Interview — Women in Tech
Here’s an article written following an interview with Aya Mouawad, Playabe ads artist at Voodoo
She discusses why she chose to work at Voodoo and her vision about women in tech
Before you came to Voodoo, what was your background?
I have quite an unconventional background! I’m originally from Lebanon and completed a bachelor’s degree in cinematography there. After graduating, I naturally started making films and documentaries. I then started working in TV, but at this point, I’d already realised that my real passion was video games. I played a lot of different games at home, and was constantly keeping up to date with the latest releases and platforms. I decided that I really wanted to pursue a career in the video game industry, and more specifically, in game art. There weren’t so many opportunities for this in Lebanon, so that’s when I moved to Paris, and completed a new bachelor’s degree followed by a masters. In terms of joining Voodoo, I was head-hunted by my current manager, and this became my first job in France after graduating!
Why Voodoo?
Honestly, I didn’t need much convincing! I was already a huge fan of Voodoo games, I’d even spent quite a lot of time playing Helix Jump! My first interview with my manager started with us comparing our scores on Helix Jump and Snake vs Block.
I did, of course, do some background research on the company and culture. I got to meet several people within the company during the recruitment process. Each meeting had a really great atmosphere, so I was immediately drawn in. The process itself was super pleasant, and very smooth. I almost felt like part of the company already, everyone made me feel so comfortable. I had several other interviews with other companies, but none caught my interest in the same way that Voodoo did.
What makes you get up in the morning?
The smell of French croissants and challenges! One thing I really love about working here is that you wake up with a lot of challenges to face. Everything moves at a super fast pace and you’re constantly learning new things and challenging yourself. It’s a dynamic and exciting environment.
What was your integration like?
I joined the company during the first lockdown, which I thought would be really difficult! In reality, that wasn’t the case. Even meeting new colleagues from behind a screen was smooth thanks to the fact that my team was very helpful and 100% available from day one. My role was actually a brand new one for the company, and it was quite experimental, but I sat down with my manager very early on and we set clear goals and shared best practices together. This meant that despite it being super new for everyone, we were all on the same page, and this set me up to succeed.
What three words would you use to describe your role?
Collaborate: I work closely with my teammates and with external studios to create playable ads.
Create: My role is to design playables and make them as attractive as possible for the user.
Deliver: We’re working in a super fast-paced environment and we need to deliver content and projects to support the business and stay ahead of the competition every day!
What’s a typical day or week like at Voodoo?
Honestly, every day is different. We juggle between new games, new challenges, and new problems that we have to solve! At the same time, my team is always looking for new formats, jokes, and videos to expand our playables. It’s juggling between all of these things that makes this job so unique!
We have a weekly team meeting to distribute the games we’re currently working on between us. We also have individual daily catch-up calls to brainstorm ideas and talk about specific playables. We create playables for every A/B test that we do, which amounts to quite a big workload!
What’s the most exciting thing about your job?
I’d say probably when I receive a call from my little sister and brother to tell me that they’ve downloaded the latest Voodoo game and loved it! Voodoo really does entertain the world, and it’s super satisfying to be part of that mission.
What challenges do you face in this role?
I think the biggest challenge would be innovating on such a regular basis. I play a lot of games on a regular basis to find new ideas and inspiration, but only ones that generate ads! This allows me to compare what the rest of the market is doing. It may be challenging to innovate but at the same time, there’s a really healthy approach to challenges at Voodoo. Every challenge you take up is valued very highly, and this is a big source of motivation for a lot of people.
What is the impact of your role at Voodoo?
I think the Marketing team in general has a huge impact on the company, because we’re ultimately the ones that attract users to our portfolio of games. Our role is to make people from around the world want to play our games, even before downloading it on their phone.
What do you consider to be the essential qualities that a candidate for this role must possess (technical and soft skills)? Do you have any advice for them?
Rather than talking about technical skills here, I’d like to bring up feedback. Knowing how to give and receive feedback is a skill that you really need to succeed in this role. You need it to be part of any team in Voodoo actually, it’s a strong part of the way we work.
If I had to give specific advice to a candidate, I’d say: play games with ads that you find interesting. Notice them, pick them apart, and study them in detail. It’s all about finding what exactly is appealing to the user within the ads, which can be very specific.
What value speaks most about your time at Voodoo?
The value that stands out immediately would be Helpfulness. I believe that each of our values comes down to this one. When you are helpful, when others are helpful to you, you know how to embody all of the others: excellence, uniqueness, deliver, and so on.
If you could change positions with someone at Voodoo, which one would it be and why?
Given my interest and background in art, I’d probably say a game artist in our Paris studio. To be part of the process of creating and working on the game itself rather than the ad, creating visuals from A-Z, rather than just finding ways to use the visuals already in place. Yeah, that would definitely be cool!
How do you feel about being a woman in the tech industry
I think that being a minority in the gaming industry has turned out to be one of my strengths. As a woman from the arab world, I’ve worked hard to be where I am today.
..and at Voodoo?
Voodoo knows that with diversity, comes success. They’ve believed in me and given me responsibility since day one. I’ve met people from all around the world in our Paris office. Each person comes from a different background and has a different story, but we all share the same vision; to entertain the world.
What would you say to women candidates that hesitate to come to Voodoo?
When I joined Voodoo, I almost felt as though I was part of an Erasmus program! I was suddenly meeting people from all over the world, it felt like a huge, welcoming, melting pot! My advice would be not to overthink anything, seize a great job opportunity, and join us! For me, working at Voodoo is an experience that you don’t want to miss out on in your career. I’m really happy and grateful to be working here, and you could be next!
https://www.voodoo.io/careers/jobs
