Why do video game tester job programs that make some people thousands of dollars leave others with a bad experience? And what determines when these programs are or are not right for you.
First, let’s take a look at the traditional job search.
Take a step back and look for ways to pursue a traditional job. There are different ways to look for work when looking for any job, be it secretary, sales representative or plumber.
One way is to do it yourself. Search for job openings on your own, write your own resumes, and visit each location (at the expense of gas or public transportation) to apply and attend interviews. At the end of the process, you keep your entire paycheck, pay no one else to get a job, and owe no one once you have a job. This is the traditional way of getting a job and, in many situations, it is still the best method today. One consideration if you collect unemployment benefits from a previous job, doing at least part of your job search this way may be required by law where you live so you don’t lose your unemployment benefits before you find a new job.
Another is work with an employment agency or a temporary employment agency. In this approach, they try to find you a job from hundreds of potential jobs. They may conduct their one interview or a small number of interviews, from which they collect the information needed to find the best fit for you among all the jobs in their database. They may also offer assistance in writing a master resume for you to use, or a set of resumes from which you can select the best one for each type of job and send it to various companies.
Some agencies pay you, while charging the company that needs workers for both what they are owed and additional money to cover their fees. In this scenario, the agency is charging the company it needs staff to provide workers, as well as human resource management and other administrative services.
Alternatively, placement agencies and organizations that provide services to the self-employed may charge the job seeker: either a one-time fee for successful placement or regular membership fees. One-time fees are more common among agencies that provide permanent job placement, while membership fees are more common among freelancing providers.
For example, self-employed truckers can sign up for services that give them access to hundreds of available shipping contracts to choose from. In this example, the agency aggregates and presents as many available contracts as possible to truckers for a fee; and let truckers accept the offers that best fit their personal, scheduling, and financial goals. Taxi drivers may have a similar arrangement with a dispatch agency that charges a regular fee for the use of a brand, the service of forwarding calls from customers to drivers, and possibly the use of a specially equipped vehicle to serve as a taxi. Drivers in turn keep the money they collect from their passengers.
How are video game tester jobs different?
The answer is that they are not different.
With game tester jobs, your options are the same.
You can do it by yourself. Using your own experience, education, and training, you can search for a job completely on your own and for free. You can look for opportunities with your own effort as in any other type of work. Contacting companies like Blizzard, EA Software, Konami, Riot Games, and others directly on your own will only cost you your own time and resources. All you need to do is compete directly with other possibly more experienced game testers; some of whom may already understand what hiring managers will be looking for, be familiar with these companies, and have a broader set of experiences to build their resumes and portfolios. You won’t have to pay anyone to compete directly against other applicants who can respond faster, with more powerful qualifications, and a better sense of what matters and what doesn’t to potential employers.
However, you could work with a video game tester job program. This arrangement works similarly to the arrangement with staffing firms and independent agencies for more traditional jobs.
In some agreements, membership for the job seeker is free. When this is the case, the game development company that needs games tested is paying the company running the program to provide testers from a pool of applicants. You may or may not be paid the same as when you work directly for the game development company. In any case, if your membership is free it is because the game development company pays money to the program in addition to the money you receive. In return, the company that operates the program takes care of human resources or other tasks, such as the selection of potential applicants and only the selection of those that they consider to be the best fit for the interests of the game development company. These companies do not charge you, because they charge the game development company and that is who they work for, not you.
Other arrangements are more akin to independent agencies for taxi drivers, truck drivers, messenger specialists, beauticians, etc. You pay a membership fee and in return receive services, the most basic of which include making available to you as many jobs as you can qualify for. Others may include: helping you develop and present your resume, matching you with the best contracts, and managing your portfolio for you. You pay them either a monthly fee or a percentage of what you earn, and they work for you, not the gaming company.
So why are video game tester job programs great for some but not for others?
And how do I know when such a program is right for me?
The main reason is the discrepancy between the goals and objectives of the game tester vs. the services and benefits of a program.
Experienced game testers often won’t benefit from a program, but might still benefit from the books or other resources that come with some programs. They must first check to see if they can get the same books and resources for themselves faster, cheaper, or both. A program would only benefit the experienced game tester if paying a fee just to get these kinds of resources would cost less time and money than going out and searching for the same resources on your own.
If you’re a professional game tester and feel like the jobs offered through these programs are a step backwards for you, but still don’t want to search on your own (maybe you’ll average $11/hr, but you could average $35/hr if you had help to be more competitive), you could always work with traditional employment agencies. This is best if you’re trying to move up from an existing full-time game tester position to a better one, or if you’re open to other types of employment as well. The downside is that they can poorly handle video game tester jobs unless they specialize in gaming. If your qualifications are strong enough and your portfolio stands out well on its own, using a traditional staffing agency is probably still your best option if you really want to move on to a better game development position from one you already have.
If you are new to gaming jobs or the job market in general, then you would probably benefit from a program. University education programs are best if you are seeking graduate training in the field. However, university programs rarely offer job placement at the end of the program. If you’re worried about getting a job once you get your degree, you may want to further your college education by participating in a freelance video game tester work program during your time off from school. Upgrading your college education with time spent participating in an independent program is probably the best bet for someone new to game development.
Another problem is the way these programs are marketed. Matching workers with jobs for a fee is older than the United States; however, the video game industry has only developed since the advent of the information age. As a result, agencies that match workers with traditional work often promote themselves by describing their benefits directly. There is no need to convince anyone about the concept of a traditional job; they simply need to inform people of the reasons why they may want to use a staffing service rather than seek employment on their own.
By comparison, video game tester job programs should promote both the concept of being a video game tester and the concept of using an independent program to do so. This is sometimes done using persuasive language combined with top earning potential examples that (while accurate) may not reflect the typical results of the average tester. Also, some websites that promote these programs are not created by the company that operates the program, but by third-party Internet marketers who simply create a website using the most favorable and persuasive information before moving on to another site that promotes a product. different. It’s not that someone is running a “scam” per se. The video game tester job program is in the business of matching potential testers with available work, while the affiliate webmaster is in the business of creating as many websites for as many products as they can generate income from promoting.
To ensure that the website you are reading is providing you with quality and accurate information, look for: quotes from well-known gaming industry writers or trusted sources such as Wikipedia, detailed multi-page articles, recently updated articles (indicating a site that is kept with the most recent information), at least one page that is older (the oldest terms of service or privacy policy shows that the site has been around for a while), and so on. Affiliate sites with these characteristics are likely to provide you with information you can trust and make sound decisions; and to advertise and market proven programs, even if other sites promoting the same programs use more generic sales tactics.
What if you’re not interested in college or a permanent career, you just want some easy money?
If this is the case, you should see the types of tasks you choose once you sign up for a video game tester job program. Most programs offer consumer experience assignments (CE, UX, or UXA) as well as quality assurance (QA) assignments, even if your website is mostly about QA. However, when selecting, applying for, and accepting awards, be sure to carefully read what the award entails and the requirements you must meet to receive payment. QA jobs generally pay a lot more, but QA tasks aren’t as easy or as fun. QA testing is very tedious, can be frustrating at times, and requires a more committed mindset. Of course, if you see a quality control offer that looks like you’d like to do it (and pay enough), don’t pass it by. Just understand that QA assignments aren’t as easy as CE, UX, and UXA assignments, especially if easy money is your mindset. The advantage of quality control, of course, is that you pay more when you meet all your requirements.