ESRB Looking for Full-Time Raters

The ESRB is hiring full-time game raters.

An advertisement on GamerDad from the Entertainment Software Rating Board (ESRB) is soliciting full-time game raters to work for the non-profit organization. Job requirements include experience with children, familiarity with games and clear communication skills. Candidates will be required to move to New York City and earn a salary relative to their experience with the industry. These new job listings come on the heels of various state legislatures reenacting laws limiting the sale and ratings of game software, forcing the ESRB to review games more thoroughly.

Patricia Vance, President of the ESRB, released a statement concerning the hiring of full-time game reviewers: "After months of careful consideration, the ESRB will be switching from part-time to full-time raters in April 2007. Having full-time raters will allow for each one to have greater experience actually reviewing content and recommending ratings, given the increased amount of time each one would spend doing it. This would provide each rater with a greater sense of historical parity for ratings, not to mention helping them to be more attuned to pertinent content and how it should be considered from a ratings standpoint. The full-time raters would also be responsible for play-testing final versions of the game, time permitting, which would allow for ESRB to play-test a greater number of games than it currently does. We'll have more information available about these changes at a later date."