Off Topic : TESTING Opportunity (UK and International) [Archive]

Scawen

17th December 2007, 10:55

Hello Testers! :)

This post is not about LFS but is relevant to game testing. Some of you I am sure are interested in games as well as simulators. Well here is an opportunity to test games before they are released.

Andy Robson, who Eric and I used to work with at Lionhead (he was Head of Testing) has set up a company Testology in the UK. They are contracted to test games for game developers.

Testology website : www.testology.co.uk

Testing is a fluctuating business, the number and scale of projects on the go varies constantly. So they need people on call so they can expand on demand, also sometimes there is large scale testing on the internet.

So, if you are interested in some testing, please send Andy an email, tell him a bit about yourself, how much time you have free usually and of course where you live.

UK applicants are likely to get more testing, for volunteer work and sometimes permanent or temporary positions may come up. International volunteer testing could be quite fun I am sure.

Contact Andy Robson : arobson@testology.co.uk

Damo74

17th December 2007, 11:17

Hey cool, thanks for the heads up Scawen.

Would be awesome to test out some new super-duper-hyper game and give some feedback knowing I will be doing it for the greater good..........*cough*.

P.S. No. 1!

Blackout

17th December 2007, 11:20

Would be awesome to test out some new super-duper-hyper game and give some feedback knowing I will be doing it for the greater good..........*cough*.

Yeah, like some sort of online racing simulation! Now if someone could come up with something like that. :scratchch

NotAnIllusion

17th December 2007, 11:35

Hehe, I enjoy playing games but mostly I can't beat 'em without cheats :(

evosports

18th December 2007, 10:14

if only i didnt have college :( is there any idea on how many hours we will need to be available?

Widdowmaker

18th December 2007, 17:37

if only i didnt have college :( is there any idea on how many hours we will need to be available?

It will depend on the project and what is required. Some testing enviroments are 2-3 hours - some testing requirements may need 3-4 days every week.

If you were applying - I would put what hours you can spare - and you may get selected for a project. You dont have to do it.

Try your luck. :thumb:

Easy_Mike

18th December 2007, 17:50

"u got mail" :D

Scawen

8th February 2008, 17:57

:bump:

Just thought I'd mention this is still valid.

Andy would always like to hear from new people available for game testing on site in the UK or on the internet internationally.

Dajmin

8th February 2008, 18:12

dougie-lampkin

8th February 2008, 19:55

Is previous experience necessary? I haven't "officialy" tested games before, but it is an area I'm interested in, and have read a good bit about.

mcgas001

9th February 2008, 14:56

:bump:

Just thought I'd mention this is still valid.

Andy would always like to hear from new people available for game testing on site in the UK or on the internet internationally.

Any ideas where he mainly does on site testing? I live in berkshire anywhere close to me?

Scawen

9th February 2008, 15:23

Mainly in Aldershot, Hampshire.

http://www.testology.co.uk/contactus.html

Not too far from you I think.

Scawen

9th February 2008, 15:27

How did I manage to miss this thread before? I've beta tested an assload of games already and I find the beta communities are often more fun than the folks you find when the games go gold.

Count me in!You won't be counted in unless you send an email to Andy! :D

Is previous experience necessary? I haven't "officialy" tested games before, but it is an area I'm interested in, and have read a good bit about.No. Andy is used to dealing with people without experience, there was always a few work experience testers at Lionhead.

There are just all sorts of possibilities, volunteer testing and possibly paid testing, depending on experience and situation. Maybe you'd be called up a lot, maybe not a lot. But the main thing is if you want to test some games before they are released and can keep things to yourself, then contact Andy and get on his list.

The more the better he says, because he can expand and contract the testing as required as work comes and goes. Some jobs are long, some are short.

mcgas001

9th February 2008, 15:29

Oh nice. Sounds like a done deal. Thats only 35 mins from me. :D

Thanks :nod:

Edit: Applied :D

Dajmin

11th February 2008, 09:28

You won't be counted in unless you send an email to Andy! :D
Hey, don't worry. I typed that post as I was writing the email :)
It was good to be able to send a spec email and actually name drop. Made me feel like I was important :p

scoobyrbac

12th February 2008, 13:51

Im going to try to be an International tester just got done sending my email :thumb:

Migz

12th February 2008, 18:37

Im just wondering, is there an age limit on this?
And seeing as i live in the u.k but not on the mainland is there anyway i can test? Such as over the internet or something? I saw some references to it, but nothing saying im definetly aloud to test them from home?

Thanks if you know anything about this :)

scoobyrbac

13th February 2008, 15:38

I just got an email from him...

"if you haven't can you please submit a C.V; this is just for our records."

Whats a C.V?

mcgas001

13th February 2008, 15:41

Whats a C.V?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/R%C3%A9sum%C3%A9

Scawen

13th February 2008, 16:43

Curriculum Vitae, as posted by mcgas001.

It's a document (one or two sides of A4) describing yourself, including your educational / work / work experience in chronological order.

