Seeking QA Position

I was recommended to this site by Nyamakop as I reached out to them for a QA position but they informed me that they are not in a position to hire anyone full time.

I am seeking a QA position for a gaming company and reaching out to those here in Johannesburg. I've emailed a few directly, but wanted to post here to see if I could increase my odds of finding something.

I want to get involved in QA because I thoroughly enjoy video games and that I also want to open up opportunities of becoming a sound designer in the future, as audio is my passion.

I am originally from the USA and residing here in Edenvale with my wife. I have worked in IT for the past 4 years doing support, but realize that I want to work in a field that I am more passionate about and can be creative in.

While I would love full-time work, I am open to part-time work to gain experience and a little extra cash.

I'm sure that I have other skills that could be of use to someone, be it my technical knowledge or interpersonal skills. I'm definitely no programmer or animator but I'm sure I could be useful in some aspect of your company.

Comments

  • The only game studio I know of that employs an actual QA team in-house is 24Bit Games, in case you haven't reached out to them yet.
    Thanked by 1critic
  • edited
    Welcome to MGSA!

    Pure speculation on my part, but if you're looking for a QA position it would probably be a good idea to put together some sort of portfolio of feedback you've given games. A good place to do that would of course be the stuff here on MGSA.

    Since it doesn't sound like you've had any experience in it, this could also help you determine if QA'ing games is actually something you enjoy. Doing QA on a game can be significantly different to just playing it.
    Thanked by 1mattbenic
  • Yeah I do not have any previous experience.

    There just doesn't appear to be many opportunities in this country. In gaming or much of anything else for that matter. I think I'll just put my focus towards sound design and creating a portfolio in that area. See what that gets me. Which forum is the best to try and help with small projects? I'd like to work on adding sound to someones project.
  • @shoouboo i dont know about any places that pays atm for starting up sound engineers but you could always assist in someones project here on MGSA and build yourself a name like that, like take my game Survival of the Hobo for example, we dont have a sound engineer, but we would definitly like to have one, but seeing that we have no budget, all we can offer you is to publicize your name and say you worked on our project and give you a starting up profile, that is if we want to use your sounds and stuff.
  • Hey @shoouboo

    I think if you want to join a gaming company that has QA here, the first thing would be to find out what QA in games actually entail.

    One of the most important things is to have that passion to make games, or help in it's development. But playing a game and doing QA in games are quite different. Yes, you get to play games and that is awesome! but majority of QA consists of bug finding and providing feedback.

    The other is that you're basically the first line of defense when it comes to the game you are testing. You are one of the few that are there to ensure that the game is as fun, fair and in great quality before everyone else plays it, and sometimes the job may require you to do specific things over and over, or play the same level over and over, which is where it's different from just playing a game (unless you play a game thats an absolute grindfest :P).

    So the job requires a lot of patience and a lot of thinking. You need to figure out ways to break the game, and sometimes that means you have to really think outside the box. It can be repetitive as well and it does require a person to be really passionate about games.

    That being said (and hopefully you made it this far)...

    It is extremely rewarding!

    There is a type of joy that some (or at least I( get with breaking a game, and thats what makes people in QA keep doing it. The idea of finding out ways of breaking a game and seeing the outcome, it can get your destructive side going (but in a safe environment of course :P).

    You get to play something that nobody else has yet, and that feeling is awesome! And you know that when this game comes out and others get to play it, you had an input in it. You had feedback that made the game better, you found issues that could ruin the fun for players.

    QA is a blast! it's fun to see a game through development and be one of those people who helped make the game better!

    That being said, QA is just as demanding as every other role in development, and as such, it would require the person applying to fully understand what they are going to do and show enthusiasm about it.

    Hope this helps.
    Thanked by 1mattbenic
  • @lloydizle
    Thanks for the input. I am aware of what a QA position is and what they do on a daily basis from reading peoples blogs and general research on the position. You make some great points of getting to work on something and play something that is new and that no one else has played yet. That sounds really exciting to me.

    Is it something I would enjoy? Who knows. I would need to have a go at it first. Would it get me involved in a field that I love and working around people that also share a similar passion, damn right.

    I wasn't entirely aware of the South African community until I sent out some emails and joined to this site. It was a good decision though as I'm getting amazing feedback from you guys and others and that's at the least all that I was hoping to get. This post was really just me fishing...seeing if I get a bite. Seeing what's out there and making connections. It's already inspired me to start working on composing music and sound effects for games.

