SC2SEA.com - Starcraft 2 SEA eSports Community Site

Made a new blog entry instead of updating the old one :P

What went down in the interview

Today, I made my way down to Razer Asia-Pacific's head office, located in our little island country. Deep in the recesses of the Bedok/East Coast area, a place very foreign to me. I grew up in the west side of Singapore and pretty much studied in the west side too, for those who are familiar with the geography the island.

But I digress, located in the Chai Chee industrial area, I was given directions to block 514, Level 7 of the industrial complex. Walked past a plastic product manufacturer, a moving company, a table manufacturer, spare parts manufacturer and whatever else that can be manufactured, well, you get my drift. Pretty greasy (literally) place.

Then I made my way up to level 7, and walked along a pretty nondescript corridor. Whitewashed walls, walked past the first boring blue door, then a second, equally boring blue door, then I came to the third door. Like a shining beacon in the ocean of boring businesses in the area, was a double panelled glass door. Couldn't really see through the glass, but I could make out the huge Razer sigil (SIGIL BECAUSE GAME OF THRONES IS COOL) on the wall.

"This is it, looks pretty cool I must say", I thought to myself. I tugged at the door. Nothing happened. I then looked to my right, there's a panel, but nothing that looks remotely like a doorbell of sorts. WAS I GOING TO GET STUMPED BY A DOOR!?! I saw a lady approaching in my direction, shuffling along, thank goodness she was entering the office. What happened next was pretty cool (to me anyway), she placed her finger on one of the panels to the right of the door. FINGERPRINT ACCESS! LOL!

I followed behind her sheepishly, embarrassed that I couldn't get past a door, or find a way to call the receptionist hiding behind the desk. Finally got into the office. Woohoo, door boss cleared! The decor, mostly black, with touches of green, Razer colours! I walked around while I waited for the interviewers. There was a display area of various products and awards, or in a single cube case placed on pedestals. There were some rooms that looked pretty cool too, with green glass windows, but I didn't wanna walk in and be too nosey.

I was then greeted by Chris and Andrew. Chris was the overall in-charge of the e-sports department and Andrew was the one currently handling the position I was applying for. They were hiring so that Andrew can concentrate on being an e-sports team manager.

Oh, before I get into the details of the interview, I should describe the lounge area first! Anyhow, they brought me to the lounge area for the interview. Table tennis table? Check! Foosball table? Check! Pool table? Check! Bar stocked with beer? Check! Xbox? Check! 12 PC LAN area? Check!

First impressions so far? Damn, this place is a geek's dream work environment.

We then got down to the interview. Why did you apply for this job? I basically answered that I love advertising and writing (copywriting to be more precise) was something that I wanna work on. This job pretty much covers both aspects (PR, Branding, Marketing, Communications, Press releases etc.) and who could forget, gaming!

Second bit was asking me what I know about Razer, who I think their competitors are, and what sets Razer apart. Pretty straightforward questions. Design bla bla bla, throw in names like TT etc, love the fact that Razer is diversifying (not just Mice and Keyboard anymore) bla bla bla.

Third bit was a little more interesting. They asked what I would do to help e-sports in general, at this juncture, I want to point out that this role is a global role, not just regional. I told them that SEA region needs a bit of help, like sponsorship or coverage. I asked them if they heard of SC2SEA, the site that's like Team Liquid only smaller because it's focus is on SEA (nirvana should pay me for this). And I said, community sites like this could use help from companies like you to get bigger, at the same time helping players in the region get more support. I also mentioned that I posted this particular job opening on this site and that I thought there were a few talented writers on here. They asked if it would work, and I said there was quite a bit of interest and that I know of 2 others who sent in their resumes as well.

The last bit was just me asking them what the typical day to day operations is like for the job. We talked about what games I liked to play as well and what league I was in in SC2. So yeah, massive wall of text, and I think I'm beginning to ramble. They told me they'll inform me in 2-3 weeks time. Wait and see I guess.

There you have it! I'll just cut it off here. I hope you guys enjoyed my long-winded post!