Whenever you look at a glamourious job, it usually doesn’t end up being exactly what you thought it was when you first thought or fantasized about it.  The same scenerio applies to video game testing jobs.  Its kind of like that song about becoming a rock super star that talks about how you may think its about having a big house and five cars.  But he says you gotta look over your shoulder constantly, and that first you get played, like all damn day, and then you get dissed by the media and fans.  So its a fun job, but its still a job and you gotta put in the effort and the daily hours, and meet deadlines just like you do in video game testing jobs.

Being a beta game tester for video games can be a similar situation.  Its not just about playing the latest blockbuster games and nonstop fun.  There is plenty of work involved, and you have somebody to answer to.  Don’t get me wrong, this is still a better job than others and it is a field where lots of people are turning towards and is highly sought out.  But many times people get the wrong idea when they hear the word game tester and the get a fantasy in their mind about just playing halo or call of duty all day, and getting paid 100 dollars per headshot.  But that is just not reality.

In fact, the industry is so popular that many game developers, programmers, and even video game designers begin their carreers as game testers.  Being a beta game tester allows you to gain valuable experience about the process of how a game is developed and this can serve you down the road to advance in this field.  It is also a job that is ideal for beginners because it doesn’t require you to have a college degree.  However, if you want to reach the top paying positions in the game company you must get some type of education, because they don’t just hire anyone.  While you get your education you can get the applicable experience by being a beta tester and earn money while doing it.  On top of that you’ll be playing video games, what more do you want?

So other than game testing mmo games or any other type of game, another thing you can do for experience is get your hands busy and writing your own mini games using xna or any other programming related activity.    So what will get you hired?  Hiring managers are definitely looking for a few charactertics, among others. 

For instance, you would be a favorable hiring choice if you are a person that demonstrates sound judgment and an ability to make good decisions, therefore, if you were to participate as a beta game tester in a certain company, you would have the tremendous opportunity of demonstrating this such talent and thereby getting a promotion opportnity as long as you’re doing the rest of the other things that you must do to get the position.  If you’re in any kind of doubt of whether this is even for you, just at least try taking a related class at a local community college and see how that goes.  The high end jobs will always require lots of knowledge.

Not just knowledge, but you have to appear to be a self motivated solution master that will use his extensive knowledge base to solve problems and situations you run into as a game tester.  So even though game testing can be tedious at times, it is definitely for a fun purpose and is an essential part in releasing an extremely fun game.  If you take the right steps there is no doubt that these companies will be interested in hiring you, they all want well trained personnel.

See this game tester jobs page to find more about the exact steps to securing a game tester job.