Still crackin' away at landing my first gig, I've been sending out resumes for months but finally have what seems to be a very promising 1 on 1 interview in the near future with a company called "saybot" making educational games in Shanghai. Just one of those random companies you see at job fairs, but i've looked into them and they seem pretty legit.

I've lived in San Diego my whole life and honestly the idea of packing it all up and trying something new for a little while is pretty exciting, but am i shooting myself in the foot working at a company like this? Would going way the f*ck off to China be a stupid rookie mistake?

Any and all insight appreciated. Trying to get my feet wet, not jump off a cliff or anything.

Well, just save enough money for the flight back if you don't like it and you should be okay. I bet you're gonna have a great experience over there! I'd go if I were you.

dude surely you can get a decent job locally with those skills? even doing freelance or working in the design industry would be better than educational games in my opinion but I may be wrong.

If you're brave enough then I say go for it!

Originally Posted by Ged

dude surely you can get a decent job locally with those skills? even doing freelance or working in the design industry would be better than educational games in my opinion but I may be wrong.

I'd have to agree with Ged on this one... you don't know how stable that company is, it's a big risk.

With your portfolio, you should have no issues finding work locally. Have you sent your resume to sites like Monster.com? Monster.com personally got me calls fairly quickly.

Honestly the gaming industry is hiring all the time; it shouldn't be that hard for you to find work in the western half of the US. It helps that you are willing to travel too.

Thanks for the fast replies guys. I actually haven't tried monster.com, i'll give that a go very soon.

I will most definitely be bringing a LOT of typed out questions to the interview, I wouldn't go to China without having lots of important questions answered regarding housing, pay, civil liberties, internet use, that sorta stuff. Simply put if i couldn't access sites like polycount from home i don't think i could bear living there, I don't care how cheap the rent is. But we'll see how it goes. Their company is breaking some pretty incredible ground, the market for teaching English there is HUGE and it would be awesome to be part of that. I don't think i talked about the bright side to all this, the simple fact that China is an emerging financial superpower and learning some Mandarin now could open all kinds of doors in the future. The idea of being part of a fast growing company in that part of the world is very exciting.

I say go for it... but yea... do your homework and really make sure you have all your bases covered and ask lots of questions. You don't want any surprises! Good luck tho!

I've been living in China for 1 1/2 years - currently in SH - and it's been great! Apart from widening your horizon, getting lots of new insights and inspiration, it's a pretty good city to live in. It's the most western city in China and coming from the US you will see many many familiar brands and stores (pappa johns, pizza hut, best buy, ikea, starbucks, dunkin donuts, outback steakhouse, etc, etc).
Internet is quite okay - it's not as fast as in the west and it requires some (easy) hacks to get youtube and facebook to work. Yet I consider it just a small trade off. About 99% of the websites I use just work right away. So the filtering isn't too bad.
If you play WoW or another MMO, the high latency can be annoying if you do PvP but otherwise it's ok.
Depending on your salary it can be very rewarding to live here. If it's in the range of a western salary you can save LOTS of money here and still live a great life (e.g. eat out multiple times a week, take a taxi to work every day, etc).
Then there's all the travelling and sightseeing you can do. China is largely unknown to most westerners (including me), so there's many things to discover!
SH itself also have a quite big dev scene with Ubi, Tencent, Blizzard, Massive Black, 2K and probably some more...
Civil liberties: as long as you don't run a anti-government blog or campaign or protest in public you have all the freedom you want. Nobody is gonna spy on you and it's ok to talk politics with your friends. Just keep in mind that, just like Americans, Chinese can be very patriotic when it comes to their country.

just PM me if you have any questions...

Kwramm, that was exactly what i needed to know, thanks! Should anything else pop up i'll send ya a PM, but your post generally covers everything i was concerned with, load off my mind.

I think this could work out really well. There are a bunch of game studios (98.7% outsourcing vendors) in Shanghai. If anything they'd want you for your englishing skills. Might be able to be one of the guys we talk to when we're sending/receiving work orders.

+Food is good.
+So many cool things to buy.
+Bootleg, Knockoff, Bootleg.

