigate our Training at http://www.powerupgames.com/video-game-t…

You said Killeen TX.
Let’s talk about Location. Some locations in the US have few jobs in the Game Industry.
It is also hard to get a farming job in downtown New York.
The question is, if you can’t find a job in your area, are you willing to go to where the jobs are?

So, 1) find the websites that tell you where the publishers are… I think the IGDA website will.
Http://www.gamedevmap.com/ is one of these sites.
2) Find the Publishers that are in your state close to your location.

Lucky for you Austin is a major hub and just down the road from you.

If a close publisher will not hire you, you will have to go to the main Video Game Hubs in the US.

Good Luck.
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admin answers:

You need to have a great knowledge of video games, how to find bugs, and terminology. If you think you have what it takes, apply.

admin answers:

Go look at game testing jobs Postings
http://www.powerupgames.com/jobs and google game testing jobs
Look for jobs in your area and in areas that you are willing to relocated to.
See what the recruiters are asking for.

Here is Nintendos Game Testing Page

http://www.nintendo.com/corp/tester.jsp

Becareful of game testing advice. There is a lot of SCAMs out there.
For example… There is a lot of hype around affiliate programs. Here are some…

Http://www.only4gamers.com/affiliates.html

http://www.gamingjobsonline.com/affiliates/

http://www.betagamingtesters.com/affiliates/

All of these come from other answers to this question.

Here is how you verify if someone offering you advice is legit.

Http://ezinearticles.com/?Top-3-Hints-to-Avoid-Game-Tester-Gimmicks&id=5586475

Basically, if they are offering to sell you something and you cant call and leave a VM to ask a question and get someone to call you back. They dont care enough about you.

Make sure they are a registered and active business for example….

Http://www.sunbiz.org/scripts/cordet.exe?action=DETFIL&inq_doc_number=P10000043559&inq_came_from=NAMFWD&cor_web_names_seq_number=0000&names_name_ind=N&names_cor_number=&names_name_seq=&names_name_ind=&names_comp_name=POWERUPGAMES&names_filing_type=

Beta game testing is where you test games for FREE. I suggest you take the professional game tester route. Get trained, get a job and turn it into a career or a launch pad for other parts of the games industry.

Get some education

http://www.gameinstitute.com/PowerUp_Games_Video_Game_Testing.html

Try out the industry to make sure you like it.

Gamsutras game career guide lists schools, here is one that does Game testing Training http://www.gamecareerguide.com/schools/1467/powerup_games.php
Pull schools from this list for your learning.

I did a quick search and found 116 game companies in LA and 17 in San Diego.
You will probably have to travel outside of Palm Springs to find a game testing position.

admin answers:

100% scam.

The only way to make money is SELLING the system, not DOING the system.

There are hundreds, thousands of young adults who all have the same dream, to be a video game tester. Even if there was an opening in some company somewhere, it isn’t going to someone off the street, it will go to someone already working at the company in another capacity.

Think about it, in this World Wide Great Recesssion, if any company is hiring, no matter what the company does, all they have to do is put a little sign in the window and they will have a line out the door, around the block of people desperate to work for them in any capacity. No company needs help these days filling any jobs, they have hundreds of people already applying.

All you *might* receive for your non-refundable payment is a short, out of date pdf emailed list of companies that may or may not ever have hired game testers at some point in the company’s history. That’s it. You and hundreds more will attempt to call those companies only to discover the phone number is disconnected, you hear a recording saying that they are NOT hiring or listen to a very tired secretary say, NO, they don’t hire young adults off the street to play video games.

The “100% money back guarantee” is completely and utterly worthless. Clickbank, paypal and credit cards do not give refunds for ebooks, downloads, access, mentoring, advice, instructions, directions, virtual money or any other kind of non-tangible electronic goods, which is what is being purchased here, non-tangible electronic goods.

Reading the “disclaimer”, “terms of use” and “privacy policy” are all very telling. Translated, they know you won’t find a job, your payment is non-refundable and while you attempt to use the list they sent you, they and other companies will spam you with other offers.

admin answers:

Go look at the jobs boards for Game Tester positions
PowerUp Games updates regularly. Google and search for others

http://www.powerupgames.com/jobs

See if they are asking for education, Degrees, Tech Experience, etc…
If you want to take a game testing class to increase your chances of landing a position

http://www.gameinstitute.com/PowerUp_Games_Video_Game_Testing.html

Take the class now so you can apply what you are learning as you seek a position.

Realize that your chances of landing a game testing position are reduced because you are not 18.
Game Developers don’t like to risk millions on someone who can talk about their game and they cant ruin them for doing it. What they want is an NDA. And you cant sign one until you are 18 and have it legally binding. There even may be issues with them not being able to use your work in their product because you are not 18. Consider Beta Testing until you get 18.

With that said, it is good to have good communication skills, good team skills, to know about technology and how games are put together. Foreign language, etc are all good education to have on your resume and you could use in a game testing position.

So in High School, Take these types of courses. While in High School, consider taking a game testing course.

The reason people get more education is that it is becoming competitive to get a game testing position. The better your resume and cover letter and references and portfolio…. The better your chances.

Create a killer resume, cover letter and packet. Get it reviewed by people in industry.

Find the local developers in your area and submit away.

ALSO: scam Avoidance…
Never pay for a job or job list.
Never pay for a subscription to find a game testing job. They are usually scams.
Do they have a phone number to contact them?
Is there site just a bunch of hyping up game testing? Be careful…