Recruiter Hot Seat: Codemasters

What differentiates your studio from other developers?
We take great pride in creating a company culture that makes Codemasters a great place to work for all of our exceptionally talented and passionate teams, which is reflected in the quality and continued success of our award-winning racing games.

This continued success is a powerful and inspiring force that has made Codemasters one of the UK’s leading games developers for over 30 years. Our mission is to become the world’s leading racing studio, by creating great games that last forever and connecting with players around the world. We are very proud of the games we make, including our exclusive partnership with Formula One Motorsport on the official Formula One games, the much loved Micro Machines games, and our very own award winning Dirt and Grid franchises. We are developing innovative new projects and new IP behind-the-scenes right now, so it’s a very exciting time for the company.

Make sure your passion for gaming shines through

Simon Mignott

How many staff are you looking to take on?
We’re always looking for talented people to join our family and right now we’re looking for various talented individuals to work on new projects for our development teams in Southam HQ in Warwickshire, Birmingham, and Codemasters EVO in Cheshire.

What perks are available working at your studio?
Our perks are focused around our commitment to staff development, nurturing talent and developing skills. We focus on career development plans, training and learning new skills to make sure our staff get the most from their careers.

We believe that having a healthy lifestyle is important too, and we have a brand new state of the art onsite gym at our HQ in Southam. Across all studios we have launch events, company parties, research trips and regular involvement across a lot of industry events and game jams.

We also have perks that include free fruit, hot drinks, kitchen areas and free games. Other benefits include healthcare, employee assistance program, pension, life assurance, cycle to work scheme, childcare schemes and flexible working arrangements.

What should aspiring devs do with their CV to get an interview?
It sounds obvious, but it will help you get an interview if you take the time to make sure your CV highlights your skills, experience and personal projects fit with the details provided in the job description. If you’re new to the industry and you don’t have experience on your side, then make sure your personal projects and passion for gaming shines through.

It also helps if you can showcase your skills through your social media profiles, website or portfolio, so make sure to include links to them.What advice would you give for a successful interview at your studio? Prepare well and be honest and open about yourself. We want to get to know what drives you, what your passions are and what you want to achieve with us.

Remember that the interview is an opportunity for us to get to know each other, so we want it to be a two way conversation and would love for you to prepare your own questions for us. I would recommend you carefully check that your experience to date matches your job title, without overestimating or underestimating your abilities. A keen interest or passion for gaming and racing helps.

If you have recruited internationally what is the process like?
We do everything we can to make the transition as smooth and comfortable as possible. We provide and assist with relocation expenses, help with accommodation and work with you on applications for visas. For families, we help with finding schools and job opportunities for partners. Anything to make the transition a comfortable one.

It simply starts with a Skype call, where we have a chat to get to know each other, and talk about the studio, culture and role. Then we’ll arrange a visit to the studio, to take a tour of the company, to give you a good feel before you settle in.

How has recruitment needs change at your studio?
Codemasters success means we are expanding in many areas. We are also looking to grow talent from within, creating a framework for apprenticeships, building connections with universities and hiring talented graduates who are keen to succeed.

CURRENTLY HIRING

Company: Codemasters

Locations: Southam, Birmingham and Cheshire.

Hiring: Design, production, programming and more

Where to apply: www.codemasters.com/careers