[Note: The content of this post is very similar to the one posted in the PD Hiring folder. The main differences are the types of positions that we are filling for Customer Experience.]

A few days ago, during SimuCon, GMs Riel, Iocanthe, and myself announced that we are about to begin the process of recruiting some new AGMs (Assistant GameMasters) for DragonRealms. We hope to start the interviewing and hiring process as soon as possible.

The first step in that process is this post. Please read the post in its entirety. Confused? Need clarification? Post your questions here and we'll respond. If your question is of a personal nature, please feel free to write to me directly at dr-helena@play.net. I'll try to respond as quickly as possible.

What I also noted during that seminar was that as I'm new to this position and as I'm still learning the ropes (yet come without a lot of the past history) I want to give every interested applicant an equal opportunity at applying. So... to make sure we all start "fresh" I am asking everyone to resubmit their applications for GameMaster. Repeat (and I apologise for shouting!): IF YOU HAVE ALREADY APPLIED FOR AN AGM POSITION AND WOULD STILL LIKE TO BE CONSIDERED, PLEASE RESUBMIT YOUR APPLICATION ONCE YOU HAVE DETERMINED WHAT POSITION(S) BELOW YOU ARE INTERESTED IN. I am sorry if that's a massive pain in the bum, but I want to be sure that no one who's applied before slips through the cracks and that we have the most up-to-date application and information (particularly after you read through the rest of this post).

Right now, we're hiring for positions on the Weddings, Liaisons, Events, and Shift teams. Some particular needs at the moment include Barbarian, Moon Mage, and Trader liaisons, Weddings GMs, Events GMs, and Shift GMs.

What follows are descriptions of the positions we are hoping to fill:

WEDDINGS AGM:
As you can imagine, a position like this requires: Diplomacy, diplomacy, diplomacy! If you've got it, and if you can write and edit like a demon, and if you're interested in helping dreams come true (no matter how ugly you think they are), come on down! Weddings GMs are extremely visible and as such need to have tact, patience, and a lot of creativity.

LIAISON AGM: Barbarian, Moon Mage, and Trader
The responsibilities of a Guild Liaison revolve around direct customer interaction. This comes in many guises; as a Liaison you must be able to parlay well on the boards, meet with players in person, provide Guild-centric events and represent your Guild in relation to large scale events and other interactions. You are also responsible for helping the Guild Team with its development by providing valuable input and feedback on planned changes or fixes, not only from the player perspective but from your own as well.

SHIFTS AGM:
Love customer service? Enjoy solving challenging problems and issues? Get a thrill from working with others in a fast-paced troubleshooting atmosphere? Then the Shifts team is for you! As a Shifts AGM your primary focus will be on the shifts queue and making sure that the needs of the game and its customers are being met. This position requires a huge dose of patience, calm, and excellent communication skills. A sense of humour can't hurt either!

EVENTS AGM:
If bringing the world of Elanthia to life through exciting plots and amazing characters is your cup of tea then the Events Team is what you're looking for! Not only will you work closely with your Events colleagues on elaborate storylines, but you will also provide small-scale entertainment in the form of one-on-one events. This is definitely a position for someone who loves to roleplay and loves to bring the world around us to life. Having a healthy love of wreaking havoc and terrifying the populace is preferred though not a prerequisite.

So, what are we looking for in you?

The ideal candidate will be dedicated, creative, have excellent communication skills, and be comfortable with customers. Previous experience with customer service would be a plus but is not required --we will teach you and mentor you through a rigorous and comprehensive training program. The ideal candidate will also be flexible and willing to work on a variety of projects, depending on the project load at any given time. Training and orientation is an ongoing and lengthy process; candidates should expect to be immersed in it for 4-6 months, and sometimes longer. AGMs in general must be able to focus and stay on task in a sometimes intense atmosphere under intermittent heavy pressure and deadlines.

We want people that are good team players and also have the capacity or interest in being leaders. We want people who are eager to learn. We want people with time.

AGMs are required to put in at least 20 hours per week, and can often expect to put in more than that. Candidly speaking, upon applying, you should be ready to all but give up playing your PCs. This is not a requirement, but a natural evolution in many cases.

Important note: Just because you may live outside of the United States, please don't let that stop you from considering applying. We definitely like to hear from anyone who is interested and qualified. If English is your second language, don't let that stop you either. We do ask you to be fluent in English, however, as the work will require a good handle of the language.

If you meet the foregoing requirements and remain interested in becoming an AGM, keep reading!

Go review POLICY (TAC) and TERMS OF SERVICE (TOS) at http://www.play.net/dr/gamepolicy.asp and http://www.play.net/dr/simupolicy.asp respectively.

When your eyeballs stop spinning, run (do not walk) over to http://www.play.net/dr/apply/gmreqs.asp and go thru the list of requirements and information. If you remain interested, proceed onward to the application using the link provided. Please do NOT bypass or skim the information and just skip ahead to the application; the information is compiled for you because it IS important. (Besides, there may be a quiz on it during your interview.)

With the number of applications we receive and the far fewer number of hours in a day, most applications will not receive a personal response. You SHOULD receive an auto-response to let you know your application has been received.

If you have any questions, please post them here on this board. I'll be watching closely in upcoming days to be sure I keep up with them! If your questions are of a personal nature, and you feel uncomfortable posting, you may write me directly at dr-helena@play.net. Please put PERSONAL followed by your character name in your message header so that it'll catch my attention. Be aware that personal correspondence may be shared with or answered by relevant GMs, particulary with the SGMs or with my team mate, GM Iocanthe. Please don't include any attachments, as the entire document will be deleted unread.

So what tips can we offer to help you fill out a successful application?

While there is no exact combination that will guarantee that your application will get you the job, we do have a few basic principles that are important as we look through each application. We know that AGM hiring can be a tedious and lengthy process so hopefully these tips will help alleviate some of your anxiety.

1. If you're applying for a specific position, please say so. If there are several areas you're interested in, list them. There's nothing more vexing than staring at an application and wondering to myself, "Okay, what do I DO with you?"

2. While there's not a specific spot on the application for it, it helps a great deal if you can tell us a bit about what you've been doing in-game in the "Additional Comments" section of the application. At the very least, tell us what guild and race you've been playing.

3. VERY IMPORTANT: Take some time to check your grammar and your spelling. Think of it this way: if your application is where you're hoping to make a good impression and it's riddled with errors, what makes us think you'd be meticulous once on staff? Your application is your resume--and a typo on a resume could lose you a chance at a job.

4. There are lots of spaces on the application for comments and explanations. Please use them! If I've never met you before, your application is your introduction. Let's get to know you a bit. Things we like to hear about are your professional skills (for example, if you have 10 years of experience in project management, we want to know!), your creative/technical talents. Anything that gives us a better idea of why we ought to give you a job (other than "I'm great and I deserve this!").

5. If you remain interested in an AGM position after you've applied and heard nothing back, submit an updated application every few months. While we do keep older applications on file, it's a pretty fair assumption that someone who's applied last week is still interested. It's harder to make that assumption with an older application. Updating also keeps your application at the top of the "pile".


So... still want to go through with it? If so, get busy and I look forward to hearing from you soon.

Sincerely,

GM Helena
DragonRealms Hiring and Training Team