Art test question

fandiwhuang

so i applied to this studio and they asked me to do this art test ... then i replied their email asking few question regarding this art test .... long story short its been 3 days and they haven't replied my email...i haven't even had a chance to tell them that i agree to do this art test...

im sorry im so confused , i've never had any art test before

what should i do ??
should i just do the art test without any confirmation ???

sltrOlsson

Could you start the project (or at least start to plan it) without the answers to those questions? Did they say you couldn't?

My general tip is be proactive. If the employer sees that you step out of your way to create it, it shines brighter. For example; after my first interview with Avalanche I memorized some concepts from what they showed me and recreated a super small diorama in the same style. They had problems with getting rocks to look right at the time so I did my take on it. Walking in with that to a second interview made it very easy. So stay on your feet, try to see what things you can do that may not be expected of you in the first place.

Good luck! And yes, send them an email after five days or something. Don't ask why it's taking so long. Just check in and tell them you've started working on the test so they know they can expect to see something from you in the near future..

fandiwhuang

yes i can in fact im doing it right now

but have no response at all got me worried little bit

as i said before, this is my very 1st time so yeah im confused ...

iconoplast

There can be a lot of different reasons for a lack of response. Whoever you were corresponding with might have gone on vacation, or the mail server got a little overzealous on flagging things as spam and no one's checked on the spam folders recently... I wouldn't worry too much.

PyrZern

Sometimes if you Google the art test or the concept art, you might see other people who have faced similar issues and their solutions.

rogelio

also sometimes not getting an answer at all is part of the test to see how you resolve the issue. Good luck

fandiwhuang

ok guys thx for the input

i just submitted 1 of the tests yesterday so only 2 left and i still got 2 weeks now .
still no response ... not even something that indicate that they've received my email .

should i continue ?? i start thinking that i might be in the spam folder

Spoon

rogelio wrote: »

also sometimes not getting an answer at all is part of the test to see how you resolve the issue. Good luck

I cant tell if you are joking..?

glottis8

I dunn think he is joking. Having limited information will gauge how you tackle and solve certain challenges in the art test. For example you have to do research on the type of games the studio works and where the detail should be added. Just gets them to see your critical thinking and solution on the fly.

RogelioD

It's unprofessional to just ignore someone I think. I question a studio's ability to properly communicate if they can't field a few simple questions when you are taking time out of your day to do a task for them; even if it's for your own benefit. If they wanted to restrict information for the purpose of a challenge they can at least TELL you.

Or mavbe I'm just bitter. I recently got ignored AFTER I did an art test and took two days off of work just to complete it. I thought I did fantastic but they just never got back to me no matter how many times I tried to follow up.

I wound up getting a gig a few days later, and in retrospect I'm glad I don't work for the people who ignored me. They're just a bunch of pompous rockstars anyway *cough*

Anyways. I'll shut up now. Just do the best you possibly can and hope for the best

fandiwhuang

well .. i was just asking for confirmation whether they've received my email or not...
i know HR are busy but geez its depressing...

glottis8

oh.. that.. i do agree. If you put the time and effort to make an art test. Specially long ones i think they should ALWAYS have the courtesy to reply with confirmation of received the art test, and a follow up at some point.

Not hearing from them after all that works is always annoying. But i can understand them being busy.

JacqueChoi

Huge red flag IMHO.

Mark Dygert

Chances are whoever you where in contact with, doesn't know enough about the art tests to answer your questions. Even for us (a very small studio) our HR person handles the bulk of the correspondence up until phone interviews. They sift through the pile find candidates that meet certain criteria, pass those along to our AD and leads who distill them down and tell HR which ones move on and what to do next.

A lack of information might be (like other suggested) a way to test people and see how well they function autonomously, but more than likely it's just a huge red flag.

They might have you going through the motions, but they are swamped with candidates and only communicating with the ones at the top of their list. OR they could have others go through the motions in case their top choices fall through. Which is kind of a dick move but not as dickish as some places that just throw art tests at everyone that applies, classic HR robot mentality.

It smells a little unprofessional so even if you do land an interview ask a lot of questions and be prepared to bolt for the door.

fandiwhuang

so ... is it better to just give up the test ?

Rory_M

its your call really. I didn't get a response to my question on an art test once but I still did the best I could on it and submitted. Turns out the recruiter had gone on vacation after they sent me the test which is perfectly fine, they have lives too. It just could be any number of reasons why you don't get a response.

I feel like if you have already emailed your question, then they have a record of why your art test it is the way it is. Is it a well known company that you've applied to? Best of Luck.

