How Not to Get a Job as a Game Journalist
Five easy ways to blow your first impression.
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Five easy ways to blow your first impression.
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How Not to Get a Job as a Game Journalist
- Thread starter Susan Arendt
- Start date
As someone whose only experience in the "games writing" industry is scoring jobs almost entirely via a combination of luck and charm, I fully agree with everything Susan has said here, but would also like to add one final point:
Sleeping your way to the top -- Did you really think it was just a gross metaphor? Oh hell no. All I'll say is you attract more flies with an awesome handjob than you do with vinegar.
Sleeping your way to the top -- Did you really think it was just a gross metaphor? Oh hell no. All I'll say is you attract more flies with an awesome handjob than you do with vinegar.
Awesome article, I'm always nervous about sending potential employers writing samples because too many times I've been told not to include too many attachments. Honestly, I just need to get around to setting up a portfolio site for myself.
Yep, spellcheckers aren't everything.
Eye halve a spelling chequer
It came with my pea sea,
It plainly marques four my revue
Miss steaks eye kin knot sea.
Eye strike a key and type a word
And weight for it two say,
Weather eye and wring oar write
It shows me strait a weigh.
As soon as a mist ache is maid
It nose bee fore two long,
And eye can put the error rite
Its rare lea ever wrong.
To rite with care is quite a feet
Of witch won should bee proud,
And wee mussed dew the best wee can,
Sew flaw's are knot aloud.
Eye have run this poem threw it
Your sure reel glad two no,
Its letter perfect awl the weigh
My chequer tolled me sew.
It came with my pea sea,
It plainly marques four my revue
Miss steaks eye kin knot sea.
Eye strike a key and type a word
And weight for it two say,
Weather eye and wring oar write
It shows me strait a weigh.
As soon as a mist ache is maid
It nose bee fore two long,
And eye can put the error rite
Its rare lea ever wrong.
To rite with care is quite a feet
Of witch won should bee proud,
And wee mussed dew the best wee can,
Sew flaw's are knot aloud.
Eye have run this poem threw it
Your sure reel glad two no,
Its letter perfect awl the weigh
My chequer tolled me sew.
If attaching samples, three is the maximum I'd advise. Portfolio sites are great, of course, but not everyone has enough material to justify one.Lvl 64 Klutz said:
Even a link to your personal blog can suffice as a writing sample. I got a lot of early attention based on my blog at 1Up.
I'm glad I know you, Nex.Earnest Cavalli said:
Just for the record.
On topic! There is nothing in this piece that is wrong in the least. Just because games journalism is a pretty awesome job doesn't mean you should treat it any less professionally trying to get hired.
Fantastic article! Every gamer should read this!
The internet is teeming with wannabe, -[small]sorry[/small]-, want-to-be game journalists, and amazingly enough, most of them are still clueless. It's nice to see someone (i.e.- an actual game journalist) set some standards for the web to behold. I hope that this article can change a few things.
The internet is teeming with wannabe, -[small]sorry[/small]-, want-to-be game journalists, and amazingly enough, most of them are still clueless. It's nice to see someone (i.e.- an actual game journalist) set some standards for the web to behold. I hope that this article can change a few things.
Also another tip: If the site you're applying to has community functions, building a presence there is one of the best ways to catch their attention.
Oh, and make soft copies of all your major pieces for any website you DO end up writing for. If it's not a huge site you never know when *fingers crossed* it might go belly up. Then all the reviews and features you've written go down with the servers.
Also, if you shift jobs, sometimes the application process requires an attached sample, rather than a blog link, so that would make it easier.
Oh, and make soft copies of all your major pieces for any website you DO end up writing for. If it's not a huge site you never know when *fingers crossed* it might go belly up. Then all the reviews and features you've written go down with the servers.
Also, if you shift jobs, sometimes the application process requires an attached sample, rather than a blog link, so that would make it easier.
Sigh...testify. Five years of my work is gone because the site I wrote for no longer exists. I have some of it as Word docs, but not all of it.unangbangkay said:
Great advice, most of it should be common sense but common sense is a rare commodity these days. But the #1 tip I took from that being a prospective writer myself is that emails to the editor are actually read, and not just trashed. Thanks Susan!
I don't know if this article was a good idea, Susan. Now every snot-nosed kid is going to look professional at a glance. It's going to take a lot longer to weed through the submissions now. You don't know how good you had it. ;-)
DARN you addressed Yahtzee, I was about to find a counter-example!Susan Arendt said:
Great list! I found it very informative
Now I'm sad, because I saw something I'd be interested in writing an article for (assuming I could actually focus that long), but the pitch deadline was back in August 
It's cool that I get to see the way the articles come about though. It's a new insight for me.
It's cool that I get to see the way the articles come about though. It's a new insight for me.
A very good read. I'm in the same boat as Lvl 64 Klutz (metaphorically speaking obviously) as in I am nearly always too nervous to send off e-mails to people maybe looking to hire. I have sent letters out before, but they all came back saying basically the same thing : 'Sorry, we have no vacancies available at this time, although when a vacancy is available we will consider your application' I guess getting so many of these letters has dampened my spirits a bit, but you can only look foward and must not dwell on what has happened in the past.
Interesting. But what about people from other countries? I mean, no matter if I'm a mildly successful game journalist with tons of reviews if you can't read any of them, because they're in Hungarian. With that, there goes my credibility since I can't prove my worth or what I've done. Plus, English is not my mother language, so I'm at a certain disadvantage here. Sure, one can learn other languages, but my raging accent is obvious even from my writing, I guess.
Any tips?
Any tips?
This was a very informative article and I, for one, appreciate someone in the field taking the time to fill everyone in on the real situation in Gaming Journalism.
I enjoy writing myself. I used to write a short rant & review column for a gaming community I helped operate in the early 2000s. Much of the material involved Sega and the Dreamcast console but if kind of had to, we were a Phantasy Star Online-centric community. Eventually, I tried to cover whatever big MMORPG was hitting the scene soon after like Final Fantasy XI.
I suppose I tend to go off in a "Yahtzee" style in my material, though I was already sarcastic and unsympathetic in my humor before I discovered his work. Listening to him go only served to fuel my own ranting fire. That's not to say I could not sound professional and more classy in my wit, I just prefer to not beat around the bush. Brutal, uncensored honesty is such an enjoyable trait to have.
I enjoy writing myself. I used to write a short rant & review column for a gaming community I helped operate in the early 2000s. Much of the material involved Sega and the Dreamcast console but if kind of had to, we were a Phantasy Star Online-centric community. Eventually, I tried to cover whatever big MMORPG was hitting the scene soon after like Final Fantasy XI.
I suppose I tend to go off in a "Yahtzee" style in my material, though I was already sarcastic and unsympathetic in my humor before I discovered his work. Listening to him go only served to fuel my own ranting fire. That's not to say I could not sound professional and more classy in my wit, I just prefer to not beat around the bush. Brutal, uncensored honesty is such an enjoyable trait to have.
First thing is to be up front about English not being your first language. While it may not give you a pass if you really garble your English, it'll likely get you off the hook for minor errors or inconsistencies. If most of your work is in something I can't read, then write a sample or two in English.Playbahnosh said: