How To Ace Your Application, Interview & Audio Test (In Game Audio)
Overview
When you’re applying to a role you enter a battle royale game where you compete against others trying to win the role. There are multiple different stages and each stage represents the circle getting smaller as more people are eliminated. In the end, there is one successful applicant who gets the job. However, with each attempt, you gain experience and can be even better prepared for the next game. So even if you fail just keep in mind that you’re not wasting your time but instead getting better and improving.
The job application process is generally comprised of 4 main stages:
The application (sending your cover letter, resume and demo reel)
The first interview (focusing on your application and getting to know you)
The audio test (proving your skills)
The second interview (usually on-site if the position is in-house, focused on your audio test and technical skills)
Of course, this is a broad generalisation, some studios only require a single interview and others don’t have an audio test at all but most studios have a relatively similar process.
Application (Round 1)
The application is the first barrier that you have to overcome and in big companies that means getting through HR (human resources) or the hiring managers who are responsible for screening job applicants. They get rid of faulty applications and people who are clearly unqualified narrowing the number of potential candidates.
In this stage, it’s incredibly important to go over the details of the job description again and make sure that you’ve aligned your resume to the job listing.
Things to look out for:
Make sure you’re actually applying to the right position/role.
Write the job title you’re applying for in the header of the email so HR will have an easier time putting you in the right pile so your application won’t accidentally be thrown out.
Write the email your gonna send in a blank draft, re-read it and get someone else to proofread it before adding the recipient and sending it. (I’ve sent out my fair share of accidental unfinished emails).
Don’t forget to attach your resume!
Don’t forget to attach a link to your demo reel & make sure it works in incognito mode!
First Interview (Round 2)
The first interview of the hiring process is generally focused on your application and done remotely over zoom, hangouts or similar video conferencing software. This is an opportunity for the people hiring you to get to know you a little better and make sure that you actually have the qualifications and skills you put on your resume. It’s also an opportunity for you to let your personality shine and ask any questions you have (it’s a great idea to prepare some beforehand), after all this is also your time to find out whether the company is a good fit for you.
Preparation
Do some research to find out who you might be talking to (audio director, leads and senior sound designers).
During your research you should find out detailed info about the studio, the games they’ve released and what they’re working on (if it’s been announced).
Prepare and write down questions that you would like to ask about the role, team, studio and game that you’ll be working on. It easily happens that you forget what you wanted to ask from all of the nerves.
Practice being in the hot seat by doing mock interviews with friends or our great discord community.
Prepare for the “Why?” questions which give the hiring managers a glimpse into your thought process. For example why you like a sound, why you would design it a certain way or even why you’re into a certain hobby.
If the game you’re applying to is in early access or has already been released and you’re working on further content, make sure you play the game or watch some gameplay beforehand.
Before The Interview
Make sure you have all the right video conferencing software installed and links or passwords ready to enter the meeting.
Check if your mic is working, your levels are correct and that you are in a quiet environment if possible.
Clean your room/office, a neat well kept space makes a good impression and a cluttered dirty one might leave a bad one (even though that should technically be irrelevant).
Leave your ego at the door, being a team player is not only important but completely necessary.
During The Interview
Be on time, give yourself a buffer before the interview to grab some water and prep yourself mentally.
Don’t be afraid to banter and definitely enjoy yourself, after all this is your time to be in the spotlight and talk about yourself.
Show your passion and love for audio and that you want to work here!
Compliments are welcome, devs love to hear that their work is appreciated just make sure not to fanboy/fangirl too much as it can cause a weird dynamic.
Be honest! Identifying where you're weaknesses lie enables you to get better at them. Lying only breaks trust and no one wants to work with someone they can't trust. It's super important for the team to know what you don't know so they can train you in those areas.
Ask questions! It not only shows your interest but also helps you determine whether the company is a good fit for you.
Topics To Prepare For Your First Interview
Personal Questions
These types of questions and prompts are generally asked to get more insight into who you are and if you’d be a good cultural fit for the team.
Some examples are:
”Tell us a little bit about yourself.”
“Why did you get into sound design?”
“Why are you applying to this company?”
“What are your aspirations?”
“Where do you see yourself in 5 years time?”
“What games do you play?”
“What is your favourite game of all time?”
“What’s your favourite game genre and why?”
“What do you do in your free time?”
Skills & Experience
Of course, your future employer will want to know if your resume was accurate so these questions are based on your qualifications.
Examples are:
“What kind of games have you worked on in the past?”
“Can you tell us more about X project you've worked on”
“What kind of challenges did you have to overcome?”
“Can you demonstrate an example where you had to be highly organised?”
