Monthly Archives: August 2009

Game Development Job News

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JTL Services, Inc. has placed several game development jobs in the past three months in Florida and North Carolina.  We are establishing several relationships with several best in class game development companies and are looking forward to growing this segment of our business.

My name is Bryant Madore, executive recruiter with JTL Services.  Part of our growth in this segment will include me providing up to date job information regarding the game development job market.  I am also seeking any public contributions as well.

Please stay tuned for more posts and in the meantime, feel free to contact me for recommended topics to blog about on this new game development job blog.

Are you one of the lucky ones or just a great employee?

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Are you one of the lucky ones that are still gainfully employed?  Does your boss keep telling you how lucky you are?

More and more people that we talk to are really unhappy with how they are being treated in the work place.  Attitudes have really gone haywire when it comes to management.  Work loads have increased to a point that people are not putting in 40, 50, 60, hours a week but 100 hours and that’s not even good enough.  Employees  have already given up bonuses, pay cuts, mandatory vacation with no pay, slashes in benefits and having to pay their own expenses!  Not even a thank you but what employees are hearing more and more is “well just be glad you have a job”.

I personally think that too many are using this economy to take full advantage of people.  With all of this bail out going on I believe that some companies have bailed out on respect for others.  I believe that if you’re in a managerial type of a role and you’re abusing your staff then the word idiot would apply.  What goes around comes around friend and when this market changes and it will, watch out!  Not only will your company have to re-staff but you as well will probably get “CANNED” and when you do what references will you have?

You know the deal with kids being bullied in school and how some schools have a policy that you can’t even touch another student.  They no longer allow hugging in school so they “shadow hug” and the “high five” is now the “air five”.  These same kids that are the bullies must grow up to be bad bosses and instead of the “time out” perhaps they should have gotten a “knock out”.  Now I’m not saying that you should knock out your boss but what I am saying is make sure you have your ducks in a row and get ready for the turn around.

Have you been to any of the book stores lately?  Instead of books like “Love’em or Lose’em Getting good people to stay” you can now read the “Idiot’s guide on how to fully abuse your employees”.  My favorite book not yet a bestseller has to be “How to be a bigger asshole with coffee breath!”

You can understand why I haven’t worked for someone for a very long time.  I have zero patients for people who think they’re above others.  My last job ended by me telling my boss that if he wanted to be above people perhaps standing around at cemetery should suffice.

If you are one of the few who happens to have a great boss then lets hear about him or her.  What are they doing to make the current situation better for those they work with and manage?  Do they have a positive attitude that perhaps allows you to be more productive and to help those around you?  I believe a good employee is a happy employee and a good boss does not boss.

We will all get through this and will be better for it so relax and put a smile on your face because better days are coming!

Negotiating is a way of life!

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When people think about negotiating it has to rank up there with the fear of death and public speaking.  Their palms get all sweaty, pupils dilate and they get the shakes.   Sometime I must admit it is pretty funny to watch, and I can’t get over the fact that everyone negotiates from the second they get up in the morning till they go to bed at night.  Should I eat that before I go to bed?  Should I hit that snooze button again?  The only difference is that everyone is simply negotiating with themselves.  So why is it when you go to negotiate with someone else you freak out?  I know some people love to haggle and some people like myself hate it.  Some people always want a discount and some people just want to know that they are getting a fair price.

Over the years I’ve trained recruiters on how to negotiate and to get them to really understand this process of placing job candidates with clients.  You would think it is easy but in fact it’s far from it.  The most important thing is to communicate all the details upfront so that everyone is on the same page so the process can run smoothly.  The problem comes in when someone comes out of left field thinking they are now in charge.  That kills me when someone all of a sudden thinks that they happen to be the “GOODS” and now tries to take over for all parties involved.  When dealing with me they suddenly find themselves in what I call the “semi black hole”.  That’s the place with only one door and you leave that place with a boot in your ass.  Seriously though there is a difference between what is right and what is wrong and I do believe that everyone knows what those differences are.  The problem lies when people choose to cross those lines for the purpose of satisfying only themselves at the expense of others.  Negotiations is not the process of what can one get away with!  That’s more like extortion.

In my business negotiating with clients is something we do all upfront before we begin a search.  It goes the same way with job candidates.   Everything is sorted out upfront before any interviews take place.  During these time I don’t get upset, nervous, sweaty, or even sick to my stomach.  Why?  Because there is NO pressure!  John F. Kennedy said “Let us never negotiate out of fear, but never fear to negotiate.”  When I negotiate with a job candidate or a client it is up front with nothing on the line.  Just a meeting to understand what is good for all parties.  You see negotiating is always a 2 way street for me.  When things change in the ninth hour for the purpose of self, well then all bets are off.   I have walked away from huge pay days simply because someone wanted to change or negotiate because they felt at that time it suited them best.  I must say for me that is the kiss of death for a deal.  I believe in strong principles and doing what you say is what matters.  There are other people out there that don’t care about you or your situation and its all about them.  Now is that negotiating?   I know I sleep well at night and I can look at myself in a mirror knowing what was right.  Perhaps some people will view that as weak.  I don’t know but what I do know is that most people will take money over principles and perhaps that is why they are always chasing a buck!