Introduction and Question to Obsidian Ninja's

[Tetragon]

Hello my name is Elliot, I recently came across these forums and it felt like a great place to ask a question that I have been battling with for a few days now. I recently discovered a posting on the Obsidian site that has peaked my interest. However my dilemma is while I feel that I could be a good candidate for this position, my real eventual career goal lies within another dept. 

 

How do you think employees conducting the interviews feel about this? I don't want to seem disingenuous, I would do my best if considered and hired for the applied position but I would always have my eye and work towards the other position. Some people can see it as having passion which could be a good thing, but I can also see the argument that my heart would not totally be in the position I was hired for and therefore why would we hire you over someone who actually wants to grow in said position.

 

I guess to be less cryptic I am considering applying for the Lead QA Tester position, I have a lot of game QA experience and actually currently work across the street from Obsidian In my downtime however I am feverishly pursuing a career in 3D art. I would love to join Obsidian as I miss the gaming side of QA and also I feel it could provide a nice incubation area for me to pick the brains of other 3D artists already in the industry and really hone my self training. But as I said I don't want to apply, possibly get an interview and then disappoint or make the interviewers feel like they are wasting their time with me.

 

I'm sorry for the length of this post, I might have rambled a bit, but its something that has really been plaguing my mind and it was nice to actually vent out in writing.

[Walsingham]

Hello my name is Elliot, I recently came across these forums and it felt like a great place to ask a question that I have been battling with for a few days now. I recently discovered a posting on the Obsidian site that has peaked my interest. However my dilemma is while I feel that I could be a good candidate for this position, my real eventual career goal lies within another dept. 

 

How do you think employees conducting the interviews feel about this? I don't want to seem disingenuous, I would do my best if considered and hired for the applied position but I would always have my eye and work towards the other position. Some people can see it as having passion which could be a good thing, but I can also see the argument that my heart would not totally be in the position I was hired for and therefore why would we hire you over someone who actually wants to grow in said position.

 

I guess to be less cryptic I am considering applying for the Lead QA Tester position, I have a lot of game QA experience and actually currently work across the street from Obsidian In my downtime however I am feverishly pursuing a career in 3D art. I would love to join Obsidian as I miss the gaming side of QA and also I feel it could provide a nice incubation area for me to pick the brains of other 3D artists already in the industry and really hone my self training. But as I said I don't want to apply, possibly get an interview and then disappoint or make the interviewers feel like they are wasting their time with me.

 

I'm sorry for the length of this post, I might have rambled a bit, but its something that has really been plaguing my mind and it was nice to actually vent out in writing.

 

Pro tip: ramble in your draft.

 

Pro tip: don't post the draft.

[Tetragon]

 

Hello my name is Elliot, I recently came across these forums and it felt like a great place to ask a question that I have been battling with for a few days now. I recently discovered a posting on the Obsidian site that has peaked my interest. However my dilemma is while I feel that I could be a good candidate for this position, my real eventual career goal lies within another dept. 

 

How do you think employees conducting the interviews feel about this? I don't want to seem disingenuous, I would do my best if considered and hired for the applied position but I would always have my eye and work towards the other position. Some people can see it as having passion which could be a good thing, but I can also see the argument that my heart would not totally be in the position I was hired for and therefore why would we hire you over someone who actually wants to grow in said position.

 

I guess to be less cryptic I am considering applying for the Lead QA Tester position, I have a lot of game QA experience and actually currently work across the street from Obsidian In my downtime however I am feverishly pursuing a career in 3D art. I would love to join Obsidian as I miss the gaming side of QA and also I feel it could provide a nice incubation area for me to pick the brains of other 3D artists already in the industry and really hone my self training. But as I said I don't want to apply, possibly get an interview and then disappoint or make the interviewers feel like they are wasting their time with me.

 

I'm sorry for the length of this post, I might have rambled a bit, but its something that has really been plaguing my mind and it was nice to actually vent out in writing.

 

Pro tip: ramble in your draft.

 

Pro tip: don't post the draft.

 

Sorry about that, I guess I did go on and on there. Thanks for the reply and the protips simple, but easily forgotten.

[Fish]

Many people start in QA and work their way into a position in another department.  I'd be honest and say that your end goal is a career as an artist.  The interviewer may actually ask you where you see yourself in the industry in 5 years.  I don't think anyone would expect that because you are applying for a QA position that means you will want to do that forever.

[J.Burke]

There is nothing wrong with what you are suggesting. If you are qualified for the position then apply. You will be "stuck" with that position for at least the duration of whatever project you are assigned to, but it is very common here for Lead QA (or any QA for that matter) to move to other departments. 

 

Off the top of my head, I've seen this happen here:

 

QA->Producer

QA->LeadQA->Producer->LeadProducer

QA->LeadQA->Animator

QA->Animator / cutscene

 

Best of luck to you if you decide to apply!

[alanschu]

A lot of people have used QA as an entry point at BioWare as well.

 

I think if you're honest with yourself and with Obsidian during any sort of interviews, it won't hurt.  Just remember (and you acknowledge this) that your responsibility will be the Lead QA responsibility, and you could be an amazing 3D artist and even help out the 3D art team on the project, but if people associate you with being the "Lead QA guy that really wasn't that good" it'll make transitioning more difficult.

 

Also expect to be patient, and have an open mind.  I took a QA position mostly to network and to hopefully get a programming job, but I actually ended up enjoying it.  I have been in QA here for 4.5 years now.  There's still some impetus to transition into programming, but in that respect I just have to be patient and have realistic expectations that it won't happen quickly.  This helps prevent me from being frustrated, as frustration would ultimately spill over into my job in general.

 

 

If you think you'd be good at the job and are willing to commit to it and are open to the idea that you might be in it for a bit longer than you may ideally want, I'd definitely encourage you to apply.  (I actually had a small inkling to apply myself )

 

Cheers.

 

Allan

[Tetragon]

Thank you to all that responded, I really appreciate it. Patience is absolutely key, and good luck to you alanschu if you do decide to apply.

[Walsingham]

Good luck, mate.