“The best way to communicate with a recruiter is not just pick up the phone and call them usually,” BJ Bigley explained while sitting on a panel at Casual Connect USA 2014. “The best way to get in touch with them is via email. Give them a chance to schedule a time with you that is mutually agreeable.”
BJ Bigley is the vice president for Prime Candidate, a game industry recruiting company. He has a variety of responsibilities in the company, including (among others) finding new business relationships, maintaining current business relationships, sourcing, and scheduling candidates and negotiating offers. He also recruits recruiters and trains them to become part of the team.
Awesome People
Bigley started in the games industry in 1999 as one of the original testers at Crave Entertainment. He has always loved games, being especially drawn to the “awesome stories and killer graphics.” After working at Crave, he became interested in game design and internal production roles and worked on several console games before transitioning to recruiting. He has been recruiting for the games industry now for the past 10 years and says, “The best part about the games industry is the awesome people I get to work with on a regular basis.”
He was asked to join Prime Candidate by the CEO, Pat Bigley, whom he had worked with when he was the youngest talent agent, at only 16 years old, to be licensed by the Screen Actors Guild. While working as a talent agent, he learned how to manage all types of talent.
Every time Bigley makes a placement and helps people succeed in their careers, he feels pride in his work. But his greatest satisfaction comes from teaching and mentoring others and helping them become successful. Currently, he personally trains all Prime Candidate’s recruiters.
Love Of The Industry
Bigley emphasizes, “I love this industry and the people in it. It allows us to be creative. It is corporate, yet still loose and not unionized.”
He notes that the current trend in games is mobile, wearable tech, and VR, so he expects the future to bring some sort of combination and breakthrough to take it to the next level. He stresses, “I watch trends, read a lot of articles, and talk to people. I ask a lot of questions. Things change; we change with them or we get left behind.”
In Bigley’s free time, his hobbies include motorcycles, working out, tattoos, and spending time with his family.
For his gaming, he is playing GTA and Infamous 2nd Son on PS4, and he enjoys playing shooters on PC. He plays a lot of social casino games, since this is currently his best market. His consoles consist of a PS4 and a Wii, and for mobile gaming, he strongly prefers Android.
At Casual Connect USA, Bigley announced that Prime Candidate has a new program called Prime Plus. This is a personalized, professional and proven service. Anyone interested in this service should contact him directly.
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