Post-mortem With EAP
A couple days ago I emailed Craig Alexander thanking him for the opportunity to interview with his team and asking for a time to talk and get his feedback on the interviews. While I wasnt a fit for somewhat structural reasons I figured there were probably other areas that could use some improvement. We connected this evening and Craig buried me with help and advice!
I started the conversation with a quick recap of what I was looking for: how I could have presented myself better and what I should do to be better prepared when I interview with other groups at EA. Craig told me that everyone liked me and a few people had spoken up saying that EA really needs to hire me–somehow find me a position. :) In the end, he said, EAP isnt equipped to bring someone new to the industry up to speed in the roles they are hiring for right now. But said hed like to do whatever he can to help me get a position at EA and he was instructing HR to see what they could find in Studio.
I asked him where I should be focused and who I should talk to next and he told it was good that I had spoken to Chris Plummer (he and Chris used to sit next to each other at EA) and that Glen Schofield is good too as Bing had said. He suggested Rade Stojsavljevic…well, hes moving to Craigs team from EALA shortly but he may be able to offer me some tips. At EARS there is David Yee who produced Earth and Beyond as well as UXO (Ultima Online 2). And theres the COO JF Prata who is hiring a DD–that might be a good opportunity.
He then pulled up the EA jobs site (and so did I) and went through all the postings. We found a couple positions in Studio, a couple in IT. He suggested I look into all of them as possible feet-in-the-door. Plus, he pointed out, in a position like IT I’m likely to make a lot more which is never a bad thing. Craig offered to put me in direct touch with the right people, bypassing the website for any position I find on there that I may be interested in! That would be a huge help. Personal introductions are key for someone in my position especially. For IT I should get it touch with Greg Bartlett and Mark Fronz–they are the senior managers there.
Whew! This is awesome. Plenty of new people to meet…goes to show, make those follow-up calls! :) It helps if you are lucky enough to meet stand-up, senior management, industry guru, well connected people like Craig of course. Thanks Craig!