Applied For A Job, How Long Do I Have To Wait To Hear Back?

Hello,

I applied for an advertised job about four weeks ago, the job itself has been on the website since around Summer. After I applied I got a confirmation email saying the usual “Yours application has been received, we will contact you if you’re a good match”. But how long do I have to wait until I can safely say that I haven’t been successful? If I improve my portfolio should I apply for the job again?

I understand that companies get many applications, but it would be nice to get a message after a certain period (even if it was automated) informing me of the status of my application.

Thanks,
-Harry

Hey Harry,

There is no standard in the games industry - some companies are very fast to respond and some take forever. The usual is about 4-6 weeks, I’ve found. There are a good few polycount threads on this page that will give you some extra information on this stuff. You could also search as it’s an often covered topic there too.

http://wiki.polycount.com/CategoryGameIndustry

HR can be understaffed in companies and, although it sucks, this can lead to no replies if you are not on their shortlist. Because of this, emails can be lost too - so if someone who has shown interest doesn’t follow-up - it’s okay to check with a friendly email. A lot of companies don’t always keep their websites up-to-date, so a position may be filled if it’s been around for a while (but don’t let that put you off applying!). However, you can certainly email them politely to check. Usually, if you’re applying for a position you can follow-up with an email after 2 weeks, as this shows you are keen (that is if it’s not an automated system rather than a email address).

The “acceptable” time frame between applications is around 6 months. Once again, there is no standard, but this is what I’ve read.

If you’re applying prospectively and there is no response - don’t harass. Nothing wrong with sending something in, but if there isn’t a position advertised for it you can assume if they’re interested they will contact you.

It’s certainly polite to let you know, but it’s also not uncommon for things to get piled up on the desk of a single critical path person - the art director or tech lead, for example, who is busy fighting other fires. As a rule of thumb I’d allow a single “just checking in” email about a month after submission if you have a human contact email - if all you have is a jobs@ alias it’s likely that you’re just in bureaucratic limbo and have to be patient. Don’t take it personally, there are lots of ways the process can bog down – from a really good early candidate who is dragging out negotiations to a sudden change of plans that may mean the studio is reconsidering the hire.

Wuffles, thank you for that link to the PolyCount wiki page, there’s a lot of good material there.

Unfortunately, because I applied for the job using an online form I don’t really have anyone to contact to check on the status of my application which is annoying and I doubt they’ll contact me over Christmas. Guess I’ll just have to wait.

-Harry

Yeah, and sometimes you’ll hear back waaay after you’d expect to. I heard back about a gig I applied for after 3 months…almost 2 months into my employment at Tiburon.

Many companies doesn’t respond at all - at least in Sweden.
About a third of my job applications I never get a response to, despite 1-2 “follow up” mails.