racoma.com.phJ. Angelo Racoma on technology, economics, writing, problogging, and getting things done

I don’t usually do this, but my headhunting skills have been somewhat lagging lately (sometimes it’s a hit-and-miss thing), so I’m foregoing the targeted approach for the meantime. It can get tiring to pursue a person and find out in the end that he or she might not be the perfect match. Oh yeah, this goes for personal relationships also, not only professional (I’ve been watching too much of Smallville, I think).

So I find myself using the power of blogging and word of mouth to do just that—get the word out. I’m looking for people who can work with game sites.

The Game Blogger/s

For one, we need game writers. Game bloggers to be specific. MMORPG game bloggers, to even hit closer to the bullseye. In summary, we currently need a person (or people) who can write for one of our premium MMORPG sites mainly about World of Warcraft. We need these qualifications.

• Passionate about writing and coming up with creative, useful and usable content.
• Familiar with the game, and preferably plays WoW.
• Can answer questions and inquiries related to WoW.
• Can author guides, walkthroughs, strategies, and other useful articles about the game.
• We are looking for original work, or at the very least, well-researched material that can be synthesized appropriately.

Openings for other game titles would also be available soon, but we prefer to fill in this one first.

Passion for gaming would surely be a plus. And sometimes, these “plusses” are actually the things that people look for when hiring prospective employees.

Speaking of “employees,” we don’t really prefer to treat each other in a you’re-working-for-us kind of way. It’s more like we’re working with each other. And by “we,” of course I mean Enthropia.

You get the drift. If you get exposed with us online people enough, you’ll understand.

The Game Site Manager

Abe beat me to posting about the game site manager opening, and you can check out his post here. And I cite some specifics:

• Preferably female
• Hardworking and diligent
• Knows or plays games
• Has a good understanding of online games (how MMOs operate/work)
• Has knowledge of gaming technologies (private servers, etc)

Abe’s right about hit the target with his particulars, but let me expound a bit further. We need someone with great communication skills and with great passion not only for doing things right, but for making things right. Working these sites is like working magic in a way only a person with energy and charisma could. If you think you’re that person, this might be the job for you.

Set-Up, Compensation, the Nitty Gritty

I can’t peg a specific amount for the compensation for now, but it’s definitely competitive with the rates that other established blog networks are offering (see my post here on problogging options). Actually, Abe already gave the mean figure, and I can say it’s approximately that level. For the blogs, it would actually depend on performance, or on the quantity and substance of the articles that you can commit to attaining/doing.

Oh, we pay in greenbacks, or the equivalent in Philippine currency, so you will be at the mercy of the foreign exchange market. Hah!

As for work set-up, it would be a work anywhere, anytime type of undertaking. We don’t exactly have a penthouse office in Libis or Makati. We do work whenever and wherever we are productive—and that’s usually with our spanking new laptops on our laps at home or at a table at some WiFi-enabled cafe. Of course, there would be some output and/or input considerations (such as quotas and/or weekly work hours), but that would depend on what our agreement would be.

It could be part time (for you), but we will consider this as a full-time undertaking, so we expet the output to reflect full-time effort.

Where Should I Be? And What About My Toys?

We’d like to say we’re an equal-opportunity employer and all that, but let’s face it—we can’t probably hire someone who’s in a faraway continent, and whom we cannot even send money to (we would need to have PayPal for the Philippines for that to work). And one reason we’ve set up shop here in the country is because we love the Philippines so much we would like to help out the economy by tapping the skills and knowledge of the capable members of our ICT community.

So you’d have to be somewhere in the country. You can be in the boondocks for all we care, but just make sure you have decent Internet connection out there, and you can actually play the games and talk to us over IM and email. We can probably consider someone overseas, but that would depend—talk to us.

Speaking of Internet connectivity, we won’t be able to provide you with a desk and workstation and a blazingly fast Internet connection like most companies out there. You would have to provide your own equipment and spend for the ‘net connection. But hey, that comes with the freedom to telecommute or work mobile. It’s a tradeoff. In the end, you would probably realize it’s cheaper that way than having to spend for gas or fare everyday commuting to and from the office. You get to keep your toys, too (you bought ‘em)!

I’m Interested. How Do I Apply?

Just shoot me an email with your desired position in mind, or if you prefer to tell the rest of the world, do leave a comment here. Talk to me. I’m not some HR department, so please feel free to send me a note in your most convincing, yet, informal manner. We’re not looking for people who would write press releases after all, and we’ll probably get the feel of how well a fit you would be in the above-mentioned positions from the way you communicate with us.

At the very least, we’d like to be able to see what you can do. Please do include the following, if applicable and/or available:

• Your latest resume, or a link to your latest online profile with CV. It’s not really necessary for you to be Summa Cum Laude in your PhD class, but we’d love to know what you’ve accomplished so far (or what you’d want us to believe you’ve accomplished ).
• Link to your portfolio or existing body of work. Resumes can be polished and embellished, but existing bodies of work speak for themselves.
• Your contact details. These may already be in your CV, but we’d like to have something on our Gmail for easy reference (nifty search functions!).
• A half-body photo if you think you’re cute. Okay, scratch that. At least point to a link on your site or gallery or attach something with your likeness on it, so I would have an idea of who I’m talking to.

My contact information can be found on my sidebar or my about page. I do have my mobile/SMS number there, but I would prefer email—at least we have a record, and neither of us are likely to forget. IM (YM or GTalk) works also, but only for follow-up. Same with SMS.

I hope I didn’t forget anything. Good luck!

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