“Do you have any previous experience in developing for platform X?”
“Do you have any experience working on genre X?”
“What would your ideal team look like?”
“Name a time you failed and what did you learn?”
Audio Test (Round 3)
After a successful first interview, you’ll most likely be asked to do an audio test. This is to prove your sound design and implementation skills and demonstrate you’re able to work fast under pressure and identify and prioritize the most important aspects of a design.
Audio tests vary from studio to studio and depend on the role you’ve applied for. If you’re going for a more technical role then you might also be required to do an audio implementation test, more on that below.
The audio test generally consists of a 0:30-2:00 minute gameplay clip or cutscene in which you are required to redesign and replace all of the audio. You usually have about a week to complete this task. Additionally, you may be asked to provide a write-up of your creative process, the techniques you’ve used and what you focused on. Some studios will tell you to focus on specific elements like guns or foley.
The implementation test is slightly different and usually works one of two ways:
The first one is an extension of the sound design test where you are required to do a write-up of how you would implement all of the different sounds in Wwise (or another middleware).
The second one is where sound files are provided from the studio with a set of requirements for the system.
Let’s have a closer look at two different examples that you would have to create in Wwise:
Create a foley movement system for a character who can walk and run. There are 3 different surfaces each of which can be wet or dry. The character can change their armour (helmet, torso, shoes) and carry up to 2 weapons. The foley should reflect the changes in the sound. The sounds for 2 types of armour and weapons are provided with walking and running variations. Additionally, the footsteps on 3 different surfaces with walking, running, wet and dry variations are also given.
Create a gun system with single and automatic fire. It should also be able to have 3 modifications, lightning, fire and ice. You can also switch to a grenade launcher (single fire only). As this is a multiplayer game enemies should be able to hear the gun from 800 meters but as the sounds get further away the less high end should be heard. The sounds are given for the single and automatic fire as well as layers for the 3 modifications and the grenade launcher.
When doing these kinds of tests it can be useful to map them out on a piece of paper first and then figure out which basic components within Wwise you can utilise to create the systems.
But now let’s have a closer look at the next topic…
How To Approach An Audio Test
First, you should be happy and proud that you’ve made it to this stage. Now you get to show off what you are capable of! This is where all of the hard practice you’ve put in finally pays off. Below I’ve listed some tips that will hopefully help successfully complete any audio test.
Prioritize! You’ll only have a very limited amount of time to work on the test especially if you’ve got a day job. This means you should focus on the most important elements first and make sure you get them right before filling in the details. I find the best way of doing this is to watch the test a couple of times and write down the key story and gameplay moments.
Stay organized! Split the various parts of your redesign into different categories in the DAW and name the folders accordingly. I would recommend using Ambience, SFX, Cine & Foley as the main folders with further subfolders like weapons, vehicles and magic for example.
Record what you can and get creative but don’t be shy to use library material especially as layers in your design. The main objective is to make it sound as good as possible by whichever means.
Document the process! Take pictures and videos of your recording sessions and make notes on your creative decisions, this will help you a great deal for when you’re doing the write-up.
Avoid simply dragging and dropping in pre-designed library sounds that you haven’t layered, processed or edited. If they are recognised then it will cheapen your design so just make sure to layer and process them first.
Details matter! Glueing everything together with a subtle reverb, having the tails transition nicely between sounds and filling in the empty spaces will make your test sound a lot better.
The Writeup
The writeup allows the audio team gain some insight into your work process. It also tests your ability to explain the application of your skills. A great way to view it is to pretend that you were writing a blog post for your favourite blog breaking down your sound design process for one of your re-designs.
Just make sure you follow whatever instructions are given (maximum word count, specific topics to cover, etc.)
Writing Your Writeup
Create a rough outline of the structure you want your write-up to be.
Make sure to cover the most interesting and important points especially if the word count is low.
I recommend answering the following questions:
Preparation (after watching the video) - how did you analyse, plan and prioritize the test (example splitting it up in 3 categories ambience, SFX & foley)?
Sound Design Process - how did you record, edit, layer & process the sounds and which perspectives did you choose?
Mix - how did you mix the re-design and glue it together?
Include pictures and videos, these will help the reader visualise what you’ve done.
Use a spellchecker like Grammarly to avoid typos and spelling mistakes (there’s a free version which I used extensively when writing this).
Practising For An Audio Test
The best way to practice for an audio test is to simulate them on a regular basis by doing redesigns that have a time limit. We can do this on different scales:
1-hour sound design challenge with a 3-second video clip.
1-day sound design challenge with a 20-second video clip.
1-week sound design challenge with a 1:40 minute video clip.
