Jason S.’s Post

A few years ago now I made the conscious move to leave "big tech" and work for smaller companies where I can have a bigger impact, and have more of an idea of the day to day workings and stability of the company and projects I was involved with. This started with Parallel Domain, and then Bad Robot Games. Both similar companies in their empathetic leadership style, open conversations around company health and the health of their employees. When interviewing folks for various roles at these "startups" (I hate that term, and all the connotations) I would often get asked "aren't you worried about the instability of a smaller, more startup style company?". My response is always along the following lines - Whilst I was working at Valve, Microsoft had their first big round of layoffs. They came as a total surprise to the employees. One MS employee jumped off the roof of a building just down the road from us. Is that stability? Whilst working at Mircosoft and Amazon I would routinely see large projects shut down and employees either let go, or given 2 weeks to find something new inside of the company. Is that stability? The only stable thing I see is the concept of letting large groups of people go with little to no warning. I would rather be at a company where I chat with the CEO. I know the entire development team. I know the goals and risks of the project I am on, and know the importance of what my team is doing at the company. Where I know the financial runway of the company, because it's openly shared. You can also bet that if the worst happened, and the studio had to close, or my project shut down, I would have decent warning, and the notice wouldn't be through some generic form email, but rather an empathetic conversation with the directors. That to me is stability. So, with that in mind. I've been in this industry for 20 years. I have interviewed a lot of people, and seen a lot of portfolios. If anyone needs my help in finding a job, I am here for them. I am more than happy to give free portfolio reviews, and help coach in interview technique. And if you are a senior environment artist, or tech artist looking to work with a small group of lovely people, well, I would love to talk to you about that too :)

We're continuing to grow! Lots of great opportunities to join our team. Learn more: https://lnkd.in/gDaezUVw #gamedev

We're growing! Lots of great opportunities to join our team. Learn more:https://lnkd.in/gDaezUVw #gamedevjobs