Board 8 > EA in the front seat, Zynga in the back seat. Which seat can I take?

(+) Yeah! (+)

you go to Zynga I'll hunt you down and shoot you where you stand

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So I have quite the conundrum going on right now. I'm not really liking my current job, and I have two job offers on the table. I have NO IDEA what to do. Here are the details. (Plus my current job)

EA (QAOS Tester)
Testing network functionality of things like Origin and games that sync with web servers. Things like Autolog in Need for Speed, games that integrate themselves with websites, etc.
Pay: $13/hr (can possibly talk myself up to $15/hr)
Pros:
- Working on AAA game titles
- Getting my name in a ton of credits
- Good opportunity to get into the position I really want to do (Level Design)
- Great facility (Game shop with $20 new releases, cafeteria, gym)
- Actually get to play the games.
- Cool people
- Would be the most fun
Cons:
- Lowest pay of the three
- Kind of a basic position
- Drive is 45min and uses a toll road

Zynga (QA Engineer II)
Testing backend components for Zynga mobile/web games.
Pay: $17/hr
Pros:
- One of the fastest growing "game" companies
- Could end up being a really important place to work (Like Apple or Google)
- Office in the city (San Francisco)
- Free lunch and dinner every day
- Open bar on Fridays
- Decent pay
- Great facility
Cons:
- It's Zynga
- Not so interested in the content
- Super serious
- Another job with a toll road
- Parking kind of sucks

A Software Company (QA Engineer) (Current Job)
Testing mobile and web apps for family monitoring
Pay: $22/hr
Pros:
- Pay is good
- Could get hired on full time and receive benefits relatively soon
- Closer to home
Cons:
- At the point where I kind of hate this job
- Not motivated at all to care about the products we make
- Parking sucks
- No communication between departments
- No interest in any of the higher positions

Now, if you guys were in this position, and had to choose between these three jobs, which would you go for? I'm just curious.

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Your face is bees.

I heard EA gives his employees crappy as **** conditions, there was controversies about this a while ago.

But I don't like both companies sooo..

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Probably EA, since you seem most interested in it, and if you just move to another job that you aren't really interested in the content of, you may find yourself in this position down the road all over again.

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SEP Nash, Smelling Like the Vault since 1996
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Open bar

Case closed.

No, but seriously, I'd go for EA myself. I'd want a job with cool co-workers and the opportunity of being promoted to a position I really wanted.

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Hourly wages? Is this some part-time offer for a high-school student?

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dem trolls

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My Japanese alter-ego.
Hey all this is Bartz btw.

No, this is the real world, where companies offer contract jobs and then hire people for full time positions based on performance.

It's a pretty standard thing that you'll learn about as you get older.

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Your face is bees.

Your original job sounds the best.

Stay in your current job. Jesus. I'm probably gonna make at least that during whichever internship I take on this fall. Don't take a 25+% pay cut to work at a company you don't like or a 40+% pay cut for any reason.

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Stay at current job until you can find something with comparable pay. You may not like it, but I've learned the hard way what it's like to take a pay cut.

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"It is important that supporters and everyone at the club remembers that the cannon on the chest is more important than anybody."

plus less commute.

I would say EA only if you know you will get bumped up to a better wage quickly

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My Japanese alter-ego.
Hey all this is Bartz btw.

Oh, so it's a contract position. Paid hourly with no employee benefits, like a temp.

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From: KingButz | #012
plus less commute.

I would say EA only if you know you will get bumped up to a better wage quickly

Can you really ever know this for sure?

I mean I guess I could gauge this better if I knew you had all your finances in order, were making all your bill payments easily, etc.

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"It is important that supporters and everyone at the club remembers that the cannon on the chest is more important than anybody."

- Could get hired on full time and receive benefits relatively soon

I missed this.


Are you serious, man?

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"It is important that supporters and everyone at the club remembers that the cannon on the chest is more important than anybody."

Stay in your current job, but at least try to talk EA up first.

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EA so you can be my in if I ever need one. <_<

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Bigwig_rah posted...
Stay in your current job, but at least try to talk EA up first.

I think this is what I'm really leaning towards at the moment. But yeah, it's really a hard decision for me because I'm so unhappy here.

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ExThaNemesis posted...
- Could get hired on full time and receive benefits relatively soon

I missed this.


Are you serious, man?

Unfortunately, yes.

As nice as those things are, staying at my current job doesn't seem worth it. Like, I come into work and do the bare minimum. I have absolutely no motivation other than the money. I could get hired on full time, but I don't think I'd ever be able to find the motivation to move on to a higher paying position.

It would be like working at a poop factory. Doesn't matter how much I get paid or how nice the benefits are, I still work at the poop factory.

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Your face is bees.

Why do you hate your current job so much atm beside the points you listed in the cons? It must be more than that I imagine?

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Best LPer ever, Gix ! : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vt5YKmP7ecY

If he can afford to take a pay cut for a job he'd like much more, why shouldn't he? You don't move up in a job you hate just because of money. That's a good way to feel like you've wasted your life.

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SEP Nash, Smelling Like the Vault since 1996
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Zynga

seriously

Tell EA what your making currently and ask them what you can do.

Because if your going on toll roads and a longer driver, thats almost 50% the amount of money.

