While it depends on the product, overall I don’t agree. All coders test their units but when an app is large and has multiple components it becomes very inefficient to have high-end coders wiping devices, noting error messages, etc. And many applications (particularly ones with client and server pieces) cannot really be auto-tested.
Knowledge of coding and the ability to step through it is a valuable QA skill. That why our head of QA is a non-coding QA lifer who is expert in process, etc, but has never coded himself. When he has coding trainees, who know the language working with him, it is a potent combination. And that is why I know it to be a great entry level position, because QA gives an employee access to all parts of the product.
Not a dumb question at all.
Mostly they screw up the network and fill out the process forms wrong. They open the wrong ports. They put the incorrect patches on the servers. Etc etc etc…
At various companies I have worked at, developers are in IT, and people who deal with network are in infrastructure. I was a chief technology officer, and I didn’t manage infrastructure. My group was responsible for applications. Maybe it is just a different naming convention.
"Mostly they screw up the network and fill out the process forms wrong. They open the wrong ports. They put the incorrect patches on the servers. Etc etc etc…
Until they are promoted to management."
Hopefully Amazon AWS people who mistyped a command and created a 5 hr outage for many US websites this Tuesday will be promoted soon. Together with people who incorrectly engineered the whole thing.
Well, this thread seems to be getting a bit off topic. Back to finding this kid a job. This may be a different approach, but maybe he should consider the military. A four-year stint in service to his country would get him valuable experience in the field and vastly improve his chances at getting a job in the market at that time. This is especially true if he gets a good security clearance or something like that. If not the military, then perhaps he takes a lower-paying job at a charity. Either approach will enhance the resume to hopefully attract future employers. (not to mention the intrinsic reward of serving others)
Some veterans were having a hard time finding employment after they are discharged, though if they apply for a state or federal job (if those will exist), there are extra points on their application, and some companies (Home Depot, SAP, etc) are making a more concerted effort to hire veterans. If he wants to enter go into the military, he’d have to do OCS with at least a 3 year commitment… If he becomes an offficer, he would then get a security clearance. Yes that may eventually help with employment, but it may be in fields the student doesn’t particularly want.
jym is exactly right, going into the military certainly is not a guarantee of employment afterwards at all. Some skills do not translate well into civilian life. Plus, there is little guarantee of working at the job of your choice, as the needs of the military come first. Always. I would not take going into the military lightly, you need to have your eyes wide open and know what you’re doing.
However, it did get me and my husband direct experience for our jobs. We would have been far less employable without it.
Agreed @busdriver11. Flight experience from the military can be invaluable. The other points are also spot on. The military decides the job placement and location. I recall DH joking once that a friend in the military was ousting his preferences for job assignments/locations. He put down Hawaii. DH said the military probably thought "oh, you seem to have misspelled Poland "
@jym626. Pretty much all military members these days get a clearance (minimum SECRET) when they join nowadays. If this kid has a CS degree, and is in decent physical condition and mentally disposed towards a life in the military, then by all means seek out an officer recruiter and see who has the best offer for a college graduate with a CS degree. I went in after college planning on a 4 year hitch and ended up staying for 11, and only got out because the Cold War ended and they didn’t need so many of us around any more. The military isn’t for everyone (quite a few of my officer training school classmates washed out because they just couldn’t mentally adjust to the realities of military life), but if it’s a good fit, then the experience is invaluable.
He can apply to DHS for cybersecurity roles. Many positions require programming skills. Clearance will take time and it will not be in Boston, more like Virginia or Florida.
If only Boston, NYC and San Fran will do then it is a problem.
@NoVADad99 - agreed-- my DH was active duty in CS when we met (he ran a data center on a base). He would have stayed in the military… but he met me… He was about to be headed to Korea and he made a choice-- me or Korea. The rest is history He did stay in the reserves for many years after his active duty, but his records were amongst those lost in the St. Louis fire (IIRC) and trying to cobble all those old crinkly wax-paper-type pay slips became just too cumbersome. And after CNGS his reserve assignment would have been in an inconvenient place. I could go on…but its off topic. Just a fen memory. As for the OP, its hard to imagine someone very interested in gaming being a good fit for the military. I could be wrong, but…
That seems to be about using shooting games to attract players to a war mindset or something like that. That’s different than software developer type opportunities.
Lots of gamers in the military. Also Star Wars nerds, Star Trek geeks, Dr. Who fanatics…the list goes on. The military also is doing a lot of computer simulations if that’s more his cup of tea.
No surprise that there are lots of gamers and Star Trek geeks in the military. Just saying the game design people I know, arguably a small number but nonetheless, are pacifists.
Thursday afternoon he spoke with NEU career services and asked if it was true that he shouldn’t expect to be making more than $40,000 given that he hasn’t found a job in 9+ months. They basically told him no and that it was a really low offer. He called the recruiter and told her he wanted the formal offer emailed to him. He was told they don’t do a written offer until the job is accepted, but they forwarded the email they had from the company outlining benefits. He declined the job, telling her the salary was too low. She said she would try to get them up to $45K, but she doubted they would go that high. At 8:00 p.m., she called and asked, “If I can get them to 45, will you accept tonight?” Annoyed by the high pressure, he said, “No, but I will if they offer 50.”
The next morning, the president of the recruiting company called to “sort things out.” After a lengthy conversation, ds said that since he would have taken the job if they had offered 45 initially, he would accept if they came up to 45. Late in the afternoon, he got the call with the 45 offer and he accepted. Supposedly he will have the formal written offer on Monday, and we can see if there are any strings attached.
Yes, it’s still low, but he liked the guys who interviewed him, it seemed like a good company to work at, and the work itself sounded interesting. And it’s something to put on his resume that’s not game related. (BTW, someone on this thread offered to look at his resume and said it looked excellent.) He will be taking the train/Ubering for now.
Heartfelt thanks to everyone who chimed in here and everyone who private messaged me. The advice and knowledge that so many people on this board so willingly share is amazing.
Well, as a former game designer, I can safely say that you will likely find about the same ratio as in the general population in terms of interest or disinterest in military service. The difference tends to be that if you are already a game designer, you may not really be interested in a career change. I chose my marriage over my job or I would still be doing it.
Another key that bears repeating. Most game designers do not have a degree in game design. More likely to be in, well, anything. Lots of various Liberal Arts majors. Even programmers are often self-taught or have minimal formal education in programming. (Many exceptions to that though) Game design is a creative art and is not really enhanced as much by formal education as one would think. OJT is king. How many best-selling authors have degrees in Creative Writing? (not counting honorary ones)
He did stay in the reserves for many years after his active duty, but his records were amongst those lost in the St. Louis fire (IIRC) and trying to cobble all those old crinkly wax-paper-type pay slips became just too cumbersome. And after CNGS his reserve assignment would have been in an inconvenient place. I could go on…but its off topic. Just a fen memory. As for the OP, its hard to imagine someone very interested in gaming being a good fit for the military. I could be wrong, but…