Thread by @Delafina777

A lot of people seemed to get really hung up on the idea of being asked for a favorite director/book in interviews because they have more than one or are bad with names.

Folks, it's about having *thought* about it, not having a single favorite/getting name right.

https://twitter.com/Delafina777/status/1231998781530365952

If you get asked that question in an interview, and you have multiple favorite directors/movies/books/etc., say so! And then choose one about which you can talk analytically about why you liked them/it.

Redirect the question to your wheelhouse if you want.

Like, there are rarely "right" or "wrong" answers to these sort of questions in an interview for a creative position.

It's an *interview,* not a high school standardized test. The interviewer is trying to learn about *you.*

But, very frankly, if I ask someone interviewing for, say, a narrative design position what their favorite book is and they can't tell me--not, "I have trouble picking one, but ok, I'll talk about this one", but *not able to answer*--that's probably a sign they're not a good fit.

Because here's the thing:

if you don't love reading (or, for more screenwriting-type jobs, really *analyzing* spoken dialogue), you're not likely to write well.

More to the point, if you can't make a decision under pressure, you're not going to succeed as a game writer.

Because the job is usually

WRITE THE THING NOW BECAUSE WE'RE BEHIND SCHEDULE

you HAVE to be able to go, "ok, I don't have time to sit and ponder what the platonic ideal for this scene is: I need to make a decision about how to write it and get it done."

So, like, look, we've ALL interviewed for jobs. We know it's nerve-wracking. I've had the thing where I can't remember a name happen to me all the time. Sometimes the names of games *I wrote.*

No interviewer worth their salt is going to decide you don't get the job bc you blanked on a name.

And no one's going to decide you don't get the job if you freeze for a few seconds (which yes, feels like FOREVER when you're nervous but isn't).

"I'm blanking on the name of the director but he did Se7en and Fight Club and the Game, and here's what I really love about his style..." is a PERFECTLY fine answer. Again, what interviewers are looking for is that you *think analytically and discerningly* about media.

Have a billion favorite books and freezing on deciding? Say that. "Oh boy, I have a LOT of books I love and can't really pick a favorite. Can I get a take a moment to choose one to talk about?"

"Make a decision under pressure" doesn't necessarily mean "be able to decide in 1.5 seconds or less."

Being confident enough to say, "hey, give me a bit of space to do the thing" is also a really important skill to surviving, let alone thriving, in a game job.

And yes, for various people who have asked in comments, "tell me about a book you really liked and why" is sometimes a better form of the question.

It depends on what you're trying to elicit with the question.

A question I love asking is "tell me about something you made that you're proud of."

I don't care what the answer is. They could tell me about macaroni art they made when they were 6. The point isn't "impress me with your output."

The point of that question is to try to get them to light up. To see what they look like when they're happy and proud of what they did. I want a glimpse of who they are when they succeeded.

And that's for a lot of reasons.

First and foremost, if I'm going to be working with you, I want to know how to recognize when you're happy/proud/loving.

Because often it's hard for us to recognize, in the moment, when we're *really* fulfilled. We see it in retrospect.

But if I see a colleague really happy in the moment, then I get so much valuable info on how to work with them: what to try to make sure they get to do, when to just get out of their way, when to make sure others just *let them do this thing.*

So, in the interview, I want to get them to go back and remember a moment when they had that.

I mean first off, I want to make sure they're *capable* of feeling pride in their work and enjoying it.

But I also want to see what it looks like *for them* so I recognize it.

It's also important to see what people talk about when they talk about work they're proud of.

Do they talk about overcoming obstacles? Great!
Do they talk about working with a team they loved? Great!
Did they work with a team but NOT mention anyone else? ...possibly a red flag.

Same goes for asking about something they regret or a mistake they made. How do they *handle* it? Have they gotten over it? Are they super-blame-y toward other people? What did they take away from it?

But most importantly: what are they like when they're disappointed?

And with the exception of a few red-flag answers or comments, none of the reasons I ask those questions have *anything* to do with specific answers.

Same is true for the "Who's your favorite director?" type questions.

The main point of that question, *after* making sure they can analyze the media they consume, is to try to see what they're passionate about.

Because it's a *creative* job. Passion's part of it.

Oh, and another thing the "talk about your favorite movie/book/etc." questions help screen out is the--and if phone screening isn't good, there's always one for entry-level creative jobs--I Don't Consume Other Storytelling Media So As Not To Pollute My Own Creativity guy.

Making games requires collaboration. If someone isn't interested in ideas from other media, they're probably not going to be interested in ideas from their colleagues.

They don't belong in a game company.

Got a lot of people saying "well, if what you want to hear is 'talk about a book you liked' rather than 'precisely identify your favorite book of all time' you shouldn't ask 'what's your favorite book?'."

*sigh*

I regret to inform you...

...that in most game creative jobs you will frequently be told "do the thing" when what actually needs to happen is you need to pick *a* thing from a myriad of possibilities and make it happen.

(people, almost no one who likes reading has a single favorite book)

And you will never be able to fix that, because stakeholders and executives don't give a shit if you don't think their direction or question was worded as precisely as it could have been.

Get asked an interview question that you don't have a specific answer to?

If you genuinely don't understand what the question is asking for, ask for clarification.

Otherwise, *figure out* a specific answer.

Because, I guarantee you that no one is going to care, or want to hear, in the interview, that a question that's designed to make you just PICK something and talk about it would be better if it was phrased as "tell me about a book you liked" vs "tell me about your favorite book."

Especially since, if the interviewer knows what they're doing, there's a deliberate difference between those ways of asking.

You will, repeatedly, at most game companies, get asked for an immediate answer to an incongruously framed question, usually by leads/executives.

You will need to figure out a definitive sounding answer.

Like, no one actually gives a shit if the Favorite Movie you talk about in the interview is *actually, definitely, beyond a doubt,* your favorite movie.

And "I have so many, how can I pick?" is not actually an impressive answer.

You, someone who wants to be paid to make creative media, have in fact consumed multiple examples of creative media and found things to love in more than one?

GOSH. Gold star for you!

Like, please do not posture about "I have read so many books/watched so many movies, how can I possibly pick one?" Cool, you're just like everyone else in this field.

Pick one. Talk about it.

You're going to have to do that a LOT in most game jobs. Make a decision.

And yes, I 100% understand that this is not an ideal setup for how interviewing--or creative jobs--should work.

I'm not talking about how we should do it.

I'm talking about the sort of questions you will likely get asked, and how to successfully answer them.

You want to talk about how to make interviewing practices better?

That's a vital convo, and one people are having all over game dev.

That's not what this thread is about, because I can't make people who are likely to interview you participate in those convos.