Cynthia John – Womenize! – Inspiring Stories
Womenize! – Inspiring Stories is our weekly series featuring inspirational women from games and tech. For this edition we talked to Cynthia John, Senior Talent Acquisition Manager at Bytro. She speaks about the importance of networking and how Covid-19 influenced hiring. Read more about Cynthia in this interview:
Hi Cynthia! Switching industries is often a difficult choice for many. How did you know that games is the right career path for you?
Yes, switching industries can be difficult and you always need to adjust and adapt. But it is honestly so much easier if you love the industry you are switching to. I used to play games a lot when I was younger and still enjoy gaming whenever I have some spare time. (Mainly retro games though. I’m old school that way.)
So, when I started working in the games industry six years ago, I immediately fell in love with it and the people. I love how passionate everyone is and that they are genuinely having fun working on games. I have worked in other industries, such as renewable energies, which is great and has a real purpose but joining Bytro and moving back into games just felt like coming home. I immediately knew: yap, that was the right move and that’s where you belong.
Do you have advice for anyone who’d like to move to London to pursue a career in gaming?
If you’re looking to get into the games industry and want to start it in London that’s the best starting point if you ask me. The industry there is huge and everyone is so welcoming and open towards newbies. They have included me quickly and I felt like I’ve always been a part of it.
One advice I would give is: get yourself out there! London and the surroundings offer a lot of cool events where you can connect with other professionals from the industry. The better connected you are, the better your chances to find a position. Also, you will make true friends along the way. I have met many people while living in London and am blessed to call some of them my close friends!
And if you’re not a social butterfly and don’t know how to approach people: Do not worry, we are all here because we love games, that’s a perfect common ground to start a conversation easily or to get to know each other while playing games together at the many events.
Are there major changes you observed on the hiring market between pre- and post-pandemic?
Yes and no to be honest. I was afraid that people might be a bit hesitant towards switching positions or might worry about the stability of a company during and after the pandemic but none of that has happened, or at least that wasn’t the feedback from candidates I spoke to for the open positions at Bytro. However, I feel like people are now more open towards remote work, enjoy having the best of both (an office space and being able to work from home) and are more flexible when it comes to relocation.
This means of course the hiring and what is offered to the candidates needs to be changed. It’s always important to listen to someone’s needs and as a company we want our employees to be happy. Bytro has for example adapted very quickly to it and while we offer our employees the flexibility to work from home, we still bring everyone together to connect, exchange ideas, network and have fun once every quarter during our office weeks. In addition, we have implemented team days where every team member who works in or close to Hamburg comes to the office to enjoy teamwork in person. I love our people first approach and that we listen to their needs. We’ve always done that but it is so much more important now than it was before – at least in my opinion.