How my Virtual Boy got me a better job

Wow, cool story. Never underestimate the power of the Virtual Boy =P

Similar story here, though it was 8 years ago. I had gotten a pretty good job straight out of college (same place I was working part-time during college), but we weren’t getting much interesting work, so it got a bit boring.

After a year or so, I decided to apply for jobs at three different companies, and got full day interviews at all three (basically a series of back to back 30 minute interviews with a different engineer… plus a “lunch” where they send you with a couple engineers that basically keep the interview going while you’re eating 😛 ). Some people like to grill you on stuff, but most are like regular engineers, which just want to talk engineering and get an idea of what you’ve done, what you know, etc.

So, anyway… whenever they’d ask what I’m working on, I’d always ask “At work, or at home?”, and go into what I did at work, but explain that the work isn’t very exciting… then start talking about all the reverse engineering, programming of games, reprogrammable cartridges, etc… and that was shortly after I had made my VB FPGA video adapter, so I walked quite a few of them through the development of that. One guy asked if I had any code samples, so I pulled up some of my homebrew VB code.

Oh, and when I wrote my resume, I originally wasn’t planning to put anything related to my hobbies on there, but a friend of mine convinced me to, and after having been through the process, I’d highly recommend it. The resume gets you in the door, and that gives the interviewer something else to ask about (rather than coming up with generic questions to ask).

Anyway, I ended up getting offers from all 3 companies, and when I was on the fence about two of them, the one place (who I work for) upped their offer to make my decision easier. 🙂

Since I’ve been there, I’ve interviewed some people as well… I always ask about hobbies, hoping to hear stories like mine… but unfortunately, I haven’t come across anyone like that yet (most “cool” projects have been robotics that they did in college). Though if they’re into video games, my favorite interview question is “how do you beat Ganon in Legend of Zelda?” 😉

So, anyway… I definitely think the VB helped me get the job by giving me more experience in engineering related stuff, setting me apart from others (as someone who’s really “into it”), and helping me stay relaxed and interview well, since it’s something I’m so comfortable talking in depth about.

DogP

Sadly I can’t use VB knowledge at my job directly, but the attention to detail and systems thinking associated with fixing bad units helps keep my brain sharp.

On the other hand, 2.5 years ago I was starting to get back into my old systems for fun. When the Virtual Boys all had weird flickering displays, I looked to Google and found this site. First, that brought back memories of 2002 when I would frequent this site and that other one run by some guy named Ferry I think? I was amazed how much had been uncovered in a decade.

Then I read the solder fix tutorials and said “I’ve never soldered before, but screw it!”. Eventually I got the technique down and fixed all the systems I had. Later I was eyeing my top loader NES and said “I should do that composite video mod!”. Eventually I got back into my old hobby of taking electronics apart and seeing what I could upgrade without destroying anything.

Now I do this stuff all the time, mostly on a small scale for myself or local game stores with big supplies of busted consoles. But, it’s funny to think that I’d completely forgotten how much I loved to tinker with electronics as a kid…and really only got back into it because of the VB’s display issues. I’m glad too because when I’m in a groove I can fix enough displays or do general console work at a level that sustains my gaming habit 🙂

There’s some extra appeal in having an unofficial “per diem” job like this!

Hey!

I read the stories and like it very much! Congratulations for the jobs & VBs knowlodge!

I’ve gotten my last two jobs like this. One I worked for 7 years and the second one I’m still at for almost 10 years now. It shows passion outside of work. You can also talk in depth about it. Most job interviews are so boring that it at least changes things up and shows you have a drive beyond just collecting a check.