Studios' mindset when hiring overseas: Portfolio or Network?
Hi!
I was wondering here what is the most important aspect an international student should focus on when aiming towards working at NA (US/CA) studios, keeping in mind the need for sponsorship, as opposed to regular hiring.
Should one focus above all on portfolio or half in networking?
Cause here I am analyzing some careers paths and some lead with no doubt to a better portfolio, while others would allow me to meet/get to know/be recommended to local people/studios, which would probably increase my chances.
What do you think?
I was wondering here what is the most important aspect an international student should focus on when aiming towards working at NA (US/CA) studios, keeping in mind the need for sponsorship, as opposed to regular hiring.
Should one focus above all on portfolio or half in networking?
Cause here I am analyzing some careers paths and some lead with no doubt to a better portfolio, while others would allow me to meet/get to know/be recommended to local people/studios, which would probably increase my chances.
What do you think?
Replies
If you are attending a school in the USA, I would suggest you be very proactive in applying for positions and doing tests because you have a year in which you would be on OPT and work without needing sponsorship for h1b visas and all of that stuff. So ideally you want things lined up before that period even starts, ie: you can't work a 1 year contract if you only have 8 months to work.
If you are attending some sort of school outside of the USA, your work has to be top notch to get sponsored for an h1b visa without much studio experience.
Thanks guys!
Awesome piece of info man. I didn't know that.
Had been focusing mainly on Canada and they have a similar approach. The advantage is I can work for the same amount of time I studied, as opposed to strictly 1 year, and there's not a "middle status" between student and regular worker, like this OPT. The bad side is that many of the schools I was thinking of going to are not eligible for that type of permit. So I would end up having to be sponsored anyways.
Your advice then is to manage to get an internship or something right after I finish school, so I can take advantage of the full 12 months?
And from what I understood, there's no such thing as contracts less than 1 year?
In the USA you get at least 12 months of OPT (Optional Practical Training) after each level of degree. So you could do an associates degree get a year to work, then do bachelors get another year and so on. There are contracts of all shapes and sizes but if you have eaten up a bunch of your OPT looking for a job, a studio might be less willing to take you in and spend time training you, if you can only be there a few months.
Also depending on the classification of degree you do, you could be eligible for a STEM (Science Technology Engineering & Mathematics) extension which is 17 extra months. As the name suggests it would be a more technical sort of degree, but they're out there.
In any case some programs will let internships count for a final semester, so start working on your portfolio as early as possible. Go beyond what is required of you for class, because in a lot of art schools it isn't much. So that before you are done with school you have a decent portfolio which you can apply to different places with.
The advice I'm giving you now, I wish I had known about or followed because I didn't have a solid portfolio when I graduated and wasn't proactive, which landed me back in my home country working a normal job for the time being.
Wow sorry to hear that man. So you studied in the US for 4 years and really had to go back? Are you considering trying again or you forgot about it?
Damn, I didn't realize there was 2 obstacles, Studio + bureaucracy.
Do you happen to know exactly what are these minimum requirements? So I get at least an idea whether or not I'll have a shot? I have no experience but have a degree in a completely different area.
Well, my first degree didn't really have anything to do with games, but my Masters was 1 year 4 months.
Life for me in my home country is pretty nice, most of my friends are here and I work in my family business, home country also = Caribbean island, so I'm not in a huge rush to leave it behind.
I keep up to date on workflows and try to work on my portfolio or any contests etc... when I get the chance.
of course there is some case if you got some quite major publication to prove that you are exceptional , you will be able to pass bureaucracy
I still prefer long term solution though ... more globalized place of choice to work. rather than keeping the same idea that everyone have to go to California
Yes, absolutely! Anywhere in US,CA,EU,NZ,AU would be just fine for me! haha
Taking for instance one of my choices in the US. Gnomon. Would it be worth going to Gnomon even though the chances of getting hired in the US are so low? Not sure if it's worth spending 3 years in California to then apply for jobs in Canada as a fresh graduate.
In that case, shouldn't I try to attend a Canadian schools right away, even though my portfolio will be weaker?
i'd also argue that knowing these people means you have a much better ground to stand on come salary negotiations.
lastly, they might just come to you, looking to hire you, not the other way around if they know you, how's that for an advantage?
Well I don't know where you live right now but it depends between what regions you go. The general rule would be that studios don't hire a junior with no experience from outside of their region. Like if you're a junior in Europe, then no company in the US will be able/want to hire you. Same other way around; no European company will hire a junior from the US.
Why would they also? In Europe there's less bureaucracy overall, but the moving and relocation costs are just too much for just a junior. You also just shouldn't consider moving without any relocation assistance.
All the Americans at work I think either had prior experience and were in Europe already, or they worked for EA and followed an internal transfer to Europe.
And to be able to go to America from anywhere but Canada I think you need 12 years of experience, where every year you studied for a degree counts as 3. So a 3 year bachelor requires 3 additional years of work experience, and then you've only met the minimum. Ravenslayer met and exceeded that, Blizzard wanted him over and it still took him a year or so of hard work to be able to get a visum. Should give you an idea, that a case with one of the biggest companies, with an applicant exceeding requirements, having a proven portfolio and all, still has quite some trouble to be allowed to come over...
add a line: Eligible to work in: XX, YY, ZZ
From your mailing address on your resume they should see where you're based.
You may, or may not want to put this on a public resume though. In some cases it could turn prospective employers away from even approaching you, thus robbing you of the chance to convince them that despite the location you're still worth their time (because there's always exceptions for good people
Say, you're not by chance good with Unreal? We're looking for someone in Shanghai... just hard to find people here
Yes that sort of makes sense. However, I hear and read so many stories of international students attending schools and later landing a job in the same city/country.
So I think there's probably a difference between actually hiring a random graduate living overseas than a local graduate, that's already living in the area, graduated from a local school and have a stellar portfolio, right?
or they have a cap on the budget and you pay the rest yourself. tip: collecting antique furniture is not a good hobby for a 3d artist
But moving costs aren't the biggest show stopper. Usually hiring follows more immediate needs. i.e. we need animators/modelers/TAs NOW/soon! If you have to wait 6 months or longer for a visa app to go through you better have a good idea what your long term studio and production requirements will be.
I have no idea how e.g. US studios manage to hire foreigners, other than for strategic needs. i.e. the skillset of that guy may be useful some time in the future, so let's hire him?
Can't say i've heard 'many' stories like that, but yes it does really increase your chances. Not sure if it's enough to really count on that happening. In the US maybe not so much; if you have to leave the country in a month they probably won't bother helping a junior out with a new visa.