Hiring Awesome Game Dev!

[iminlikewithyou]

Didn't see any rules against posting about a job here, so hope it's cool (let me know if not). I love playing the games here NewGrounds and it's the first place I thought of when I was charged with finding a talented game dev for our team.

I'm from OMGPOP.com and most of our games are on New Grounds (Draw My Thing, Pool, Balloono, among others). We're looking for a talented and motivated game developer to hire. All our games are multiplayer, and we have the API and documentation to back that up. We also have a super talented Art Team.

The catch is, we're in NYC, and we generally only hire folks nearby to work in our snazzy soho headquarters.

If you're not from NYC, but you're mega talented and have a passion for making an awesome multiplayer game on our platform, we are considering trying out a remote project where we pay you for the gig. I'm a little hesitant on this myself since it's our first time doing this out of house, but it could work with the right people.

So, if you're interested in either of the scenarios above, send me a message on newgrounds with your BEST work. I don't care if you aren't great at Art, we have a team for that, but you've gotta know your stuff when it comes to games, flash, and ideally have an understanding of networking between players.

Here's a sample job posting from our site for a position at our HQ, don't let it scare you though, if you're awesome at making games, reach out to me.

SOFTWARE ENGINEER

OMGPOP is the best place to play fun multiplayer games online. We have a diverse portfolio of games, both on our own platform and on Facebook, and develop them all in-house. Our team works in a flexible and fun environment, despite being focused on rapid delivery of projects. We have a large and active community consisting of millions of users from all over the world, and it's growing every day.

Because of our successful growth, we're looking for a talented Software Engineer/Developer to join our team in New York City. The ideal candidate will be self-motivated and a problem solver.

Requirements:

- BS in Computer Science or related technical discipline (or equivalent)
- Strong knowledge in data structures, algorithms, and software engineering best practices
- Experience in a backend programming language (preferably Ruby)
- Experience with SQL
- Strong verbal and written communication skills
- Excellent attention to detail
- Must be legally able to work in the US

Plus:

- Familiarity with Amazon Web Services (EC2, S3) a plus
- Experience architecting and implementing RESTful APIs a plus
- Experience working in a start-up environment a plus
- Interest in social and multiplayer games a plus

Some great things about working at OMGPOP:

- Competitive pay and benefits, including 401k, medical, dental, commuter, etc
- Work with a smart, ambitious, and passionate team
- Free snacks and drinks for every employee
- Fun working environment with regular social events, such as Game Night

[YoinK]

this job posting looks a whole lot like most job postings where you need to know so much stuff...... How exactly does somebody gain experience in all that kind of stuff if most companies want the experienced experienced people???? what's wrong with the quick learner?

i mean.. i've got a bachelor's degree in management information systems and been looking for a job for over 2 years now... i took a class in SQL server.. I make games as a hobby in flash 8 professional with AS2..I think my flash skills in programing are a little less than mediocre. i've never created a multiplayer type game before. I hear that you need to have access to a server in order to create a mutliplayer type game... so the person who you are looking for probably has to have access to a web server of some kind.

Also I live about 2 hours away from New York city...

[iminlikewithyou]

Like I said dude, don't let the job posting scare you. If you can make good games and you're a high school drop out, hit me up. But there is some stuff you have to know.

The thing is, we can't spend 6 months training someone on how to make games, you know. There's some stuff you can likely learn as you go along, like perhaps the networking for the multiplayer games, but we expect some hot talent up front!

At 11/30/10 03:19 PM, YoinK wrote: this job posting looks a whole lot like most job postings where you need to know so much stuff...... How exactly does somebody gain experience in all that kind of stuff if most companies want the experienced experienced people???? what's wrong with the quick learner?

i mean.. i've got a bachelor's degree in management information systems and been looking for a job for over 2 years now... i took a class in SQL server.. I make games as a hobby in flash 8 professional with AS2..I think my flash skills in programing are a little less than mediocre. i've never created a multiplayer type game before. I hear that you need to have access to a server in order to create a mutliplayer type game... so the person who you are looking for probably has to have access to a web server of some kind.

Also I live about 2 hours away from New York city...

[YoinK]

At 11/30/10 03:25 PM, iminlikewithyou wrote: Like I said dude, don't let the job posting scare you. If you can make good games and you're a high school drop out, hit me up. But there is some stuff you have to know.

The thing is, we can't spend 6 months training someone on how to make games, you know. There's some stuff you can likely learn as you go along, like perhaps the networking for the multiplayer games, but we expect some hot talent up front!

i understand... how and where can someone be trained to learn to make games like what you made? that "Draw my thing" game is really cool. How were you able to get into the gaming business?

[iminlikewithyou]

I'm not a developer, those guys are 7 feet away making our next games. I'd suggest hitting up the other developers on this forum (like I'm trying to do).

Many of our staff come from other game companies.

At 11/30/10 03:41 PM, YoinK wrote:

At 11/30/10 03:25 PM, iminlikewithyou wrote: Like I said dude, don't let the job posting scare you. If you can make good games and you're a high school drop out, hit me up. But there is some stuff you have to know.

The thing is, we can't spend 6 months training someone on how to make games, you know. There's some stuff you can likely learn as you go along, like perhaps the networking for the multiplayer games, but we expect some hot talent up front!

i understand... how and where can someone be trained to learn to make games like what you made? that "Draw my thing" game is really cool. How were you able to get into the gaming business?

[CyberXR]

Sounds interesting! What language/languages are you using mostly?

[iminlikewithyou]

Games are programmed in AS3.

And I believe I posted the wrong sample post. fail.

[GustTheASGuy]

At 11/30/10 05:06 PM, iminlikewithyou wrote: And I believe I posted the wrong sample post. fail.

Haha yes, the requirements you posted are not relevant to Flash dev. :p
Post the right one.

At 11/30/10 03:19 PM, YoinK wrote: this job posting looks a whole lot like most job postings where you need to know so much stuff...... How exactly does somebody gain experience in all that kind of stuff if most companies want the experienced experienced people???? what's wrong with the quick learner?

The point is that if you *were* a quick learner those requirements wouldn't be a problem. I remember helping you with some scripting problem, pretty sure this stuff just isn't for you...