Cold Calling
When working at a video game company, we had three trespassing incidents in just one summer. All three times, it was students from a nearby art school. And all three times, they snuck into the building to cold-crash the art director into a job interview. The first time, we just figured it was some young student oblivious to the multiple levels of security and protections around our IP.
He blended in with a bunch of company employees out in front during their break. When they started heading back in, he walked in with them. Once inside, this guy just started wandering the halls looking for an office with an “art director” plaque on it. This kid was let off with one heck of a stern warning, but nothing beyond that.
Very detailed emails went out to all employees to keep our eyes out for unfamiliar faces without badges, and to keep our own employee badges visible. A week later, it happened again. A student from the same campus walked in through the side door with a group, but they figured something was up. When they asked about his ID, he lied about having a job interview with the art director.
They tell him to stay put in the hall, but he doesn’t. He follows them anyway, right into the art director’s office. In the two seconds it takes the director to call security, this dope is already going 100 into his “tell you what, am I the artist for you!” pitch. He is told to never apply for our company, and his name gets shared with all associated dev studios under the publisher’s umbrella.
Again, emails go out, security is tightened, and side doors are now exit only. A month later, it happens again. We don’t even know the details. The company email didn’t specify how yet another random student from this art school managed to actually locate and sit himself down in our art director’s office. Even worse, this student entered his office while the art director was out at a meeting.
He just arrived, took a seat, and waited. When the art director returns to his sanctimonious keep, he is startled by an excited “Hello future employer!” Just…What the heck? At this point, the authorities are called. We have had enough of this, and a message needs to be sent. Stop trespassing into our offices, you idiots. The student is escorted out, and is met by two officers at the front door to take a report for yet another case of trespassing.
But as this student is getting questioned and processed, we discover what is happening. It all makes sense. We now know why it is this one particular art school. There was a teacher at that campus that was encouraging students to sneak in and force directors and managers into cold interviews. He explained to them how easy it is to just follow a group of employees in during their break, to just meander the halls aimlessly as long as you “look like you belong.”
He was giving them strategies and techniques to blend in, not raise suspicions, and locate who would be best for an interview. As you could imagine, he was probably teaching “They’ll be impressed by your initiative. They’ll know how much you want the job if you do that.” I mean, wouldn’t be that far-fetched? I personally have had college teachers (also with backgrounds in art and media) encourage the same thing.
It’s funny, because they always sign off with the same assurance: “Besides, the worst thing they can do is say ‘no’.” Surprise. The worst thing they can do is a misdemeanor trespassing charge and a hefty citation, as well as blacklist you permanently in the industry as a security liability. It’s so unfortunate that these students were the ones who were punished.
They’re just impressionable kids putting trust in a stupid art teacher. We don’t know why this teacher thought this was okay or what decade they think they’re living in, but it’s unnerving to think that kids are paying so much money to receive bad advice from some delusional lunatic with no idea how the real world works.
Their teacher should have been severely reprimanded for doing this to his students. However, after intercepting a fourth prospective infiltrator in the front walk before getting inside, it was pretty clear this teacher was still employed.