The two are not related. The job is a QA job on an upcoming game, and while you will not grow rich doing this job, you will make some useful connections and make a little money without having to relocate or even put on pants. And guys, you know I love you, but “I did this open beta” is not actually job experience. However, something like a team lead position is, if you can shore that up by having at least sort of related professional experience. The posting is here: http://sacramento.craigslist.org/sof/1736581596.html
As for the ancient fish: I did my Metaverse Mod Squad post yesterday and I was maybe a little punchy. The seven of you who have been reading my stuff for… a decade… know that I sometimes torture analogies until they scream and break loose their chains to flee into the night. (See what I did there?) At any rate, I compared developers who post on message boards to coelacanths.
Wow… That QA posting is embarrassing. Minimum wage as an independent contractor responsible for filing all taxes (Calif. taxes!). I hope they get exactly what they’re paying for. The new QA is going to be earning less take-home than a receptionist, while hopefully having a college degree, providing their own equipment and required to have previous QA / Test experience. Sad.
Yeah, I winced at the money too (and said something about it, as you might imagine), but I still posted the gig because of two things:
1. Someone who has no job and cannot possibly relocate for any hourly wage (and permanent, salaried QA jobs are scarcer than hen’s teeth right now) might be willing to make 8 sitting at home in his underpants while continuing to job hunt. I mean, something is always better than nothing.
2. The job itself isn’t with the game company, it’s with the outsourcing company. The pay on THIS job is low, but the pay on OTHER jobs can be quite a bit better. Again, for someone with no job, taking a low paying job and building a connection with a source of high paying jobs is not a bad thing. I’ve done it multiple times in my life.
Okay, I have a 3.
3. My favorite check out lady at the supermarket is also a third grade teacher. Sometimes, people take on badly paying second jobs because they need the money and the badly paying job offers flexible hours that can be scheduled around the first job.
Oh, and I might be wrong, but I pay taxes according to where I earned the money, not where the company is located. I’ve been an independent contractor off and on since 2007, and that’s what my accountant tells me to do. So you’d only pay Cali taxes if you live in Cali.
Agreed with Gramfus on the pay. It made me sad to see that. Smart developers realize that QA is an important part of the process, not something you farm out for minimum wage on a temporary basis. Unless of course you aren’t really looking for a QA person, but instead just want someone who can mash buttons and report the occasional crash.
I hope that whomever is making the HR decisions at this un-named company is NOT involved in development!
Even if one were unemployed and on the verge of being kicked out inot the streets, it wouldn’t be worth the time to consider an $8/hr contractor position. Unemployment insurance in California is $430 per week (before taxes). Assuming they gave you the full 30 hours, that’s only $240 a week (also before taxes) and you STILL have to deal with EDD because you’re “under-employed”. And, to make matters worse, unemployment insurance (in California) is capped on time, not dollars. That is, you collect UI benefits for a set number of weeks, regardless of how much you actually collect in dollars. So, you can’t even argue that the prospective employee is extending their unemployment benefits by taking this. They aren’t.
I’d argue that anyone with the qualifications they are looking for would have more luck making connections by going to GDC, PAX, or E3 and handing out resumés to everyone wearing a company shirt. QA testing is not a fun job. No one -wants- to be a QA tester.
Unless, of course, the intent is to hire some under-18 kid who lives with his parents and thinks he’s qualified to work “in games” because he has sixteen level 80 WoW toons and an addiction to energy drink… in which case, great job!!
You guys are killing me. I already said I wasn’t thrilled about the pay scale, but I can’t really say more than that, because I need MY job. I should say “that job” considering that I’m actually working four of them.
I think we have established that someone living in California would lose money taking this job. You’ve convinced me! Uncle!
But I wouldn’t have posted it if I hadn’t thought it might be of help to someone. I personally know a couple people, living in MUCH cheaper places than California (the entire middle of the country being cheaper than either California or the turf I’m occupying), who could take this gig on top of their regular gig for a little extra cash. And I know people who have been unemployed so long that they aren’t getting UI of any flavor, and they ARE living with their parents. Which sucks at 24, but I promise, it sucks a lot more at 34 with children.
There aren’t any costs associated with taking the job. No relocating, no gas money, no buying new clothes. And finally, see again the bit about how it could be a connection to a company that has other, better paying contracts.
I’m sincerely glad you guys are doing too well to think this offer is at all tempting. I know Stupid is cute enough to take up manwhoring if his regular career crapped out
I’ve been reading you since the day after your original EQ rant, just saying
Pay scale aside I’d be tempted to app for the job just for the chance to have it on my resume in the event that one of the random resumes that I fire off to Blizzard, Sony or one of the other game companies gets more attention because of it.