Also your address, current position, all relevant info and some personal info as well such as your interests.

It's a document which you can send to an employer so they know all about you before they meet you. It's the first step to any job.

Andy may take on some people as employees and there may be less formal work as well. In either case I'm sure he wants to know something about you so that's why he's asking for a C.V. He can read it and store it so he can look you up any time.

scoobyrbac

13th February 2008, 17:32

mcgas001

13th February 2008, 17:34

Jeff is the guy who deals with andys recuriments. Hes just helps andy, Dont worry :)

E: im sure thats correct anyway? Feel free to correct me if im wrong :D

scoobyrbac

13th February 2008, 17:45

Jeff is the guy who deals with andys recuriments. Hes just helps andy, Dont worry :)

Ah, alright thanks

Scawen

13th February 2008, 18:11

Yes Jeff works for Testology as well. I know him too, he also used to be a tester at Lionhead.

Ian.H

13th February 2008, 18:59

Curriculum Vitae, as posted by mcgas001.

It's a document (one or two sides of A4) describing yourself, including your educational / work / work experience in chronological order.

[ snip ]

Work experience should apparently now be in _reverse_ chronological order.

I hadn't applied for a job in years and I always listed things in chronological order too, but it was pointed out in a recent interview that it's the norm / expected these days to be reversed. Things have changed a lot in the last 10 years it seems. Just a FWIW :)

Regards,

Ian

Migz

14th February 2008, 17:51

Just ignore my question then :D lol.
I'll just email him and ask him if it is still possible for me to test.

Scawen

14th February 2008, 17:54

Yes you just have to ask them.

All I know is Andy wants people to contact him so he has people available to test games either local to him or over the internet for when internet testing or mass testing is required.

Migz

14th February 2008, 18:03

Oh right, thanks. Just about to send the email of now then.
Thanks for showing this btw :) I always love to design my cheapy games XD testing other's games will be fun. :)

scoobyrbac

16th February 2008, 07:01

I sent a C.V last week and haven't gotten a reply.....So, I hope sometime soon I will know what im doing.

dawesdust_12

16th February 2008, 07:57

My CV(RESUMÉ YOU SILLY BRITS!!!) would be very lame.

Migz

16th February 2008, 11:13

I sent a C.V last week and haven't gotten a reply.....So, I hope sometime soon I will know what im doing.
Yeah i dont think you will get a reply, i think its all automated.

I sent an email asking if it was possible for me to test if im 14 and dont live on mainland uk. And then i said some stuff about myself.
And the email i get is the one that asks me to submit my CV. So its automated :( If it wasnt i wouldve got my question aswered. But yeah lol.

teedot

18th February 2008, 03:45

its the real world folks... dont expect a reply instantly.

usually if u apply for a job online and send in your CV, you're likely to not hear from that company for at least 2-3 weeks.

Dajmin

18th February 2008, 09:57

I got a reply to mine from Jeff's Hotmail account :) (well it was a Hotmail account with his name, I assume it was really his since it's my proper named email address rather than my gaming one)

I didn't include a CV with my spec letter because I don't have an up-to-date one and I don't like random people having my address details :p
But I'm making a new CV and will send it off when it's done.

Mc21

18th February 2008, 12:35

Mainly in Aldershot, Hampshire.

http://www.testology.co.uk/contactus.html

Not too far from you I think.

I live in Aldershot! :D

it's a 6 min drive from my house apperently :)

Applied :D

Widdowmaker

18th February 2008, 20:05

Yeah i dont think you will get a reply, i think its all automated.

No its not - I had had an email back, and was told to expect a phone call, just after Xmas. It was more than just a mail that said - send a C.V. it was conversational and picked up on points I had raised in my previous email.

The phone call never happened - but I did send my CV as requested.
Having been a tester before (For EA Sports) - I know that they select testers for appropriatte programs, and for specific tests.

They may require Testers for the likes of marketing evaluation, ie does this box appeal?, what does the picture say to you?, does it describe the "product" visually? Testing can comprise of pretty much anything.

Its not all gaming and testing unreleased stuff. It can be pretty hard work and frustrating stuff - working to dead lines and having to follow set routines. You also cant discuss any of the testing with anyone, other than those on the program.

Its lucky that Testology are in the UK, When with EA - I had to make confrence calls the USA every fortnight, to understand the next stage of the testing phase, and those calls were at 2 in the morning.

Depending on your interests as well, will determine the testing package that you ar recruited for.

I believe that Testology are recruiting for a portfolio of testers and even if you dont get a response now - you may in the future, so hang on and be patient.

