Becoming a blue
by Amanda Rivera 
Jul 25th 2007 at 1:02PM
You've thought about it, come on, I know you have: slipping onto the other side of things and working for Blizzard. I know I have, and have honestly applied to half a dozen jobs at the company over the last two years. My friends that have worked in the industry maintain that if you spend all day working at something you love, you will lose that love. I'm not so sure. Just because I worked a summer at Walt Disney World doesn't mean I'm jaded against the park; I still love the Tower of Terror just as much.But again, I know I have applied multiple times to positions that my resume screams competency for and gotten not even so much as a sneeze from the Blizzard HR. So I guess my question is this: Have any of you out there applied to a Blizzard job and received a reply, perhaps even an interview? What exactly is the secret to getting your resume seen in that mountainous email pile of theirs, even when you follow all their submission suggestions to the letter?
Filed under: Blizzard
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
Krishan Jul 25th 2007 1:13PM
I would LOVE to become a sort of tester for Blizzard, as I can't work FULL TIME for them but would happily handle some Administrative issues and would be more in touch with the people :D
I think I'd do a damn good job too ;)
Tornik Jul 25th 2007 1:22PM
Judging by the usually mediocre service I've received in the past from any GMs I've spoken to and the various (possibly apocryphal) stories of ex-GMs' experience, my gut feeling is that Blizzard likes to go with people who aren't serious fans of WoW.
I would imagine they'll go for people with past experience in Customer Service, sure, but it seems like they're choosing people who do not have pre-formed ideas and preconceptions about WoW - people who's opinions they can, to some extent, shape and control.
The reason? Most players' sole contact with a Blizzard employee will be a GM, and Blizzard want to make sure those employees are all toeing the company line.
DJG Jul 25th 2007 1:24PM
I've applied for one of the GM jobs, and I got a response back, but they wanted to pay me peanuts for the job, so I told them to give me a call when they were looking for managers.
Swillsy Jul 25th 2007 1:31PM
@3 Yeah I have been offered a job at the european one but the pay is awful considering you have to move out to Paris and you work shifts obviously.
However for someone whose just finished school or wants a break away from home it would be ideal
Nafaras Jul 25th 2007 1:36PM
I work for Blizzard already. I just pay them $15 a month to test their game. It is the MMoRPG industry. The game never has to be fully completed or without bugs or any ultimate balance to classes. It must be the best business ever created, when so many people offer their services for free.
Free Mods
Free Blogs
Free Item data bases
Free Comics / Vids
Free Game Testers
Also monthly subscriptions
Sylythn Jul 25th 2007 1:36PM
These days when job hunting, you almost have to find a way to circumvent the system companies put in place. If you don't, then you get submitted to an online database with thousands of other people to maybe, just maybe get picked out for a manager to look at. It's insane all of the rules industry has to follow in order to ensure EOE, and most of them actually harm the system itself. Your best results will come from finding a contact at Blizz and working both with the system, and around the system at the same time.
Bart Jul 25th 2007 1:38PM
I dont think a GM job would be anything but hard work. Its not like your playing the game and having fun. Your basically there to answer questions and deal with people who very often are just immature pains in the ass. Ive paged a GM several times, and never got an in game response, so you can imagine how much work these guys get, and how much issues they have to deal with. I would probably hate my job the most on patch days. If they dont hire people for these jobs who love WoW it makes sense since those peopel would probably be vERY dissapointed and their morale/productivity would drop.
Drain Jul 25th 2007 1:41PM
What ever happened to WoW Insider picking up Tseric? You guys couldn't track him down?
Safety Dancer Jul 25th 2007 2:02PM
There is only 1 reason I would apply for a job with blizz, and that is to get close to a dev and beat the living shit out of him. WoW has to be /the/ best MMO I have ever played (I played: SWG, EVE, GUILD WARS, EQ, and even some free ones), but their game screams of n00b coding errors. Every patch seems to break the game more and more. Then I would move onto the Tech support/GM's. If I hear "Disable your addons" or "Delete your WTF folder" I am going to throw a shitfit. OBVIOUSLY That didn't work last time asshole, wtf makes you think its going to work this time >.< EEEEEEEEeeeeeeeeee.