-Expensive CoL depending on how close you want to be to work.
-Red China

If there's one thing you might want to ask about is some kinda deal where they can help pay for airfare once a year (if you get homesick and want to visit family for Christmas). Of course, this is assuming they really like you and want to bring you on

also i'd like to add, that there are plenty of western companies producing in shanghai, 2k for example - talked to them sounded somewhat cool but i decided to stay here with my dad beeing sick and all, i'd rather stay here for while until its all over. But i'd totally do it for a limited amount of time and if my girlfriend can come with me.

http://gamedevmap.com/index.php?tool...query=shanghai
maybe you could arrange a few more interviews in the same week or something like that

I would go for it dude, absolutely balls deep! 'Leaving it all behind' was the best thing I've ever done!

I'd go for it if you want an adventure, but I'm not sure I'd choose it as "the best job/career option available." But that's just how I'd think about it.

Personally, I would do it if I were you just because it sounds like an awesome adventure.

I know me personally, I've been here in California for ~9 years now, and I'm really missing the sense of adventure. There's nothing I'd like more than working some place where the local language isn't even English. Doesn't matter much where I guess.

Originally Posted by aesir

I'd go for it if you want an adventure, but I'm not sure I'd choose it as "the best job/career option available." But that's just how I'd think about it.

It would be a huge plus on your resume, alot of large studios outsource work to Chinese studios and communication can be a big issue sometimes as well as the way they give and take feedback. If you can manage to learn mandarin you will be a golden god.

Originally Posted by Justin_Meisse

It would be a huge plus on your resume, alot of large studios outsource work to Chinese studios and communication can be a big issue sometimes as well as the way they give and take feedback. If you can manage to learn mandarin you will be a golden god.

Yea, that's the thing though. Learning chinese? That's really hard. I doubt I could pull it off personally. And if you don't speak the language, you'll never really fit in and consider it your home. I'm not saying it would be a bad move resume wise. Not at all. I just, personally, wouldn't look at it as a step in the direction I want to go. It's more a detour. Detours can be fun, or they can suck.

Well... if you don't have the commitment of family yet, then go ahead... do it for a year and see how you feel. If you are having second thoughts then really don't do it. I am sure that you can find some other studio closer where you will be happy and make a career out of.

I've only been to HK, but I'm sure Shanghai is a great place to live in too. I'd say make sure the job is the right one for you (regardless of location), then go for it, it sounds like the makings of a great adventure. Good luck!

thing is, China, just like Japan (or Korea), is one of the countries where you will never fit in, no matter how good your language skills are, simply because you're just not Japanese/Chinese. And unless you're Asian people will see this right away.

Sounds harsh, yet it's a good and bad thing both ways, since as presumably western foreigner often get better treatment and a friendlier response and you'll be forgiven many of the cultural pitfalls.In general the Chinese are very friendly and welcoming because of that.

I wouldn't let the language deter me though. I've met many expats (in Asia but also in EU studios) who didn't speak the local language and still managed to make friends, have a good time and even marry people of their guest country.

Chinese itself is not too difficult to learn. The biggest barrier is the vocabulary. Grammar is pretty easy and forgiving. Characters...depends how visual of a person you are. Some people struggle a lot, some find it not too difficult to learn a couple of basic characters.

Career wise China can be a good move. I think jobs here are pretty stable right now and it's a good place to be while Europe is still being affected by the crisis and studios still being shut down here and there. Also it can be easier to get into lead/senior roles because locally there's not too many Chinese who can fill them who have the right combination of skill/experience/english skills. On the other hand there's tons and tons of super duper duper talented artists coming right out of the art schools without much studio xp. Those are the guys you often work with.
On a personal level I really enjoy working with my Chinese co-workers. On a professional level there's sometimes weird clashes of culture, but that's why you're here - to resolve them and show how things are handled in a proper production environment.

Never worked in China, But I lived in Beijing for a couple of months, and I had a blast....I would love to go back and see some of the places in rural china..all I really got to see was a few cities...but it was a great time

If i got the chance i would go for it, My wife is from Shanghai,
I don't even speak much mandarin or shanghainese, yes shanghai has there local
own language, it is similar to mandarin,
Anyways i get by just fine visiting with her family and getting around the city
with just knowing English,
Some day my wife and i may buy a 2nd home there,
The food is something i miss so much and you would love it i promise,
I have been traveling off and on to Shanghai since 2000 and love
this city more and more each time i go back,
Let us know what you decide to do,
I am really interested to know, Thanks

I'll keep you guys posted and thanks for the insights and well wishes. The interview is on the 29th.

dirty place, rude people.. but check out M1NT nice restaurant and club..

if not now, when could you ever make such a risky and possibly very rewarding move. do eet!