Here is the second episode of the HR Faces series where we talk about people who work in our organization. In this article, we're going to talk about Oleksii "magician" Slabukhin, the Head of Marketing in HellRaisers.

A contest for the fans in the second episode of the series is as simple as it can be: you need to follow Oleksii on Instagram, and HellRaisers, then like this post and leave a comment, tagging a friend. The winner will get a M4A1-S | Icarus Fell. The results will be announced on 1 May.

— Hello, Oleksii! Tell our readers a little bit about yourself.

— Hi! So as not to torture you with a long story, here are three facts:

s1mple on tricks. I'm known as "magician" in certain circles; yeah, it was me who hookedon tricks. May the fans of HR forgive me, but I'm still Silver III in CS:GO. I won't buy a boost on principle . I'm the guy who does the giveaways on social media and sends you skins .

— How did you join HellRaisers?

— The story is pretty funny. I had just gotten a job with the Chamber of Commerce and Industry for a country that will remain nameless (it's confidential and all that), and suddenly my best friend offered me a job in esports, managing social media accounts. Considering my love for Dota 2, the answer was obvious.

— What are your responsibilities, and what's your usual working day like as the Head of Marketing in the esports organization?

— My task is to develop the marketing strategy of the organization, to work with the sponsors, etc. I don't want to burden you with all these terms, but I'll say one thing: it's never boring here, especially during tournaments. It's hard to say what my day is like, since it all depends. Everyone works when they want to. I believe that the most important thing is the result. And people who achieve results are the most important to me in the organization, so that's why I appreciate my team, teach them and put as much into helping them as I can.

— You work with the community, and it can be fun sometimes. Tell us one or a few funny stories, regarding the organization's fans that you've remembered.

— Honestly, it's so much fun. After every match, I go through our social media and read all the comments of the fans. I'm always interested in their opinions. As for the stories, it's hard to single out something, since there are many funny ones, especially in the fan chat on Telegram. It's like a big family there. It's especially cool to see that a couple of people have even found teammates there. These kinds of results motivate the best.

— Many big brands are becoming partners of esports organizations now. How do you estimate the current state of the field regarding this?

— I remember being shocked a year ago by Visa coming to esports, and then Audi. It was a pretty big jump. Many brands and sports clubs are now entering esports. One of the reasons, in the USA, for example, is a more loyal attitude towards brands and also a cheap contact with their target audience. You won't believe this, but it's cheaper to sponsor a team in America than buy ads on TV. Moreover, it's even more efficient this way.

— What problems are more relevant for the esports media in your opinion? And vice versa, on a pretty high level?

— There are no problems. There are just many missed and not-implemented opportunities. Most directions have been tested already. For example, types of content, media projects and other stuff have worked in the sports industry for a while now, and they're only coming to us now. The main reason in my opinion is the lack of room in a budget, which is a thing in the traditional sports, as well. Not everyone understands yet that esports is the future. However, there's an issue in that entering the space is becoming more and more expensive by the year.

— Do the players easily agree to different media activities? Tell us a little about difficulties in filming stuff that can be seen on the YouTube channel of HellRaisers.

— The players don't mind filming. The only difficulty I've faced is adding filming into the practice schedule. Sometimes media activities need to be shifted because of the tight schedule: the team might have six pracc days lasting from the morning to the evening, so you wouldn't want to burden them even more. The most difficult thing is to get everyone in one place at the same time. So, everything goes smoothly in general. Well, maybe not smoothly. It looks easy to me, though believe me, there's a very painstaking filming process there.

— Esports is a very interesting field at the moment, where there are not only professional players. You know the whole thing perfectly. Is it easy to become part of esports and find a job here?

— It's a very good question. I get all the emails with CV's, go through them and then make an appointment or call. In order to make the interview truly valueble, I give some advice on how to get into esports, based on my experience.

I consider people to be the most valuable factor of the job, so I do my best to create comfortable conditions for everyone. About 50% of vacancies in esports are in marketing and management. The main factors that I pay attention to are English skills, knowledge of esports and disciplines, and the most important is how much the person has worked before and what has achieved. This shows how fast he can learn things I'll give to him. If you send a CV, brief or other, make it as simple for reading as possible. After only 10 seconds of reading, I'll able to say if this person is right for the job or not. There are many websites with remote work in esports. Moreover, they are well-paid. All you need to do is google "esports jobs" and you'll find those. Do you need knowledge and skills? Yes. Hardly anyone is taking people with no job experience, though if you've got skills, your chances significantly increase. For example, if you want to work in the SMM division in our team, I'll surely ask if you can set and analyze ads. All of that can be found on Google. The most important is that you can always send me your CV at [email protected] and I'll contact you for sure. Our team is always happy to welcome more people.

— What hobbies do you have? What do you do in your free time?

— I've got two hobbies which are studying and traveling. If I've got some free time, I play a bit of Dota 2, only in support roles, though. I also like to speak with people and make new contacts to learn more about the world.

Blitz

— Working in esports is..?

— When you not only make money, but also rest.

— Favorite country?

— The USA for 100%, hands down. My favorite city is Vienna, though.

— A place that you've never been to, but really want to visit?

— Hogwarts.

— A quote for every situation?

— "Never be afraid to knock on doors. What's the worst that can happen if you just knock?"

— The most memorable match of HellRaisers?

— In CS:GO — against North at Bets.net Masters. In Dota 2 — a bo5 game versus Team Empire.

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