Okay, so I’m writing this because it’s what I’m thinking about right now. And it’s making me super frustrated.
Why? Because everything I’m looking for assume that you’re male. So, apparently, I should be wearing dress pants, discreet belt, polished shoes and the big debate is whether I should be wearing a tie or not with my buttoned, collared shirt. I might as well just go dressed as Marlene Dietrich.
This feature article at Game Career Guide is moderately helpful, except for this amusing suggestion:
Jason Weesner, a developer at Crystal Dynamics and Game Career Guide writer, suggests dressing as if you’re going on a first date.
Riiight… so I guess that means wearing something sexy, low-cut, with high-heels? But only lip-gloss, just in case the chemistry is too much and we end up pashing furiously.
Yeah, no.
Why doesn’t someone just say something like, “think about the impression you’re trying to give- creative, professional, approachable”?
This, to me, seems like a better way to think about putting together something to wear. I think that does mean that I need to buy new shoes. Smelly $5 ballet flats or ratty, hippy-looking Cons don’t seem to make the cut.
Ellen Jurik 
Yeah well, a recent discussion I had with colleges have come to the conclusion that female producers in the video game industry are better than their male counterparts. The reasoning is that most of the staff are male computer nerds who are easily swayed by a female to go the extra mile. They want to impress her and that sort of thing. Sexist? Maybe, but it doesn’t make it any less true.
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I remember hearing about studies of the effect of male and female voices… that a male voice is considered more “scientific” and “believable” when advertising something, while a female voice is simultaneously soothing and appeals to your emotions. They ended up using a female voice for aeroplanes, for example, because the pilots were more likely to listen and not stress when a female voice told them what to do… or something.
The other reason (just as sexist, but we ARE talking about gender divisions, so we’ll always skirt the “sexism” line…. haha, “skirt”) could be that women are better at juggling and multitasking, as well as more communicative and empathetic. Whether this is biological, cultural or what, I don’t know. Ask Alan Pease.
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Ah interesting points…
My own opinion is that in a team, females are needed to be emotional buffer for frictions between people ( geeks and nerds ). We had one girl in the team in the company i am working for for 6 month. Everything was fine. She recently got kicked out, and now motivation is hitting a real low…
When i am working, i know i do not pay enough attention to what people think or feel. Even if most nerds think it doesn’t matter, overall the team in the end it does. a great deal. And girls are usually better a paying attention and fixing this kind of problem before they become too important.
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I’ve worked in five studios and everyone was in jeans and t-shirts. Maybe there was an MD in a shirt and chinos, but that’s about it. In terms of interview, go with smart casual. I wouldn’t worry about it too much to be honest, just don’t bail up looking homeless.
Also, I’ve never seen a female juggler, so I think your last paragraph is wrong.
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You haven’t seen a female juggler because they’re all juggling tasks instead of balls. Why are men so obsessed with their balls?
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Hey Ellen,
Didn’t mean to upset you (or amuse you) with my comment! I guess it’s not that I wasn’t thinking about women in an interview situation, but, perhaps, based on my own experience with first dates, I’m used to something considerably less formal than skirts, heels, and lipstick. For example, when I met my wife, I was wearing jeans and a nice collared shirt. She was wearing something similar. My comment was mainly aimed at people who show up at interviews in shorts and t-shirts and the ultimate message was all about first appearances, not a dress guide.
I’m lucky to work in a company with a large percentage of extremely talented women which includes our lead programmer, several senior prop modelers, senior programmers, texture artists, and designers. SO, I certainly don’t assume that the only people looking to enter the industry are male. It hasn’t been that way for years now.
Take care,
-jw
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Hi Jason, thanks for your response!
I didn’t mean to imply that you weren’t thinking about women, but just that “first date” to me is more charged with wanting to look attractive, rather than looking credible. I would be more concerned about showing a hint of cleavage at a job interview than I would on a first date, for example. It was a matter of what type of image to project. I was very frustrated that there weren’t more articles that said anything about what to wear as a woman! I’m sorry if I made it look like I was lumping you in with the other articles I looked at.
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