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Recruitment tonight went really, really well. Apples to Apples is the best recruitment tool ever. Tell the military.
That said, I walked out of there fifteen minutes ago feeling like I was going to cry, and the feeling hasn't gone away yet. As a second semester junior, I don't know if it's too early for me to be having this, but I got hit with a huge bout of job worry and angst.
It started when I was talking with Laura, my sister who works at Dreamworks, about her internship. I asked if there were any jobs for english/rhetoric majors open, and it went from there.
See, I chatted with Tsu about her job at Nintendo a while ago, and ever since then I've had my eye on a job there: Localization Writer/Editor. (It's on page two, as there's no direct link.) This is the information provided on the job:
Description of Duties
- Provides input regarding localizing game content
- Writes, proofs and edits game text, game scripts, instruction manuals, package copy and game summaries
- Tests and evaluates games and products and makes recommendations regarding design and content
- Monitors the progress of Nintendo and licensed products
- Assists other NOA departments with videotaping game play and taking screen shots, demonstrating games and participating in interviews
- Makes decisions and recommendations regarding localization and text content for games, manuals and other copy
Summary of Requirements
- Strong creative writing skills
- PC skills (Excel and WordPerfect or Microsoft Word preferred)
- Good game play skills and the ability to identify design and content issues
- Ability to work in a highly confidential environment
- Comprehensive historical and up-to-date knowledge of the video game industry for both the home and arcade markets helpful
- Experience in the technical and/or artistic aspects of the industry helpful
- Copywriting/copyediting experience highly desirable
- Strong written communication skills to write and edit copy
- Effective verbal and interpersonal skills to interact with NOA and NCL staff and external contacts
- One to three years experience in creative writing
The tl;dr version is, I get to write/edit the English scripts of games, as well as all the other writing surrounding them (back of the box, instruction manual, etc). Guys, I write. I edit. I proofread. I meet all the requirements (with the possible exception of experience in creative writing, but that's only if they're talking professional experience). I'm good at this stuff. I like this stuff. It's what I do. And it's video games, for crying out loud.
This is all to say, I really want this job.
My biggest worry is that it won't be available a year from April, which is when I graduate. The odds are incredibly slim (though, despite being posted in November, it has not yet been filled). I'll probably email Nintendo asking for more information and possibly get my foot in the door that way.
But the long and short of it is, it's working for a company I admire doing what I am skilled at and what I love. I want this job.
I was telling all this to Laura, and then I brought up what I'm worried about: the possibility that the job won't still be open by the time I graduate, and law school.
See, for the longest time I've been looking at intellectual property law as a possible career. As a rhetorician, it's easy for me to look at words and find the loopholes and use the words to negotiate an airtight contract. I know I can do it. Problem is, the more I look at it, the less I want to do it for a living. This really hit home when I was filling out my absentee ballot in November: the ballot was written in legalese, and while I could pick my way through it all right, I still found a helper website so I could understand all the proposed amendments to the Colorado constitution completely. I know enough legalese to get around. I'm not sure I could handle attempting to become fluent in it.
The other side of it is, ever since I had my Rhetoric for Writers class last semester, it's been all I can think about. I read papers and listen to speeches through the rhetorician's lens now: always looking out for pathos, ethos, and logos, rearranging words for maximum effect, judging a speaker's overall performance and argument and finding ways to make it better. I'm becoming better at this than almost anything else, and I'm not sure it's something I could apply in law, or at least not to the degree in which I wish to use it.
The other problem I'm running into is my parents. They want me to get a postgraduate degree, or barring that they at least want me to go to law school for one year to see if I like it. They cite the need for a postgraduate degree to obtain a good job and the fact that my father's medical insurance will only cover me for three years after I graduate, and if I take a year off to do anything (such as the JET Program, which I've had my eye on for quite some time) I won't be covered for my last year of graduate school. Those have been the main arguments, and I'm somehow still stuck in the "good kid" role: I can't say no.
I told Laura all this, and she gave me two very good arguments: if I get the Nintendo job right out of school they will likely provide insurance, and if I take a year off and do three years of grad school I could always buy insurance from the school. She herself gets insurance from Pepperdine.
She then told me that my attitude had completely changed when I went from "Nintendo job" to "law school." Her exact words were, "If I could read auras, yours would have gone from blue to black."
That's stuck with me.
It's left me where I am right now, three semesters away from graduation and wondering what I want to do with my life. Should I look into applications for the JET Program? Should I study for the LSAT? Should I take on a Creative Writing minor in preparation for a job that may not even exist by the time I graduate? Do I defy my parents completely? Will I regret this?
I don't know.
Right now, more than anything else, that's what is really scaring me: the simple fact that I don't know.
I wish it weren't 10:30 at night and that Diana wasn't in Texas, an hour ahead and therefore too late to call. She hasn't achieved her dream yet, but she's on the road to it and she's doing what she wants. I want to know how to do that.