By doing these on a regular basis you will sharpen your sound design skills and get used to working under pressure. In the real world, sound designers will sometimes be faced with creating lots of content in incredibly tight time windows so working fast is a necessary skill.
The great news is that you can practise this skill and get better and faster at your craft. The Game Dev London discord server hosts weekly one-hour sound design workshops which are a great place to start:
https://discord.com/invite/SnET8XgBvJ
Analysis
Another great way to practise is to simply listen to other people's work that you admire and analyse it thoroughly. Write down exactly what you like, dislike, what works and what doesn’t as well as the details going on in the background
Second Interview (Round 4)
The second interview generally occurs after the audio test at which point you will often be invited to the studio unless there is a global pandemic going on or the position is remote. At this point, there are only a hand full of candidates left battling it out for the position.
This time around a lot of the questions will focus on your audio test and your technical skills however, this is also an opportunity to see how you get along and fit in with the rest of the team.
You will most likely be given feedback on your audio test and closely watched how you react to that feedback. This is because getting and receiving feedback is something we are confronted with on a very regular basis in this job.
Reacting badly to feedback (getting angry, defensive, defeated, etc.) can be a dealbreaker so don’t forget to practise this skill beforehand (help can be found under the “Getting Better At Sound Design” topic).
“What should you wear?” is always a daunting question as you probably want to fit in rather than stand out. Games companies are generally fun and casual places so pretty much anything goes. From experience, the majority of people wear jeans, t-shirts and hoodies so you can wear casual clothes in the interview but having a shower before and putting on fresh clothes is definitely a must to make a good first impression. I’d say the most important thing is just to be yourself and put on whatever you feel most comfortable and confident in.
Topics To Prepare For Your Second Interview
Before you dive into your second interview it’s a good idea to prepare for a whole number of questions so you won’t be caught off guard. I’ve put together a list of them below to help you.
Your Audio Test
Questions related to your audio test including your process, what went well, what you would’ve liked to spend more time on, how you prioritized and organised the test.
Additionally, the audio team might give you some constructive feedback for your audio test. This is not only helpful for you to improve but also allows them to see how you react to feedback.
Example questions are:
“How did you find the audio test?”
“What did you focus on?”
“How would you implement the sounds of this scene into a game?”
“What would you have spent any additional bonus time on?”
“If the tables were turned and you had to critique this test, what criticism would you have?”
“Now respond to your own criticism.”
“What would you do to make this section more realistic/funnier/dramatic?”
Sound Design & Implementation These questions are all about the technical as well as the creative side of sound design and implementation. You should be able to communicate and explain:
What you like about a sound and why.
How the sound fulfils its tasks (inform, immerse, give feedback as well as support the narrative & fantasy).
How you would go about creating it.
How you would implement the sound into the game and the systems you would design to solve the problem at hand.
How to mix the sound in real-time (based on RTPCs, states and switches).
Basic optimisation techniques you would use.
Example questions are:
“What is your favourite sounding game and why?”
“What specific sound do you really like in that game and why?”
“How would you design it if you were given the task?”
“How would you implement it?”
The Game They Are Working On
Potentially you will get shown the game that you’ll be working on in which case they will probably ask you some questions about it like the ones below. Additionally, this will also be a good opportunity to ask some questions yourself.
“What did you think of our game?”
“What did you think of the sound in-game?”
“What sounds do you enjoy making and would like to make for the game?”
What Now?
If you’ve made it through all 4 rounds successfully, congratulations! If not then see this as an opportunity to learn and be better prepared for next time!
I’ll leave you with this amazing article from Ariel Gross which is a great summary of what’s important to succeed: https://www.gamedeveloper.com/audio/yet-another-game-audio-hiring-article
Lastly, definitely make sure you read this amazing checklist and guide before you start applying: https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/applying-job-game-audio-matthew-florianz/
Shoutouts (Contributors)
Before I finish this section I just wanted to say a huge thank you to all the people who have contributed to the questions and general knowledge of this section through their work or personal conversations (Cai Jones, Jake Gaule, Ben Gallagher, Lewis Thompson, Adele Cutting, Akash Thakkar and Ariel Gross just to name a few). I couldn’t have done it without their knowledge and expertise!
Lastly, I just want to give a huge shoutout to Florian Titus Ardelean for putting together this incredible collection of knowledge and all the people that contributed to it. I’ve used it as a resource for a lot of the content in this section and I definitely recommend diving in to learn even more about getting a job in game audio: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1sAd8xOdngsdLJqKfcOnyL8xRhPi3Uitys6fEXU9O2X0/edit#heading=h.p5hotiag27xi
