Living where the jobs are?

Bolovorix

Hey Polycount,

I'm curious if there are any advantages to living in a city with a large amount of game companies. Granted you have a solid portfolio/resume, is it acceptable to go into a company office and ask for information regarding open positions? Is that a way to establish connections, and put a face to a name, or, is it something that is looked down on?

Thanks!

EarthQuake

The major advantage to living where jobs are is that (all other things being equal) most studios would rather hire a local person and no worry about paying relocation expenses and things like that.

The big drawback to living where the jobs are is that, usually that means bigger cities, with higher cost of living, so you better have a decent job lined up already, or friends/family to live with.

Randomly walking into studios with your portfolio isn't recommended. Most studios simply do not have staff ready to meet with people who walk in off the street.

Bolovorix

Thanks for the responses.

Blazed, if you don't mind, what ended up being effective for you?

RyRyB

Hey Bolovorix,

Another thing to consider is that studio-rich areas may also have a more competitive job market. If a studio has a big layoff, you may be competing with dozens of other experienced artists for limited positions.

Just a thought!

DireWolf

A walk in is only doable if you have friends working there who can recommend you.

Bolovorix

Again, thanks for the responses. I have family living in LA and I visit pretty often so that's one of the reasons I was trying to figure out whether or not walking into the office was a good idea or not. Now in terms of applying to jobs, I've read articles talking about being proactive, and looking up names of the HR reps and hiring managers, and trying to email them your resume/portfolio directly, instead of only using the online submission form which one article called a black hole, ha! Is this as effective as the people writing those articles say it is, or would companies rather you just use their online application system?

RyRyB

I'm of the belief that you go through official channels first and foremost, and that would mean online submission, etc.

However, contacting HR/recruiter/etc AFTER you have submitted to verify that it went through without any hitches is fair-game in my book.