    I'll keep trying to find something because I think it would be a nice change of pace for me. More rewarding than what I'm doing currently in my day to day.

    Thanks again for the feedback good sir.
    Thanked by 1mattbenic
  • shoouhboo said:


    I want to get involved in QA because I thoroughly enjoy video games and that I also want to open up opportunities of becoming a sound designer in the future, as audio is my passion.
    For someone looking to hire, this is extremely off putting because you're essentially saying that you're applying for a job you don't want in the hope you'll get to do what you *actually* want to do. From a business perspective, it would be a poor decision to hire someone who wants to do sound to do QA.
    Thanked by 1Elyaradine
  • @dammit

    Are you someone looking to hire or do you just assume that's how all employers think? The QA position has a reputation of being an entry level, foot in the door kind of job. If it puts someone off, so be it. I'm going to be honest about what I'm looking for and what I'm passionate about. Take it or leave it.
  • @shoouhboo.

    Don't get disheartened, there is a lot of work available in South Africa - the tricky part is getting noticed. We have a huge resource pool, and complex labor regulations which makes getting an entry level job very hard.

    I tend to agree with @dammit (who happens to know she is talking about). In any event QA is a actually a whole career path on its own - and if you get really good at it can be extremely rewarding both in terms of your career satisfaction but also financially (QA-> QA Manager -> Production Manager -> Producer ). So i wouldn't look to hire someone for QA whose heart isn't in it.

    If audio is your thing, then start getting involved in the music scene (which is booming in South Africa), or come to game jams to make audio for other games. The later will help you make connections with people in the industry. I believe there are meetups now in JHB? a good place to start is going there and chatting to some people - you will likely eventually end up speaking to someone who can directly connect you to a studio owner.

    Hope this helps, and good luck!
  • dammit said:
    For someone looking to hire, this is extremely off putting because you're essentially saying that you're applying for a job you don't want in the hope you'll get to do what you *actually* want to do. From a business perspective, it would be a poor decision to hire someone who wants to do sound to do QA.
    For me personally, using QA as a stepping stone isn't an issue at all; and I have hired a few QA testers given this upfront knowledge whom have worked out fantastic. To date, some of these people have actually moved on to secondary positions at 24 Bit Games, such as design, product management, and even audio. In a lot of cases, especially in an industry as young as ours, there just isn't enough work to justify full time QA testers, so having people who can wear multiple hats and contribute in other areas does make them more valuable additions to your team.

    In addition, I *like* having employees who have dreams and drive and passion to try to reach to a certain place in the industry that may not be straightforward to obtain. Often times, the only means available for this is to take a "foot in the door" approach just to gain exposure to the industry itself.

    In all honesty, everyone who works in games really should have exposure to and experience in QA. I will be boldly arrogant enough to state that I am confidently of the opinion that every single person here could more than likely do a better job in their given game dev profession if they had to spend 3-6 months (or even just a few days a month) doing nothing but QA testing games.

    It gives you a totally new perspective on the different responsibilities and limitations that each team member has to deal with, and how all parts of a team need to come together to get a game done. You often don't realise how incredibly fragile that process can be at times until you see that sort of issues that come up during QA. It also helps to improve communication skills incredibly, which is still a major deficiency for the average person involved in the game dev industry. And above all, it helps to define and develop your "critical eye", which is a hugely valuable skill to leverage when making sure that your game is polished enough and has a solid user experience that will resonate with customers.

    When I see someone's CV and they have QA Tester experience listed, no matter what position they may be applying for, that always puts them near the top of the pile.
  • @AngryMoose
    You seem like you would be a fantastic boss to work for! You remind me a lot of my current boss at the IT company I work for. He has said that he doesn't necessarily hire people based on their technical abilities, but rather by their personalities. Sure you need some IT experience, but you don't have to be a wizard. When I look around at the group of guys we have working here, I can say he is definitely doing something right. I told him straight up when I got hired, I don't like working the service desk phones. Not my thing, but he hired me and that's where I started. With a bit of time I was able to move to an onsite position, something I am way more comfortable with and honestly better at. So while saying what I did may turn some employers away, it will intrigue others. Probably the ones that actually care about their employees happiness and purpose in life.
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