Justin Meisse

It could be because E3 is happening this month

fandiwhuang

Rory_M wrote: »

its your call really. I didn't get a response to my question on an art test once but I still did the best I could on it and submitted. Turns out the recruiter had gone on vacation after they sent me the test which is perfectly fine, they have lives too. It just could be any number of reasons why you don't get a response.

I feel like if you have already emailed your question, then they have a record of why your art test it is the way it is. Is it a well known company that you've applied to? Best of Luck.

i dont think so ,i just discovered this company around a week ago from google , i think they are mobile games studio..

aajohnny

"i haven't even had a chance to tell them that i agree to do this art test..."

Honestly if you apply for the job you pretty much agreed already IMO, it's kind of expected.

I'd just do the test as best as you could and move on. Good luck dude!

rogelio

Oh yeah in that case that is pretty bad smells of stink. Though I have seen some art tests were they just reply saying for you to figure it out or no reply at all in till you finish it.

Also some studios you do not get critiques every day so a lot of it is based on your artistic choices and instincts. So yes critical thinking, research, and pure artistic instinct. Also working under odd pressures. Honestly the test is not even the hardest bit sometimes. For example once your done with the test and you rocked it you can be asked to change something even though you rocked it... you would be surprised how many people say "no" to changing something that would only take maybe 2 extra hours... That is almost an instant fail.

So sometimes art tests is not the only thing being tested btw, consider this when your talking to people who will end up being your leads if accepted.

Also never be rude back to a rude person best thing to do is do the art test and show it. That makes you a finisher. Good luck

MikeF

When i was first trying to break in to the industry i was in the same situation. Several times i took time off my crappy 9-5 (which barely paid the bills with full time hours) to finish the test only to never receive a reply, not even a confirmation of having received the tests.

Followup emails also went unanswered and for this reason i no longer do art tests, its essentially spec work and that shit blows. Since then i've had no problem finding work based solely on my portfolio, i know this isn't usually the case but it's worked out for me fortunately.


edit: also i recall talking with someone who worked at a studio i had applied to and had this happen, he told me that the hr department was being restructured at that time so for about a 3 week window there was no one replying to emails and i got shafted that way

vargatom

Being a supe or lead can be taxing and it usually is. I just can't take enough time off during work hours to type responses, so I tend to do that once all the others have left the office. Sometimes I'm too tired or busy with other stuff to respond on the same day.

It's also true that everyone tends to focus on the promising people that they'd want to hire. Applicants down the list will get delayed responses because it's more of a courtesy thing and not about filling the open position as soon as possible.


On the other hand, HR should be able to respond, after all it's the main objective for those people. It's also like 30 seconds to message or tell the HR person to send this or that response, no lead can be too busy to do that.

Vacation is no excuse either, any professional should then just set an auto reply stating how long they're gone; but most studios should also have other people looking at the mailbox (especially for HR) while the person responsible is out of office.


Also, personally I only have someone do a test if their portfolio isn't definitive enough. If it's not good enough we'll look for another applicant - if it's good enough we'll give him a 3-month trial period. Most guys make it and get a contract, but we did have to let a few people go as well.

For example, we had a guy with some pretty looking images but during the interview it turned out that he didn't do any texturing at all - he just rendered out geometry with lighting and painted it over in Photoshop. He seemed to have a good eye and taste - but we wanted to know if he could do it on an unwrapped object as well, as we have no use for 2D painters in a model/texture artist position. BTW he did pass the test (with a feedback round) and we're going to hire the guy.

But in another case the guy listed art school studies and such, and talked a lot about how he impressed his sculptor teachers, but had nothing to show about anatomy sculpting - so he also got a test. The work turned out to be miserable and he didn't even get to the trial months. In fact I was wondering why he didn't get dropped out, his stuff was so bad...

vargatom

Oh, and my point is, the only explanation for no response is that they probably don't care.
If I want to get someone on my team, I'll work for it - I have deadlines and deliveries to meet, I can't afford to delay the process for even a few days, not to mention weeks or months.

fandiwhuang

i decided not to continue the art test.

luckily got another art test from other company
they called by phone and answered my question as well when asked which is a good sign

i handed in the test already andddd... no response not even "you suck we dont want you" answer :lol

mann... i guess this no response thingy kinda popular in the studio
well , i learned my lesson and thx everyone for the input

Spoon

Thanks for sharing your experiences, Tamas

I think it is super rude when studios ask for art tests, and dont even spend 1 minute telling you that the quality just isnt what they need, or whatever.

Good luck, fandi. I hope you find something soon.