Ricksta

9th April 2008, 17:51

I emailed him :)

Lordy

13th April 2008, 10:13

hmm... I was reading through, and this sounds good, however, do you have to go down Aldershot or can you work from home? I live in the north west of england, Near Rochdale to be precise. and I was wondering if its possible to work form here...I also can't start untill mid-july because of final exams in school, and im not 16 untill the start of july.

scoobyrbac

13th April 2008, 14:38

I emailed them right after Scawen posted this and I got 2 emails...one asking me for a resume thing and telling me welcome...I have not recieved anything back from them since...I even emailed them a couple times asking if they were still doing it and I havent gotten an email back from them.

scoobyrbac

9th May 2008, 01:10

** Content Removed **
See PaulC2K's words of wisdom. Everyone else who has applied should take this as an opportunity to check their mail - taa

PaulC2K

9th May 2008, 01:20

You'll go far in the beta testing scene handing out Beta information like that, at Sony EU (and the others i'd imagine) you'd get kicked out without a seconds pause for something careless/thoughtless like that.

You dont find it a little stupid to start posting beta information into a public forum?
:shrug:

scoobyrbac

9th May 2008, 02:04

I did this for anyone else that wanted to beta test, there was thousands of emails on the email I got from the company asking for testers.

PaulC2K

9th May 2008, 02:17

Im pretty sure that anyone wanting to take part in the whole project still can, but they should go through the appropriate channels, and if they do want more people then they'll be accepted, if they dont want more testers then they wont appreciate unapproved and unknown people signing up.

Maybe they're fine with everyone knowing, but without knowing their feelings on it id say its best not to post this info, its one thing to acknowledge the arrival of something to do, but posting info sent to specific people should be avoided IMO (and also going off previous private beta groups, whether this specific task is public or private i dont know).

Better safe than sorry, dont want to get kicked out for something silly, could be some very exciting things ahead :)

the_angry_angel

9th May 2008, 02:21

there was thousands of emails on the email I got from the company asking for testers.Which is an issue within itself, but out of our control tbh. I would've thought that companies would've learnt that you don't mass mail people like this by now :shrug:

go sideways

9th May 2008, 04:06

This got nothing to do with lfs:chairs: and it aint in the offtopic section :D

swisscosmo

9th May 2008, 04:39

Go_Sideways this may have nothing to do with LFS but it does go read the first post and see why.

P.S. I would join the tester's but I live in Canada, i'm 13, and my comp has low specs so it wouldn't be able to run the new games. and there's a few more things but there kinda minor

hotmail

9th May 2008, 09:18

This got nothing to do with lfs:chairs: and it aint in the offtopic section :D
this has got some thing to do with a friend of the devs.
so it fits perfect in this topic "Testing"

XGremlinX_pt

9th May 2008, 15:57

-edited-
sry! replied to the wrong thread

dougie-lampkin

9th May 2008, 16:21

I only sent an e-mail last night, but how soon should I expect a reply? I kinda forgot to send it 3 months ago :shy:

Mc21

16th May 2008, 22:00

I got a reply today.. After sending an email in Feburary >_<

It said
"By are records it shows that no one has got back in touch with you, has this been the case? Are you still looking for a job within the gaming industry? If so can you please let me know?
I’ll sort out an interview in the next few weeks and will let you know time and date to come to our offices. "

pow :)

PaulH

17th May 2008, 10:50

Congratulations Mc21.
I got an email back yesterday but said I live too far away for him to setup a 1st interview - which is true, where I'm currently located down in Cornwall it's about 5 hours economical drive. He gave me some suggestions for helping me get into the industry though and offered more help if I need it - nice bloke that Jeff.

ThaBobsta

3rd June 2008, 23:47

May I ask if there is a test- age restriction?

Mc21

23rd March 2009, 15:24

Had my first day last wednesday :) Very nice bunch of people.

Dajmin

22nd March 2010, 10:31

Major bump for this thread, but I want to let folks know I've got my first assessment interview at Testology tomorrow morning. If anyone can put in a good word for me then that'd be appreciated :)

I'm really excited about the job too. I think it's the first time I've been interviewed for a job I'm actually interested in doing :p

anttt69

18th May 2010, 17:46

How did it go?

Dajmin

27th May 2010, 15:47

He offered me the job, but unfortunately the pay was less than we could manage on so I had to turn it down. It's a weird setup though - you need to register as self-employed and they just contract you in. I assume it's a tax workaround.

Gutted though, because it would've been sweet.

Mc21

2nd May 2011, 15:29

Even more of a mega bumpage. I've been working there for 2 years now :)

Scawen

2nd May 2011, 16:59

I'm pleased it's going well at Testology! :thumbsup: :)

PaulC2K

6th May 2011, 15:03

blimey, an old thread :D

I ended up winning a nice Sony Vaio laptop from the beta test they ran too. Topped both the competitions (Most $$ won, £17k with £100 starting pot over 7 days, and i dont do the horses or even gamble! :D, and betting in the most races, could only claim 1 prize, which meant the other main prize went to Widdowmaker who's been on here since the beginning too, iirc he won a Wii.).

One fun part of it all was meeting Widdow and going down to Kingsgate upon Thames with him where Harino (the beta) was being run from, and seeing a lot of familar scenery, including a recently built Odeon cinema ;) Harino were based directly behind the train station which was more prominant before the S2 update (new pitlane).

Nice to see someone got a job from this thread too :thumbsup: