what sort of experience should you talk up for a game related job listing?

cleverlyj

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what sort of experience should you talk up for a game related job listing?

so, there's a coin op distributor in town that has an opening for video game/computer technical support. i've got my a+ and have experience in the computer field, however aside from doing cap kits and repairs to my own games, that's about it as far as arcade experience. is mentioning that i have my own collection and work on them enough?

mod or others that work in the field, chime in if you can. gonna go down and apply in the morning.
 
so, there's a coin op distributor in town that has an opening for video game/computer technical support. i've got my a+ and have experience in the computer field, however aside from doing cap kits and repairs to my own games, that's about it as far as arcade experience. is mentioning that i have my own collection and work on them enough?

mod or others that work in the field, chime in if you can. gonna go down and apply in the morning.

You have an A+ so they'll know you're a techie - I would definitely let them know that you have your own collection of games and that you maintain them well. Have you documented any restores that you have done? Have you ever fixed PCB's? I sure as hell would include everything that could chalk up your experience, and the fact that you do this as a hobby shows the employer that you're passionate about it. I'm sure that they have someone that can train you on more advanced repairs - I say go for it bro!
 
yeah, unfortunately i have no major pcb repairs, aside from rebuilding a couple mcr power supplies, and testing resistors and replacing an lm3900 on a tron ssio board. but i've done quite a few cap kits, and am getting pretty good as far as soldering and the ability to do small (ic chip type) soldering.
 
If your willing to learn PCB repair, and they are willing to teach you, sounds like youd be the perfect candidate. Just be up front with them, tell them what you know and what you'd like to know.
 
After you get past a certain point in skill set, most employers want someone that will work hard and that they LIKE. If the boss likes ultimate frisbee and you happen to play too, plus you can do what they need you to do on the job, they'll hire you over the super tech guy who has a spotty job history and is socially inept. Find out what you can about their interests in the interview and see if you fit in, then play to that.
 
Ops don't repair PCBs -- they send them out.

I agree with Mark :eek:.

Most places don't care about board repair skills they care about board diagnostic skills. They just want to know how fast can you decide that it is:
(a) a bad joystick,
(b) a faulty ground wire,
(c) a bad power suppy,
(d) a bad game board.

Talking about what you have done to diagnose/repair/restore your own games will mean more than the ability to find the stuck logic gate on a Ms Pacman game that they had 20 working boards sitting on a shelf.

Good luck and report back!

ken
 
allright, so i went down there and applied this morning. it's a combination of on site stuff and location stuff. they said they have a guy that does chassis and whatnot stuff on site, so i would be half time at the company and half at a location for them, as well as possibly on call. she asked me what experience i had, and i let her know about computer experience, but as far as game experience, i didn't go too deep, and i feel after it like i probably should have.

i let them know that i have a collection and i do all my repairs on my own, as far as monitors, power supplies, cosmetic, and work on pins as well. that's pretty much what i said, though. i was a little excited. but the lady said they're gonna wait a few days for any other applicants as the ad just went up friday evening, so hopefully i'll hear back from them.

as far as salary, what does something like this generally pay? i don't know, so i threw out $12/hour when she asked. i didn't want to ask for anything unrealistic...
 
I've never meet an op that requires you to do board repair. I've worked for two - both always sent stuff out. If you can fix pcb's or monitors - just go in business yourself - you'll keep plenty of work.

Your diagnostics are the biggest thing. What got me in the door at my first 'tech' gig was a question about how to fix missing sound on a game. When I said 'check the power supply', I was in. (most people say replace the speakers. The speakers almost never fail - VERY rare)

There are only 3 things that really go wrong: power supply, monitor, pcb board. You'll have to wire some things and be able to rig things - but that is about it. My 'tech' work consisted of finding what was wrong, and sending the parts out to be fixed, then putting it back together. I also shopped pins/games, which is most of what the hobby is about anyway.

I was only making about $10/hour - but it was a part time gig for me in both cases. They probably won't pay you more than 15. A lot of companies charge the customers about $70/hour repair rate + mileage - and they usually give you a cut of it for service repairs. They mostly want you to be cheap labor to fix their route machines.
 
most good techs I know demand 20/hour.

could vary by area, though. worth noting those guys worked in the business for 20+ years as well. I know another guy that makes more, and he fucking sucks. I think in the 2 years I've been doing tech work in my family's arcade, I already know significantly more than he does.

I make minimum wage, cause you know, my family can't really afford me.
 
allright. so i got called in for an interview today. i think it went great. went over my computer background, arcade background, what i've done for repairs, what i've worked on, let them know i have my own tools and what not. they took me on a tour of the place, their warehouse and what not, interview lasted about 50 minutes.

anyways, they said i should hear back from them by friday. so hopefully that means i have a good chance. anyways, i'd appreciate it if everyone kept their fingers crossed on my behalf.
 
Tours are always a good sign, when I was hiring people and knew they weren't getting the job I didn't waste anymore time than I had too.
 
Ops don't repair PCBs -- they send them out.

Exactly. No op is looking for somebody that can repair computers, lol. They don't operate any pcb's anymore really. Everythings about checking voltages, and replacing boards or power supplies or monitors.

Just tell him you maintain your own collection and are good with a multimeter and troubleshooting.
 
This I guess would be the best place to tell the story of how I got hired by an operator.

I'm looking for a job, and see an ad in the paper, arcade tech, etc. so I noticed it had been online or in the online paper for 2 days. so I thought "shit" I missed it. So I wrote up my resume, and overnighted it to the address listed.

So about 2 weeks goes by, and this guy calls me, wants to know if I want to meet him at a bowling alley to do an interview, etc. So I go and meet him, and there's this really nerdy looking guy with a pocket protector and a briefcase, saying he's applying for the tech job too. So I immediately think "Oh shit, lost this one" because I just showed up casually dressed. Not a t shirt and jeans but just khakis and a polo shirt. So anyways, the op finally gets there, and he's brought his collector stuff, etc. He tells us that he'll interview the other guy first, then me after wards. I thought for a minute, damn maybe I should just leave... but figured since I drove all the way over there, I should sit around and wait, hell why not.

So about 10 minutes goes by, and the door opens and he tells the guy 'YEAH, WE'LL CALL YA, SOUNDS GREAT" blah blah blah, the guy walks out the door. So the op turns to me and goes "I thought he'd never leave!" LOL

So first question out of his mouth is "I gotta know, what games do you own?" and I told him, and he basically informed me that the only people that apply for these jobs are computer techs who have no clue what the hell they're doing, and what they really want is somebody personable who can do logical troubleshooting and be good with the people at the locations so nobody gets pissed off. He also said he was impressed that I overnighted my resume to him. I started the next week.

Afterwards I hired a few guys, basically personality was about everything. I hired probably 90% on personality, because you've got to have somebody who the locations will like, having a friendly relationship with a location was worth way, way, way more than the quality of service you provided.
 
This I guess would be the best place to tell the story of how I got hired by an operator.

I'm looking for a job, and see an ad in the paper, arcade tech, etc. so I noticed it had been online or in the online paper for 2 days. so I thought "shit" I missed it. So I wrote up my resume, and overnighted it to the address listed.

So about 2 weeks goes by, and this guy calls me, wants to know if I want to meet him at a bowling alley to do an interview, etc. So I go and meet him, and there's this really nerdy looking guy with a pocket protector and a briefcase, saying he's applying for the tech job too. So I immediately think "Oh shit, lost this one" because I just showed up casually dressed. Not a t shirt and jeans but just khakis and a polo shirt. So anyways, the op finally gets there, and he's brought his collector stuff, etc. He tells us that he'll interview the other guy first, then me after wards. I thought for a minute, damn maybe I should just leave... but figured since I drove all the way over there, I should sit around and wait, hell why not.

So about 10 minutes goes by, and the door opens and he tells the guy 'YEAH, WE'LL CALL YA, SOUNDS GREAT" blah blah blah, the guy walks out the door. So the op turns to me and goes "I thought he'd never leave!" LOL

So first question out of his mouth is "I gotta know, what games do you own?" and I told him, and he basically informed me that the only people that apply for these jobs are computer techs who have no clue what the hell they're doing, and what they really want is somebody personable who can do logical troubleshooting and be good with the people at the locations so nobody gets pissed off. He also said he was impressed that I overnighted my resume to him. I started the next week.

Afterwards I hired a few guys, basically personality was about everything. I hired probably 90% on personality, because you've got to have somebody who the locations will like, having a friendly relationship with a location was worth way, way, way more than the quality of service you provided.

Yep, that's exactly what I was saying.
 
Yep, that's exactly what I was saying.

yeah, i let them know i'm a fast learner, and that i have repaired newer williams/stern pins that my father in law owns. they talked about having a cell phone and using it for calling vendors when having problems troubleshooting stuff, and I let them know my plan is unlimited so that shouldn't be an issue. they also talked about using a company veh for running around, letting me know i may be making game deliveries. i told them that's cool for game deliveries, but i expected i'd be using my own vehicle, which works out well because the location i'd be at is about 1.5 miles from my house.

as far as when i left, i summed up that i think i'd be really successful and pick things up that i don't know very quickly, and thanked them and let them know i look forward to hearing them.


Lyonsarcade- as far as the guy you interviewed with saying "i wish he'd left a long time ago", they told me I should hear back by friday and to call if I haven't heard by then, so hopefully that's a good thing rather than a bad thing.
 
Exactly. No op is looking for somebody that can repair computers, lol. They don't operate any pcb's anymore really. Everythings about checking voltages, and replacing boards or power supplies or monitors.

Just tell him you maintain your own collection and are good with a multimeter and troubleshooting.


Actually a lot of newer games are PC based.
I do a great deal of board level repair.... take pinballs for instance.... drivers go all the time, matrix problems etc.
I repair a lot of power supplies as well, monitors, even game boards depending on the technology.
PLCCs are hard to replace without $10,000 worth of gear, which most OPs won't invest in since it's cheaper to send the boards back or get an advance replacement on newer games.
You should be good at woodworking, welding and fabrication, you should also be good at basic logical troubleshooting.
A grasp of electro-mechanical motion systems is a plus as well.... not necessarily six-degrees of freedom stuff, but basic motor control circuits.
You need to be ready and willing to grab a dolly and load a machine too.
If your OP is into the new internet jukes you need to know a bit about networking and audio installations.
Essentially you need to know a little about a whole lot.
You will learn most of it on the job as there is no real 'course' you can take in arcade repairs. If you have a basic grasp on electronics and electrical theory and can wield a hammer and use some power tools. Most OPs will give you a shot.
What I hate is people who have a know-it-all attitude when they walk in the door when you know damn well after 25 years of 'doing it' that they know dick.
I like the guys who admit they don't know much but are willing to give it 100%.
If you have a good attitude, an interest and are willing to learn.... I can teach you the rest.
That's my take on it anyway.
 
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