I’m sure we can all appreciate how hard job interviews can be, especially if you’ve invested a lot of emotional energy into imagining your shiny new potential work life. Well one Aussie game developer has a helluva yarn for you.
Boon Cotter is now working as a lighting artist for US studio Naughty Dog, and if you’re a gamer, you’ll know the company are a big bloody deal. They’re responsible for massive games like The Last of Us, the Uncharted series and everyone’s favourite, Crash Bandicoot.
Boon was just stoked on getting a chance to meet his idols, let alone considering the chance of being employed by them. I’ll let him tell the story in his own words. Check it out below.
https://twitter.com/booncotter/status/905131361383702529
I had just flown halfway around the world, my first time out of Australia, and it was to interview for a job I KNEW I wouldn’t get. 2/x
— Boon Cotter (@booncotter) September 5, 2017
It didn’t matter tho, I was so fucking beyond starstruck to be in LA at the Naughty Dog office. I was like a kid at Disneyland. 3/x
— Boon Cotter (@booncotter) September 5, 2017
I went in not overthinking anything, just determined to be myself and meet these fucken rad people I adored. 4/x
— Boon Cotter (@booncotter) September 5, 2017
During the interview, @bruce_straley walked in and I kinda pooped in my pants a little. He asked me some Q’s I had horrible A’s for. 5/x
— Boon Cotter (@booncotter) September 5, 2017
Bruce: So you were a lead artist on your last project? How many artists were there?
Me: Er… LOL… Just me.
(Everyone laughs) 6/x— Boon Cotter (@booncotter) September 5, 2017
Then he asks “Why do you want to work at Naughty Dog?”. I began to answer a true, but rote, response: You’re the best, blah blah. 7/x
— Boon Cotter (@booncotter) September 5, 2017
But then I stopped and said… “Ugh. No. It’s Bill (from TLoU).” and everyone looked at me with this kind of bemused curiosity. 8/x
— Boon Cotter (@booncotter) September 5, 2017
Bill is one of the main characters from The Last of Us.
I told them it was the first time I’d seen a gay man portrayed as this gruff, masculine, tragically heroic type of character. 9/x
— Boon Cotter (@booncotter) September 5, 2017
He wasn’t a punchline to a joke. He wasn’t overtly stereotypical. A lot of players didn’t even pick up that he was gay. 10/x
— Boon Cotter (@booncotter) September 5, 2017
I told them that I saw myself represented for the first time. A burly, hairy, daddy bear character, a guy I respected and understood. 11/x
— Boon Cotter (@booncotter) September 5, 2017
That made me fall in love with everyone here. And telling them that made me start crying. WHO THE FUCK CRIES IN A JOB INTERVIEW? 12/x
— Boon Cotter (@booncotter) September 5, 2017
Anyway, fast forward to 3 hours later and I was shitface drunk on margaritas and hired to work at my favorite game company on Earth. 13/x
— Boon Cotter (@booncotter) September 5, 2017
Moral to the story: Don’t underestimate authenticity. Be raw, be vulnerable, be real. That’s where your uniqueness shines. ❤️ 14/x
— Boon Cotter (@booncotter) September 5, 2017
Aw man, that fucking rules. Boon’s been working at Naughty Dog for about 3 years now and loves it so much he “can’t imagine ever wanting to leave,” he told Kotaku.
He’s received a flood of positive support since posting his story.
https://twitter.com/booncotter/status/905226098513854464
Good on ya, Boon, you bloody legend.
