Today (Sunday) I finally sent out a few copies of my resume. It took me a long time to get the whole thing right.
Most people kept telling me I was taking too long to write a resume. One problem obviously is that a resume is a rather formal paper and my knowledge of Japanese is very limited.
I had to do a lot of research to find out how technical terms are written in Japanese. Literal translation is generally both wrong and funny. The average native Japanese speaker also will find himself/herself at loss when trying to come up with translations of technical terms or even to describe an technical task. Nevertheless I had native speakers helping me with the process !
I also sometimes tend to get stuck with details, but I think that potential Japanese employers will appreciate that. Form shows dedication. Japanese are sensitive to that and so am I.
With the resume also comes a CD with a couple of demos. Nothing too big, just old stuff that I picked left and right (including JavaKazRace !).. because bringing demos tends to make quite a difference.
I am concerned however… I see that all the job descriptions for R&D programmer in the game business in Japan require the candidate to be not older than 35. I’m 34 and I’m supposed to feel like I’m at the end of my career as a programmer ?!
What is going to happen if, two years from now, I want to go code for another company ? Am I too old for coding ?
It sounds very much like getting in the military. It’s easy to convince an 18 years old to go risk his/her life just to get some action and a decent pay. But later in life, when one has a family to think about, keeping alive and healthy becomes more important.
Game business also requires one to work his ass off, all in the name of fame… because certainly if you want to make money programming you are better off doing Visual Basic and Oracle.
So, I suppose most people by the age of 35, either become managers (difficult decisions but simple work) or they get into other businesses where they trade the fame of doing “cool games” with more money and a more humane schedule.
I just can’t believe that 2 years from now, people will look at my resume and trash it on the basis that I’ll be 36 !!
zzzzzzz melatonin is starting to make effect.. zzzzzzzz
Posted by Davide Pasca in Programming, Society, Diary