Presentations

Interviews can be awkward experiences for game contractors. Despite creating entertainment for a living, we often fail to entertain in person at interview. This article looks at what we can do about that.

Introduction
It seems odd that people who work their entire lives creating entertainment should be typically so bad at communicating in person. But these two forms of entertainment are intrinsically different. Playing to our strengths we can make a pre-programmed demonstration a large part of the interview experience.

Preparation
Presenting at interview requires much preparation. Just as in game design we need to consider our audience, so we need to target our presentation to our interviewers. Who are we targeting:
 * human resources manager
 * managing director
 * technical, design, or artistic director
 * other developers
 * a combination of the above

A generic package might work well with an interview panel, but an interactive approach would allow us to adjust the presentation live no matter what the make up.

An interactive audio visual presentation would seem to offer us the most freedom for creativity. But how will we deliver the presentation?

CD or DVD

 * cheep solution
 * can be sent before interview
 * requires a suitable platform at interview location
 * susceptable to platform dependant crashes
 * demonstration limited by interviewer technology

Lapto Computer

 * no interview side requirements
 * can use interviewer audio visual equipment
 * known platform
 * expensive
 * heavy

Internet Demo

 * nothing to carry
 * requires hosting service or full Internet connection
 * potential unknown browser incompatibilities
 * limited to Internet technology
 * susceptable to remote server crashes

Mobile platform

 * lightweight
 * independent of interviewer facilities
 * not generally suitable for audio visual presentations

custom demonstration console

 * known target platform
 * can demonstrate bleeding edge technology
 * requires interviewers audio, and visual devices
 * not yet generally available