BY THE LIGHT OF THE MOON...
POOF...
Tuuk Jul 25th 2007 1:49PM
I sent in my resume a number of years ago and got a postcard thanking me for applying. It said that they would contact me for an interview if I made it far enough in the process. I think I still have it on my fridge. Although, I didn't heard anything else after that.
Aldrel Jul 25th 2007 1:59PM
@9
"Although, I didn't heard anything else after that."
You didn't heard anything else and you wonder why?
Shiro Jul 25th 2007 2:23PM
I've gotten interviews at EA and Origin in the past, never got the job though.
Things that helped me out a lot were breadth of experience in tech jobs, combined with a lot of experience in positions where you interact with people on a daily basis.
In particular they were looking for someone with a lot of experience working with a ticket tracking system (because almost everything comes back to that eventually), someone who is used to dealing with high-availability services, a candidate who is familiar with a variety of networking troubleshooting techniques, and someone who is intimately familiar with a large-scale-multi-server architecture.
Once you've proven that you've worked with those four things, then you usually make it by the front-lines. Then it becomes a real benefit to have worked with multiple operating systems (not just Windows, Linux, UNiX but rather multiple flavors of each), and scripting languages (you'd better at least know html/perl/java/shell scripting at a minimum). Beyond that it then goes down to your personality. Not once was I ever asked a gaming specific question, mostly they assume that gaming nuts will self-select for their jobs so if you've got a lot of that on your resume, take it out and put in more tech stuff. :)
Ichigo Jul 25th 2007 2:32PM
@ #11. Apparently you have never worked in tech support or in CS. Troubleshooting is a STEP BY STEP procedure and customers like you are what make that position a living hell at times. Be grateful that you are receiving assistance in the first place.
As for working for Blizzard, working with several ex-blizz employees here, I know that unless you are in management, you get paid peanuts. Its also a very corporate environment, but not in the dress code sort of way.
Kahja Jul 25th 2007 2:40PM
I would love to be a CM but I'd be fired fast for use of the banhammer.
DJG Jul 25th 2007 3:04PM
I have worked in customer service (tech support for a computer company...a BIG one), and yes, people that didn't want to troubleshoot were a pain in the rear. However, if we as a rep didn't LISTEN to the customer telling us, "Yeah, I already tried that with the last rep and it didn't work," then we failed at our job too. I think that's what Safety Dancer meant. Most of the reps don't get paid enough to care about listening to their customers. I don't blame them!
riotstar Jul 25th 2007 3:24PM
Can anyone tell me what the salary is for the European GM position? I'm tempted to apply (even with the relocation to Paris) but I can't be bothered with the hassle of going through the process only to be disappointed with the pay...
Safety Dancer Jul 25th 2007 3:30PM
@13
Actually I am employed at a decent sized company in PA (200+ ppl) called Strategic Energy. And guess what I do...IT SUPPORT!!!! So apparently /Ichigo/ you are mistaken.
@15
Thats more or less what I mean. I am just tired of what seems to be an automated response. I guess my IT experiance, and working with the same customers everyday has me a little spoiled if you will.
Apexs-Uldum Jul 25th 2007 4:18PM
I have applied for a GM spot at blizzard in Irvine - the pay was to low $10 hr so i turned it down for a high paying job. But what i found is the trick to get noticed is to send in your Resume by old fashion Snail Mail. after about a week after sending my resume i got a call from there HR about a interview. When you are told about the interview you are told not to tell anyone, you sign many papers say that you will not disclose any info about them even there real address and if disclose any info you are bared form the building. All in all it sounds like a cool place to work if are going to school still.
JoDB Jul 25th 2007 7:51PM
I interviewed for the Austin GM job, then learned it was $8 an hour. Wow, I made more as a cashier.
I thoguht 8 an hour was wasting my degree, so I went and did something less fun... for three times the pay.
Unregistered Jul 25th 2007 9:53PM
having found out how lowly paid these GMs are, i have a whole new respect for them and what they do for us.
i have received very good support from GMs in the past, from dumb stuff i did as a noob, like deleting a high level character cos it got stuck somewhere in the WoW universe. blizz oughta stop making sweat shops in 1st world countries and pay them better!