I'd say, if you can afford the pay cut, go EA. One, you seem to be most positive on that, and two, if it doesn't work out, it looks best on a resume. Unless you NEED the money that bad, go wherever you think you'll be happy.

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Silvercross posted...
As nice as those things are, staying at my current job doesn't seem worth it. Like, I come into work and do the bare minimum. I have absolutely no motivation other than the money. I could get hired on full time, but I don't think I'd ever be able to find the motivation to move on to a higher paying position.

It would be like working at a poop factory. Doesn't matter how much I get paid or how nice the benefits are, I still work at the poop factory.

You just described my job. Working for that money

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Hey all this is Bartz btw.

StealThisSheen posted...
I'd say, if you can afford the pay cut, go EA. One, you seem to be most positive on that, and two, if it doesn't work out, it looks best on a resume. Unless you NEED the money that bad, go wherever you think you'll be happy.

Yeah, the money isn't really THAT much of an issue. As long as I can get by, I'm fine with it. I have a few grand saved up as well.

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Your face is bees.

Yeah, the money isn't really THAT much of an issue. As long as I can get by, I'm fine with it. I have a few grand saved up as well.

ok so

are you absolutely certain, that come crunch time, you could handle the pay drop? like if every-f***ing-thing goes wrong at some point, and you need to pay everybody everything, will you be able to get by on 13/15 an hour?

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Option 4:
Go back to school and get a computer science degree, get a real game development job

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Zynga or if EA will get you where you want to be them

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People do move from QA to design positions, so it's not a crazy route to take to go EA. Although...do you know for sure what games you'll be working on? Because EA closed most of its console development--it's mostly Facebook games and The Sims now.

I'm not sure if moving from QA to design happens at Zynga--I do know it's hiring a mixture of 10-20 year industry veterans, and 40-year-old moms. Zynga's actually a very interesting place, though; they do things like have a game design question, and then just try both methods (with some "tiny" sample size like a million people) to see which is more effective. Zynga is kind of on the forefront of some very new game design (although not necessarily game design you want to work on, but damn, I'd love to be a fly on Zynga's wall once a week; I think there's a ton that the rest of the industry could learn from Zynga's experiments).

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StealThisSheen posted...
I'd say, if you can afford the pay cut, go EA. One, you seem to be most positive on that, and two, if it doesn't work out, it looks best on a resume.

Pretty sure 2011 EA doesn't--employers are way more interested in Zynga right now.

Besides, doesn't Silvercross already have several years of Activision QA on his resume? Back in some of the golden years of Activision? Yeah, that probably counts for more than 2011 EA too.

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Cats land on their feet. Toast lands peanut butter side down. A cat with toast strapped to its back will hover above the ground in a state of quantum indecision

foolmor0n posted...
Option 4:
Go back to school and get a computer science degree, get a real game development job

Ah, I forgot you don't understand how game development works. Thanks for the advice though man.

metroid composite posted...
People do move from QA to design positions, so it's not a crazy route to take to go EA. Although...do you know for sure what games you'll be working on? Because EA closed most of its console development--it's mostly Facebook games and The Sims now.

I'm not sure if moving from QA to design happens at Zynga--I do know it's hiring a mixture of 10-20 year industry veterans, and 40-year-old moms. Zynga's actually a very interesting place, though; they do things like have a game design question, and then just try both methods (with some "tiny" sample size like a million people) to see which is more effective. Zynga is kind of on the forefront of some very new game design (although not necessarily game design you want to work on, but damn, I'd love to be a fly on Zynga's wall once a week; I think there's a ton that the rest of the industry could learn from Zynga's experiments).\

As far as knowing what I'd be working on at EA, they mentioned Origin a lot, and stuff like Autolog and Battlelog, and their further integration of games with social media. In addition, they said there would be a good amount of backend server maintenance.

But yeah, I actually really enjoyed the Zynga interview. From the sound of it, they have some really cutting edge design and operation techniques that would be really awesome to get in on. Pods for example, something that I saw at Sledgehammer, as well as interoffice studios for each game. Pretty cool stuff.

But thanks for the advice. I trust you probably more than anyone when it comes to this kind of thing. For now, I'm learning more towards Zynga, mostly for the reasons you listed.

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Your face is bees.

You have experience working with evil empires of gaming, so you'll feel right at home in either place.

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I hear Zynga's actually a good place to work.

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Wow, those are some big pay cuts either way. And even with you half-assing it, you're apparently doing enough to be seen as an asset. Wouldn't being full-time there get you better options for new jobs down the road? I'd bet it'd be much easier to get EA to pay you more if you had already proven yourself as a worthwhile investment to someone else.

I'd probably kick about at higher pay for awhile myself, but a few months ago I moved to a new position at my current job that I like a hell of a lot more than my old one so maybe I'm a tad less sympathetic than I would have been a year ago. Still, starting over from the bottom of the heap when you haven't got to the "look, I made something of myself over here already" card to play strikes me as something that could send you right into career limbo. If you hate it that bad, you better be convinced you're going to love the hell out of the next job.

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BT with the victory!

shadosneko posted...
I hear Zynga's actually a good place to work.

Open bar on Fridays. Sounds awesome to me.

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"Principally I hate and detest the animal called man, although I heartily love John, Peter, Thomas and so forth" - Jonathan Swift
BT with the victory!