CCP Games in the Recruiter Hotseat: “Awe inspiring ideas do not come from hiring the same thing, the same way, time after time.”

CCP Games is hiring for its London studio! Richard Chipchase gives us the inside story

What positions/areas are you hiring for and where are the jobs based?

All our open roles are for our London studio, currently based in the heart of Covent Garden. We’re hiring across the board with roles such as Game Design Director, Development Director, Principal AI Engineer, Lead Technical Artist and Lead VFX Artist. We’ll also be expanding the studio’s publishing team soon, with roles across a variety of levels. Additionally, we’re always open to hearing from people who think we need to see what they’re all about. Who knows, maybe we’ll create a role just to make it work!

Interested? Check out the current vacancies at: jobs.50skills.com/ccpgames. We currently have over ten open positions but looking more like we’ll hire upwards of 20 this year alone.

What differentiates your studio from other developers?

We haven’t yet started banging the drum about our unannounced project. But we’re close! Until then, CCP London will stay quietly confident of what we’re up to.

Excellence. Courage. Unity. Honesty. These are our core values and we’re always on the lookout for signals when we’re interviewing. We are an open book. The more quirky or unique, the better.  Awe inspiring ideas do not come from hiring the same thing, the same way, time after time.

What perks are available working at CCP Games?

Order your lunch the night before, we’ve got that. As with breakfasts. Travel and gym grants, quarterly and annual bonuses, private medical and dental are all standard as is our mature attitude towards working hours. Focus on doing what you love.  Remember that families and health come first and let us take care of everything else. Health and well-being are weekly topics among the HR team and there’s never a time when new ideas or solutions to positively impacting our people’s daily lives aren’t considered.

What should aspiring devs do with their CV to get an interview?

CV? Let’s not worry about that too much for now. It’s all about who you are that counts. Get the message to us in any shape or form that represents who you are! Send us a cake with your name on it. We like cakes. (Or send us a message via jobs@ccpgames.com, we can work it out from there)

What advice would you give for a successful interview at your studio?

Relax. Be yourself. We’re not judging you on your ability to do a great interview. Your knowledge and passion for what you do will shine. It’s our job to make you feel comfortable so please let us know how we’re doing. It’s important to us.

If you have recruited internationally, what is the process like?

We have, a lot! The process is just as slick as it is for local hires. Our relocation packages are the most comprehensive I’ve ever seen. Bells, whistles and fog horns. Due to our Icelandic roots, we’re seasoned at making it easy as cake. Sorry, pie.

How has the pandemic affected recruitment at your studio?

The pandemic has shifted almost everything. We’ve adapted to using video as our main method of meeting people but we’re already getting welcome requests from interviewees to come in and see what we’re all about. This is great – that is where we really separate ourselves out from being different heads and shoulders on different days, which is what a lot of remote first experiences are like nowadays.

What is the culture like at your studio?

Watch any of our publicly available videos and interviews with our people and you’ll get a real sense of what it’s like to work here.

Hilmar V. Pétursson, our CEO, Adrian Blunt, our Studio Director for London, Erna Arnardóttir, our VP of People – they’re all out there just being themselves and talking about life at CCP Games.

At a more granular level, you can expect candid conversations with people who can help take creative ideas either to the next level, or simply move on to the next one without taking things personally. Fail fast, learn from it. Be transparent and feel comfortable you’re amongst trusted people who’ve got your back.

We live our values – excellence, courage, unity, and honesty. It helps create an environment where you know where you stand and can get work done. Fast. So, you can eat more cake at the end of the day.