Industry Work Experience while in Secondary Education?

Principe Daemoniorum

My school has a mandatory work experience scheme for the first year of 6th form.
I am studying A Level Maths, History, Graphics Design and Art in 6th form, and I want to eventually work on 2d art in the entertainment industry. I feel that a placement in a professional studio would help teach me a lot about the inner working of the industry.

I have been contacting several game studios in the local area and those who have replied do not offer work experience. However they did recommend that I contact a couple of recruitment agencies, but I am currently awaiting a reply from them.

Currently, I feel as if I am driving into a brick wall, so I have a few questions that I would like to ask:

• Has anyone done work experience while in 6th form?
• Is there anything else I could do to further my chances at finding a placement?
• What sort of opportunities should I look out for and who could help me?
• What are some good alternatives that would help further my learning of art and design for productions?

Principe Daemoniorum

I've contacted a recruitment agency, however they don't offer work experience.

Glad to hear you are interested in getting into the games industry. However I’m afraid we will not be able to help you find work experience. Our clients are paying for our service and so require we only put forward candidates with games industry experience.

.nL

Breaking into the games industry is a bit of a chicken-and-the-egg problem. You can't get work without experience. You can't get experience without work.

The best I can suggest is that you build up a portfolio of small projects in something like UE4 or Unity, then re-approach the local studios with it so that they can see your potential. Also, go for the studios that look to be in poor health, they'll spring at the opportunity to have free intern labor if they think you're vaguely competent.

It won't be the most glorious thing ever, and it probably won't last long at all, but it'll be a start.

Principe Daemoniorum

I'm finally making progress. http://www.gamesindustry.biz/ seem to be able to help me.

I asked them what sort of things I should do to build up a solid portfolio,
I'm relaying this to help the younger users of the forum such as myself.

If there are any creative digital projects at your college, why not latch on to these and offer your design skills? Any evidence of contributing to a creative project in this capacity is good fuel for your portfolio and shows initiative. Developing rich media or unique design content for your college’s marketing dept., magazine, student events team etc. can also bolster your CV, sometimes it’s about being proactive and aware of where your skills can have beneficial impact.

Add3r

A good portion of the time, a junior to mid level artist position at a studio will say 1-2+ years of experience in the required column on the job description. In my opinion, this is more often than not more fitting to be in the recommended column. A studio will absolutely consider an artist with a great portfolio, even though they might have a weak resume of industry experience. It happens all the time.

As said in many many other thread here on the forums, get involved with mod and indie teams that are just looking for help. It will help you grow, will help gain actual production experience (making art for a portfolio and making art for a game are DRASTICALLY different in terms of budgets in all aspects), and sometimes helps pad the resume a little bit. Better than having nothing. If you find a great team to work with, with the power of indie development these days, you can go a long way with a self funded, small project. Maybe even get some internet recognition which would quickly jumpstart your career in the industry.

Goodluck. Plenty of resources around Polycount that can help you break in. Dont let school get in your way, your career/portfolio have to come first. I am just going to be super blunt, an honors award for high GPA will most likely not help you get a job at all. Your art quality will.