That said, I walked out of there fifteen minutes ago feeling like I was going to cry, and the feeling hasn't gone away yet. As a second semester junior, I don't know if it's too early for me to be having this, but I got hit with a huge bout of job worry and angst.
It started when I was talking with Laura, my sister who works at Dreamworks, about her internship. I asked if there were any jobs for english/rhetoric majors open, and it went from there.
See, I chatted with Tsu about her job at Nintendo a while ago, and ever since then I've had my eye on a job there: Localization Writer/Editor. (It's on page two, as there's no direct link.) This is the information provided on the job:
Description of Duties
- Provides input regarding localizing game content
- Writes, proofs and edits game text, game scripts, instruction manuals, package copy and game summaries
- Tests and evaluates games and products and makes recommendations regarding design and content
- Monitors the progress of Nintendo and licensed products
- Assists other NOA departments with videotaping game play and taking screen shots, demonstrating games and participating in interviews
- Makes decisions and recommendations regarding localization and text content for games, manuals and other copy
Summary of Requirements
- Strong creative writing skills
- PC skills (Excel and WordPerfect or Microsoft Word preferred)
- Good game play skills and the ability to identify design and content issues
- Ability to work in a highly confidential environment
- Comprehensive historical and up-to-date knowledge of the video game industry for both the home and arcade markets helpful
- Experience in the technical and/or artistic aspects of the industry helpful
- Copywriting/copyediting experience highly desirable
- Strong written communication skills to write and edit copy
- Effective verbal and interpersonal skills to interact with NOA and NCL staff and external contacts
- One to three years experience in creative writing
The tl;dr version is, I get to write/edit the English scripts of games, as well as all the other writing surrounding them (back of the box, instruction manual, etc). Guys, I write. I edit. I proofread. I meet all the requirements (with the possible exception of experience in creative writing, but that's only if they're talking professional experience). I'm good at this stuff. I like this stuff. It's what I do. And it's video games, for crying out loud.
This is all to say, I really want this job.
My biggest worry is that it won't be available a year from April, which is when I graduate. The odds are incredibly slim (though, despite being posted in November, it has not yet been filled). I'll probably email Nintendo asking for more information and possibly get my foot in the door that way.
But the long and short of it is, it's working for a company I admire doing what I am skilled at and what I love. I want this job.
I was telling all this to Laura, and then I brought up what I'm worried about: the possibility that the job won't still be open by the time I graduate, and law school.
See, for the longest time I've been looking at intellectual property law as a possible career. As a rhetorician, it's easy for me to look at words and find the loopholes and use the words to negotiate an airtight contract. I know I can do it. Problem is, the more I look at it, the less I want to do it for a living. This really hit home when I was filling out my absentee ballot in November: the ballot was written in legalese, and while I could pick my way through it all right, I still found a helper website so I could understand all the proposed amendments to the Colorado constitution completely. I know enough legalese to get around. I'm not sure I could handle attempting to become fluent in it.
The other side of it is, ever since I had my Rhetoric for Writers class last semester, it's been all I can think about. I read papers and listen to speeches through the rhetorician's lens now: always looking out for pathos, ethos, and logos, rearranging words for maximum effect, judging a speaker's overall performance and argument and finding ways to make it better. I'm becoming better at this than almost anything else, and I'm not sure it's something I could apply in law, or at least not to the degree in which I wish to use it.
The other problem I'm running into is my parents. They want me to get a postgraduate degree, or barring that they at least want me to go to law school for one year to see if I like it. They cite the need for a postgraduate degree to obtain a good job and the fact that my father's medical insurance will only cover me for three years after I graduate, and if I take a year off to do anything (such as the JET Program, which I've had my eye on for quite some time) I won't be covered for my last year of graduate school. Those have been the main arguments, and I'm somehow still stuck in the "good kid" role: I can't say no.
I told Laura all this, and she gave me two very good arguments: if I get the Nintendo job right out of school they will likely provide insurance, and if I take a year off and do three years of grad school I could always buy insurance from the school. She herself gets insurance from Pepperdine.
She then told me that my attitude had completely changed when I went from "Nintendo job" to "law school." Her exact words were, "If I could read auras, yours would have gone from blue to black."
That's stuck with me.
It's left me where I am right now, three semesters away from graduation and wondering what I want to do with my life. Should I look into applications for the JET Program? Should I study for the LSAT? Should I take on a Creative Writing minor in preparation for a job that may not even exist by the time I graduate? Do I defy my parents completely? Will I regret this?
I don't know.
Right now, more than anything else, that's what is really scaring me: the simple fact that I don't know.
I wish it weren't 10:30 at night and that Diana wasn't in Texas, an hour ahead and therefore too late to call. She hasn't achieved her dream yet, but she's on the road to it and she's doing what she wants. I want to know how to do that.
