Jᴀᴄᴜʀᴜᴛᴜ - Tʜᴇ Cᴀsᴛ Oᴜᴛ

SandRider wrote:

Serkanner wrote:

chanilover wrote: the basic rate of income tax is 22%,

DANG! ... it is at least 37% here and when your yearly income is above some 30,000 the tax is 42% over that part, over here.

inB4 Freak says "and Obama wants to make us more like Europe" &etc ...

lotek wrote:

Serkanner wrote:

chanilover wrote: the basic rate of income tax is 22%,

DANG! ... it is at least 37% here and when your yearly income is above some 30,000 the tax is 42% over that part, over here.

and where are you anyway?
(sorry i have to ask...)

The Netherlands

ok so you have pretty high income tax then(I'm not even sure how much it is in France though)

I got in contact with my former temp agency and they advised to wait until the end of the probation period to start talking about more money, which kind of makes sense
they told me they use to give us a housing bonus(with codemasters we had 2000€ after tax, and rent and bills paid!! only happened once )

I have the phone interview on monday, if anyone has words of wisdom as it is not often that I apply for a job where i am actually on position of negociating, I'm open to any cunning plan you might have!

One of the lost awkward job interview situations, lotek, is when they ask you what a suitable pay might be for you. It's tough because while you don't want to give a wage that's out of their budget, you also don't want to short-change yourself. I'm not sure what the going rate for game testers is, but I've used this line before in similar situations: "I'm willing to negotiate, and I'm sure we can determine a rate which will satisfy both of us." It's not really a full answer, but perhaps what they say next can give you a clue as to where to start with the negotiations. A delicate dance, the job interview process is.

yeah i got in contact with my former temp agency and they basically told me to wait until the end of the probation period to start salary negociations, but that if there are no compensations other than the hourly wage it is a bit low.
calling it a dance is quite fitting though, as the first one who misses the correct step loses!

Now I was supposed to have the phone interview today but no one called... quite stressful as it could mean anything from the most trivial to the worst explanation possible...

I sent an email asking if I misunderstood the time and date, that i'm really keen on getting the job and that they can contact me to set a new interview.

I find it weird they would go through the trouble of sending a test, correct it, ask for a one hour phone interview, and then jsut suddenly stop everything.

In paranoid mode I'd think it's a way of testing my reaction to the unexpected but like most of the time the reason is most likely far more simple

but still it feels uncomfortable...

Futar wrote:congratz!

but i have to say FF online? i thought FFXI bombed (never played it just what ive heard)

FFXI didn't bomb...it just isn't as popular here as it is in Japan. As far as I know, it is still the #1 online game in Japan. I played it for two years or so, and enjoyed it. Most people in the US seem to be into World of Warcraft and all that jazz.

Good luck, Lotek...Squeenix is my all-time favorite game developer!

Be proactive! Call their asses before business hours are up.

Always follow up. I always send a "thank you" email after an interview.

I hesitated to call, i waited a bit as I had doubts if the time was my local or london local...
I sent the email and will call tomorrow, unless I get a reply before...

But thanks for the advice and words of encouragement, they're both much appreciated every one!!

Call them up or email them to find out what happened. It shows you're keen. Have you done research into the company? For some reason companies always get off on the idea that people have researched them specifically for an interview.

chanilover wrote:Call them up or email them to find out what happened. It shows you're keen. Have you done research into the company? For some reason companies always get off on the idea that people have researched them specifically for an interview.

yeah the email I sent, in which i did say I was keen(which is for once absolutely true )
In this case it is quite different as I"ve literally grown up with video games I don't have to fake an interest as it is truly a kid's dream come true(or a nerd's)
Maybe not THE dream but still a good one...
having a job that when you wake up really tired and still don't consider suicide as a means to skip that job then you know you've succeeded

all right cool false alarm
they cocked up on the dates or something not me, that's a relief!

so we're just back on it again either today or tomorrow

apparently there will be several interviewers, usually that a sign that my profile is of interest(they have said so themselves)

So I will concentrate on showing how good I am and how much I like video games, try to get there for a probation period and then negociate a decent wage(as soon as I know exactly what other benefits they have to offer as a company_any ideas on what to be asking for witout appearing like a scrounger?)

How good you are? At video games? Have you considered that that may not be a requisite for game testers? Just a thought...

thing is I've already done it several times as a temp, in germany, poland and the uk so I've got a solid work resume already.
Of course being good at games is not the first thing they might inquire about, but still it should appear as an evidence that it will certainly help
then they look for people who can justify of a good level in their home language, and that I have as I've got french uni level, although not complete

the quickness at which they replied is a good indicator of their interest i think, it took only a few days to reply to my application(i sent one to a French company they need one month to reply)
It could be because something sucks with the job, but that's what probation periods are for I guess...

nothing's done yet so one step at the time will do just fine

got the interview today
done it
they say we call you back by the end of the week for our answer
I put the phone down
go for a beer
they call me back two minutes later
leave a message

I've got the job!

I'm coming back to London

Congrats on a job well done ... and to do!

That's awesome...congratulations!!!

Congratulations! It's good to hear success stories as we make our way through this down economy.

(The same thing happened to me on my last interview, too. "We'll call you later in the week." Ring-ring! "You've got the job." I was in the car, driving home from the interview.)

it just feels akward as usually this kind of stuff takes ages, at least here in France...

on one job offer they needed a whole bloody month to give an answer, when these people got one for me within days

It's one of the reasons why i applied for positions abroad, I love France for many things but workwise we have a looong way to go to get rid of all these remnants of other times...

anyway thanks to everyone who contributed to this thread, all your posts were useful and now i'm gonna

Congratulations.

So the next round is on the guy with the new job, right?

Congrats, lotek! How soon are you starting?

Freakzilla wrote:So the next round is on the guy with the new job, right?

too right it is!
I'm an Aberlour fan myself but considering I'm going to England I reckon I should feel my body with wine, good ones don't come cheap in London!

Tleszer wrote:Congrats, lotek! How soon are you starting?

that's a bit hazy but it looks like asap

I told them I could start even next week but I have to find a flat or a place to stay first...
I haven't been to London in a while apart from that romantic week end with that girl, so the people I knew must be dead or in jail
One of my friends has a brother over there who might be able to put me up but he's not often there because of his job.

So if London has been building cheap accomodation next to Old Street and I didn't know about it feel free to enlighten me!

Very happy for you Lotek. Best of luck to you.

Congrats! I am Jealous. Everybody wants that job.

Then again, it could ruin video games for you, having a job like that. Not trying to be pessimistic, just a thought.

Drunken Idaho wrote:Congrats! I am Jealous. Everybody wants that job.

Then again, it could ruin video games for you, having a job like that. Not trying to be pessimistic, just a thought.

ha ha no it won't
remember i've done it before, and most of us had their own console at home and I know I played a bit even straight from work

I get your point but I know it won't be the case