Please note: We do not post our vacancies
to any online services, and
we do not consider any applications which are routed through them.
If you see a SJ Games job posted with an online service, we didn't
authorize it; the service scraped it off our website and reposted it
to waste your time. If you want to work for us, contact us directly!
Also note: When sending a resume to us by
email, any attached resume file must have YOUR NAME as the filename.
Resumes entitled "resume.doc" will be read with great prejudice, if we can
even find them among the spam.
We're not looking to fill any positions at this time, but when we are, we'll post them here.
Full-Time Staff
Obviously, the things we look for in a new employee depend on the job we
have to fill. And for any job, we want somebody who can act professionally
and remember that it is a job. We don't sit around all day and play games.
A lot of any staff job is administrative. Some weeks, the really cool things
are few and far between.
Most people who ask us about jobs are interested in game design and development,
writing or editing, or possibly playtesting. But we don't have salaried playtesters
on staff. We don't have any full-time designers on staff; we work with freelancers,
and everyone here who is a writer or designer also wears at least one other hat. We
do, though, have a few staffers who work, part or full time, as game editors.
We always look for experience when making a hiring decision. We're not likely to
hire anyone, for any creative position, unless they have experience either with some
other company or as a (successful) freelancer.
Everything we do involves the computer. We use it for communication, writing,
proofreading, art and graphics, and layout. Any potential employee OR freelancer
must be computer-literate.
We do not offer internships.
Oh, yes. We are a non-smoking office. We have smokers, but they go outside and suffer.
Benefits
We cover your premiums for health, dental, and vision insurance. The insurance company
does have the right to reject an applicant, but they have never rejected anyone from here.
Vacation days, starting at a week per year and topping out at four weeks.
Regular in-house Game Days. Yes, these are days when we eat food and play games all day long . . . and still get paid.
On good years there might be bonuses. No promises. If we promised, it wouldn't be a bonus.
Somewhat flexible hours, depending on what you are doing. (But this is NOT a "show up when you feel
like it" job. We expect your hours to be predictable, but we can be flexible in setting your in-out
times, and some employees work four long days and then take Friday off.)
Possibilities for convention travel as a game demonstrator, even if your regular work isn't related to development or marketing.
Free games, woo hoo.
Education and Experience
If you're in school, you may wonder what classes you should take to prepare yourself for a career in game
design. First, of course, you should learn to write quickly and clearly. Courses in journalism are usually
better for this than any type of "creative writing" class. If you cannot write quickly, you'll starve.
If you cannot write clearly, somebody else will get the job. While it is possible to be a genius creative
talent who cannot write a grammatical sentence, we try to avoid them. There are lots of creative talents
out there who can write clear sentences, and we like them better :-)
When writing rules, it helps to have a logical mind. Any class that trains this is worthwhile. Law
or pre-law courses in Legislation and Contracts are good preparation for rules writing.
Breaking In
How do you break into the field, then? The short answer is: by writing magazine or blog articles on a
freelance basis, and working up from there. It's not the only path, but it's a sure one, provided you
have the ability at all! We'll be happy to see your submissions for Pyramid, and who knows what that
can lead to?
Freelancing
We use lots of freelancers - writers, editors and artists. The Internet is wonderful. If you have
reliable e-mail and FTP capability, we can work with you no matter where in the world you are. Anyone
interested in freelancing must know everything in our Authors' Guidelines.
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