#DEVELOPJOBS | CAREER ADVICE GET THAT JOB Development specialists off er advice on how you can bag that career leap
THIS MONTH: ASSISTANT LOCALISATION MANAGER CODEMASTERS’ AMANDINE MAIRIAUX discusses the key skills needed for her role as an assistant localisation manager at the studio behind racing titles such as Dirt, F1 and Grid.
What qualifi cations and/or experience do you need?
You need to be at least bilingual, have good communication skills, but also
What is your job role? I coordinate the translation of all Codemasters assets – everything from in-game text and speech to manuals and promotional materials – into several languages.
I liaise every day with external translation vendors in many countries and our internal teams in Birmingham and Southam to make it happen.
How would someone become an assistant localisation manager? There are several ways: the ‘classical’ path, which I took, is to get a degree in translation fi rst. Then, get a junior position in a localisation department for a developer or a translation agency specialising in video games.
I liaise every day with external
translation vendors in many countries and our teams.
Amandine Mairiaux, Codemasters
be good at multitasking among other things. The best experience you can get is by being a localisation intern for developers while you’re still studying. It builds up your network of contacts and you get to learn a lot about video games localisation, which is quite a specifi c domain.
If you’ve got job advice to share, email
Aaron.Lee@intentmedia.co.uk
Employee HOT SEAT
Andrew Hague guides you through the ins and outs of recruitment at Leamington Spa games studio, Kwalee
What do you do at your studio? At Kwalee, my role is really wide reaching; almost as wide as my job title. Primarily I am responsible for the software developers on the games teams, but I am still very hands on. I’m often within a team helping code various odds and ends. I love programming, so I love a job where I still get to shift bits of data as well as bits of paper.
How did you get your current job? After Blitz Games Studios closed down, I was looking for a job in the same area. I contacted everyone I knew across the industry. Among others, David Darling, my old boss from when I worked at Codemasters 18 years ago, kindly contacted me and the rest is history. This role was
Name: Andrew Hague Title: Senior VP of Software Engineering
40 | JUNE 2014
Everything developed
at Kwalee is a big contribution to its success.
the one that had the most to off er in terms of my career objectives.
What perks are available to those working at the studio?
Unlike larger companies, everything developed at Kwalee is a big contribution to its success. For me this is a real perk, because too often employees can get lost in the hierarchy. The company off ers private medical care, private pension, life
Developer: Kwalee
www.kwalee.com
If you’re interviewing someone to join your team, what do you look for? Someone with an attention to detail, multilingual, fl exible, but who is also sociable as you need to liaise with many people. Being a gamer is not essential, but it does help when anticipating/discussing issues.
What opportunities are there for career progression?
You can either progress vertically and manage a localisation department. Or horizontally by joining a development team after a few years as an associate producer, for example. You then become the point of contact for localisation but on the studio side.
Why choose to follow a career in your fi eld?
If you’re passionate about languages, games and a little crazy, then look no further and hop on the localisation train.
www.codemasters.com
assurance, profi t sharing and/or royalties. We have quarterly team building events, in-house training sessions and a few of us go out to schools and colleges to give careers talks. We have free fruit too, but we’re in the town centre so tuck is only a one-minute walk away.
What is the recruitment process like at your studio?
We only look at candidates that we can feel will deliver a fi rst-class performance, qualifi ed by a proven track record. We’re keen to recruit people with an outstanding gameography, especially programmers. Candidates at interview are given a short aptitude test, a face-to-face meeting with the team lead for whom they will work and then a longer technical test within the team area. The technical test depends on the discipline so these vary quite a lot. Finally, the company directors will meet with the very best candidates before they are considered for employment.
What was your own interview like? My interview here was very similar to a lot of other interviews I’ve attended. However, it was in a diff erent setting. The Kwalee offi ce has only recently acquired a meeting room so my fi rst interview was at a local coff ee shop.
After that, I had face-to-face meetings with the company directors and the teams to see if I would fi t in and whether I had the skills needed.
Describe what the atmosphere is like at your studio.
Kwalee is a small company, so it is a lot of fun. We have a chill-out zone with games consoles that are used daily. There is a relaxed atmosphere, but that is balanced by developers who are driven and highly motivated to succeed. We need to get the very best results fi rst time and everyone must work eff ectively. We have highly ambitious and really talented people who make that happen.
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