A few Qs about GM jobs, and personal accts

#0 - March 23, 2010, 6:17 p.m.

I live in Austin. Blizz is pretty much eternally hiring for GMs, and as I love wow, and am currently unemployed (well, sort of self employed), I was thinking of getting a GM job.

But before I bother with starting the application process (I am fairly confident I would get the job, as I have a good bit of customer service and tech support experience, and know the ins and outs of WOW (at least I like to think) very well), and I am a pretty decent "people person". I am also friends with the sister of the HR manager here in Austin. (although I havent spoken to her yet, I guess that would be a good place to start, but I wanted to see if I could get some info from what would potentiall be my "peers" in the workplace.)
I was wondering if any Blues could chime in and answer a couple questions. I dont want to waste my, or the hiring people's time.

If I become a GM, will my current personal acct still be considered "separate"?
-------- From what I have read, GMs cant use any add-ons and it seems like they are fairly limited when it comes to their in-game interaction with normal players. I dont want to drop my add-ons, and I dont want to severe my interaction with the rest of the players. Obviously you cant go spouting about being a GM, but would I have to remain silent when playing my current toons?
Basically, what are the ins and outs of that?

Do you work direct for Blizzard, or through a temp company?
--------I HATE the temp companies, they treat their workers like children, regardless of whether the employee is 18 and completely inexperienced, or 50 with 30 years experience and a masters degree, you are assured that the 22-29yo female with AT BEST a 2 year degree, if any, and no real work experience, will treat you like a child. I am not into that, and if this is the case, I wont even bother applying. I went through it with Dell and a couple other tech support/customer service jobs in the past, and I am not interested in being part of that again.

Basically, if I would work direct for Blizz, great! If it would be a third party "temp" company, I wont bother wasting my or their time.

I know "burnout" seems to be a concern, and I have heard that the easiest way to stop enjoying wow is to become a GM, but I am not worried about that issue. And if it begins ruining my experience, I could always get another job. I dont think it will anyway.

I also know that working on holidays and major patch drops is pretty much going to be a 100% thing, I'm ok with that, but it looks like its a "swing schedule" for lack of a better word, in other words, not always a set schedule of hours that are the same every week.

Anyway, if anyone who works for Blizz, has worked for Bliz, or knows someone personally and knows the answer to these, or can give me any thoughts/experiences about it, I would appreciate it.

Syndri

#5 - March 23, 2010, 6:34 p.m.

Q u o t e:
If I become a GM, will my current personal acct still be considered "separate"?

If employed by Blizzard Entertainment, you will still be able to use AddOns, communicate with other players, and participate in in-game events. You will also remain accountable for upholding and abiding by all policies and guidelines, as listed within the Terms of Use, EULA, and other in-game policy descriptions. These privileges and responsibilities of being a WoW player will not change. Overall, your personal World of Warcraft account and game play will be largely unaffected by employment.

When we Game Masters play on our personal World of Warcraft accounts, we're no different than any other player. We cannot reveal ourselves as Game Masters when playing from these accounts, of course, and we are absolutely forbidden from using our employment to gain any sort of in-game advantage. It's also important to note that our play accounts are not used when working; we are provided separate tools and accounts through which we are able to provide proper in-game assistance.

Q u o t e:
Do you work direct for Blizzard, or through a temp company?

That would be a question best asked of the hiring manager. :)

Syndri

#36 - March 23, 2010, 7:36 p.m.

Q u o t e:
So do GMs have to submit tickets or do they just go to work the next day and say "Hey Jerry, this one player was...."?

Everything about our game play is normal, including the petition process. If we see a violation or require an item reimbursement, we open an in-game petition or send an email to [email protected] and wait for it to be addressed. :)

Syndri

#45 - March 23, 2010, 7:49 p.m.

Q u o t e:
Hope I don't seem too much like a dimwit, but I'm guessing that the job description/application process information may be found somewhere in the Blizzard Careers section of the corporate website? I'm interested in applying too, seeing as how my current job doesn't seem to think anything of leaving its employees out in the lurch without projects. Or money. <_<

Here you go!

https://blizzard.taleo.net/careersection/2/jobdetail.ftl?job=09000DS

https://blizzard.taleo.net/careersection/2/jobdetail.ftl?job=100000C

Other managerial roles are also available within the US, and several similar positions are available within our international offices (Ireland, France, China, Taiwan, and Korea). Be sure to check our main web page for additional information: http://us.blizzard.com/en-us/company/careers/

Syndri

#48 - March 23, 2010, 7:53 p.m.

Q u o t e:
Are these on-site or is telecommuting a possibility? I live in PA, so relocation to TX would be quite a move (though I'm certainly not against it!).

Both positions listed require one to commute to a local office. Telecommuting is not currently available for in-game or account services support.