Wannabe Valve Employee Creates Musical Job Application

[Logan Westbrook]

Wannabe Valve Employee Creates Musical Job Application

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If you can't get Valve to read your resume, then getting Valve to listen to it might be the next best thing.

Erin Vondrak wants to work for Valve, and I mean she really wants to work for Valve. After two failed applications by more traditional methods, she's turned to the medium of song in an effort to get the studio to give her a call.

It's not just a song, of course, there's an animation that goes with it, which highlights Vondrak's positive qualities, her dedication to Valve, and her fear of giant squid. The Seattle-based Vondrak is an artist and photographer, and lists her interests as "drawing, tattooing, doing stupid animations in Flash, and making people laugh."

It's a rather adorable video, and while it's not going to get her a job on its own, there are much worse ways of getting yourself noticed. She's going to have to prove that she has what Valve is looking for if she's serious about landing a job, but she has already shown that she's determined and imaginative.

Source: Geeks Are Sexy [http://www.geeksaresexy.net/2011/07/28/dear-valve-please-hire-this-geekette-video]


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[kebab4you]

So she´s applying for what position? If it´s for any art position I can see why she got rejected.

 

[K V MAN]

well that's nice but until i know how long it took her to create the animation i'ma not hiring, that is if i was valve.

still, funny, imaginative, good initiative, and clever, she might get a shot even without public support.

good luck Erin hope you get the job.

 

[Lazy Kitty]

She's definitely not lacking enthousiasm.

 

[Ren3004]

"I'll keep bugging you until you call... the cops." Was the best line. Well, this seems like a good way to get noticed, it's not like she has anything to lose.

 

[Hagi]

To be completely honest I think this is a bit of a dick move.

I mean her resume wasn't accepted so her pure technical skills aren't good enough to get hired.

And while this is creative and determined it's also a bit of a guilt trip with potential negative publicity for Valve if they do not hire her.

Whether or not you get hired is something between employer, employee and the government (making sure all laws are obeyed). The general public has nothing to do with it as they often lack the required knowledge to make responsible decisions. If this is serious then it should have never been posted on YouTube but instead be sent privately to Valve.

Frankly I think this shows rather unprofessional behaviour.

 

[Carnagath]

Yeah, she posted about it on /v/(anonymously of course) a couple of days ago, when her video only had less than 100 views, and everyone bit her face off for claiming to be a Valve fangirl while her Steam profile showed that pretty much the only Valve game she played for more than 10 minutes was Portal 1, then proceeded to troll her for the atrocious "artsy" pictures she had uploaded on her website and for being the typical "gurrrrl gamer" that just seeks attention. I shrugged it off, and now I see it on the Escapist. Welp.

 

[Evilsanta]

That is certainly a way to get the attention.

I hope she gets hired.

 

[Korskarn]

So she´s applying for what position? If it´s for any art position I can see why she got rejected.

Yes, because going by the example of The Escapist, CLEARLY only people go for the articulated and finely detailed artwork of Zero Punctuation and Extra Credits... I'm sorry, I can't even finish that sentence with a straight face.

The point of art is to communicate a concept - whether it be the disdain of Yahtzee or the nuanced thoughtfulness of the Credits Crew. Heck, look at the flack Valve themselves took when they decided to go with stylized art for TF2 instead of trying to stuff more dirt stains on their models like Epic. Her art communicates her feelings about Valve, so it's perfectly sufficient for that purpose.

Even if she's not up to finished artwork with Maya standards, there's plenty of roles she could do - from Customer Rep to QA, or even administration or internal comms - and who knows where she could be in a couple of years. Heck, Eve Online's new lead designer got his break doing a crappy powerpoint presentation at Eve Fanfest.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j1sdTzj9iac
http://www.linkedin.com/in/kristoffertouborg

 

[kebab4you]

So she´s applying for what position? If it´s for any art position I can see why she got rejected.

Yes, because going by the example of The Escapist, CLEARLY only people go for the articulated and finely detailed artwork of Zero Punctuation and Extra Credits... I'm sorry, I can't even finish that sentence with a straight face.

The point of art is to communicate a concept - whether it be the disdain of Yahtzee or the nuanced thoughtfulness of the Credits Crew. Heck, look at the flack Valve themselves took when they decided to go with stylized art for TF2 instead of trying to stuff more dirt stains on their models like Epic. Her art communicates her feelings about Valve, so it's perfectly sufficient for that purpose.

Even if she's not up to finished artwork with Maya standards, there's plenty of roles she could do - from Customer Rep to QA, or even administration or internal comms - and who knows where she could be in a couple of years. Heck, Eve Online's new lead designer got his break doing a crappy powerpoint presentation at Eve Fanfest.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j1sdTzj9iac
http://www.linkedin.com/in/kristoffertouborg

Stylized doesn't mean bad like you know, and quite frankly that animation she put together is bad and inconsistent.

And yeah she could do custom rep or QA but that wasn't really what I pointed at with my post now was it?

 

[GrayJester]

Awwwww, thats so sweet. ^_^

Captcha: "get out". Hey! It's MY opinion, ok?!

 

[Superior Mind]

Cute, but I honestly think she'll have to do better than that. Best of luck to her of course.

 

[TWEWER]

I can't tell what position she's applying for. All the video said was that she was a Valve lonely fangirl. I hope Valve does the right thing and ignores this *****.

 

[King Toasty]

Adorable, but no. If it was gorgeous, animated, and actually relevant to the position she wants, then maybe. But no.

She has a lot of heart, though. Poor kid.

 

[karoliso]

Valve developers do not work in clearly defined positions.

 

[Irridium]

So she´s applying for what position? If it´s for any art position I can see why she got rejected.

Valve doesn't have positions. Everyone sort of does what they want.

Kind of makes the interview process grueling. There's... 8(or was it six... can't remember) separate interviews, and you pretty much have to be amazing at everything.

 

[PunkRex]

Geeks ARE cute. Man im aroused, good luck to her. Im looking for a job... I should try something like this.

 

[DrunkDonut]

All though the video was cute and charming and I lover her voice but I am sorry but I have seen better animation ,better drawing out there by people who do it as a hobbie

 

[AbstractStream]

This was reeeally cute, but I'd still be shocked if Valve hired her.
Good luck though!

 

[The Ambrosian]

Valve developers do not work in a clearly defined position.

Yup, this guy's got it.

Valve credits are in alphabetical order, no positions.

As far as I can work out, you work where you're needed in Valve, not in a 'you do this' kind of way.