I received this message from a good, nameless friend the other day:
“Hey, not sure if you’ve touched on this in any of your blog posts, but can you please tell the people of the world to do their research when looking to connect with others online or if they’re doing the dreaded cold emailing?
The amount of kids from schools I get that rattle off their expertise on recording consoles that I don’t have, or talk about how fluent they are with software I don’t use, is astounding.
And even more senior members of the game audio community that will just “connect” on LinkedIn, but won’t actually say why or even “hello”….”
I think a lot of that message speaks for itself – no?
It’s probably not surprising if you read what I have to say twice a week – but here’s another example of where infinite technical expertise isn’t what blows away a professional.
Technical expertise is the baseline. It’s expected. Companies and professionals are also expecting you to know what they use, specifically.
There’s enough information on the internet, often, that you can find out what software your dream game company uses and make sure you’re up on it.
But that’s still not your selling point.
“I am very fluent in Wwise and Pro Tools Audio Software with certifications for both.”
Good for you – 99% of people I know working professionally have neither certification. It’s not that the certifications are bad, it’s that they won’t be the reason you get hired.
What will?
Building honest relationships and doing cool things.
Be genuinely interested. Is that not what my friend there is saying?
People connect with him on LinkedIn and don’t even say hi! He wants you to say hi! That’s not hard!
I actually use this “strategy” fairly regularly.
When you sign up for my emails – you get two emails from me saying hi and asking about what issues you’re frustrated by right now. I’m genuinely interested.
When people follow me on Twitter, I’ve started DMing them out of the blue to say hi, see who they are, and what’s interesting about them. I’m genuinely interested.
You don’t need to be needy, you don’t need to beg for work – you just need to be interested in others before yourself.
I’m not in the middle of making a video course just for the money. I’m making it because some people are going to do some awesome things with it, and my customers have said it will really help them!
I write to you twice a week for free – why?
It’s not to grow my email list. Writing doesn’t grow it at all.
This is cathartic for me, and helpful for you. I love both of those things.
So again, until I die, I will repeat this –
Help other people, do cool shit in public.
That’s the formula.
If you’re interested in doing cool shit with Wwise implementation in Unity using C# (triggering sounds, switches, music, etc) – my video course is going to come out in a matter of weeks. It’s going to have a limited number of copies, and when they’re gone – it’ll be gone for a little while. I’m not planning on keeping this open all year.
I’ll give you more information on the exact date when it’s closer – but for now, go take a look and keep a mental note if you’re interested.
Talk again soon.
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