beets ah, so that’s where that comes from! I bet it makes sense with a large company with a hiring manager but when it’s an indie company of 6 people you are basically asking the director (or whomever) of the company to explain the listing to you before you decide if you want to apply… It definitely has the opposite of the desired effect. For a small company hiring takes time away from doing work, and the easier a person makes that for you, the better. Literally every minute I spend on this is time I’m not able to work on the game. In larger companies it is someone’s job to do this so it kind of makes sense to ask questions, maybe. But if I’m looking for a producer (as I am now) and somebody tells me everything I need to know about them and why they’re a good candidate, that’s kind of what I want a producer to actually do. When somebody is taking more time rather than saving me time, it gives me questions about what they’re going to be like to work with. Know what I mean?
I think the shorthand would be, if you’re applying to a big company and you know you’re talking to a hiring manager or staffing agent, chit chat with them could help you improve your resume and tailor it to what the people want. If you’re applying to a small company, it’s the people making the game that have to look at and answer all questions and emails and all that. If you ask somebody like that a bunch of questions they’re probably gonna get sour, and it’s going to indicate you don’t know what the job is or aren’t ready for it.
I hope that’s not too harsh sounding! That’s just how it is for me and folks I know.