I'm finding it impossible to land a job
So I know the gaming industry is hard to get into, especially in the UK where I am.
But I've been applying and trying to get a job in the industry or similar for around 7 years now.
I've had many art tests and several interviews in that time but have only come close a few times.
I don't really have any other skills and currently scrape by on a part time job.
Does anyone have any advice or recommendations for someone like me? It would be greatly appreciated.
My portfolio can be seen at:
Www.ryans3dart.weebly.com
Thank you very much guys and gals.
But I've been applying and trying to get a job in the industry or similar for around 7 years now.
I've had many art tests and several interviews in that time but have only come close a few times.
I don't really have any other skills and currently scrape by on a part time job.
Does anyone have any advice or recommendations for someone like me? It would be greatly appreciated.
My portfolio can be seen at:
Www.ryans3dart.weebly.com
Thank you very much guys and gals.
Replies
If you want a job bad enough, you need to be working on your craft every single day, the rest will follow. Have you been applying with the same work each time? Your portfolio is comprised of art tests rather than showing what your passion is.
To be honest, this is the kind of portfolio recent art school students tend to have, which screams lack of experience and keeping dated work when your skills have progressed is only going to hinder you. Right now you have a ton of quantity over quality. I would axe the 2d section, if you don't want to be a concept artist don't focus on that if you are not amazingly talented in it.
figure out what kind of job you want to do and re-shift your portfolio to it. unfinished work shouldn't be shown in portfolio works, like your un-textured vehicles and get rid of that animation clip, its only hurting you. when someone looks at your portfolio they should instantly get what you do. Like when i send out mine, its clear from everything in it, I am interested in environment art hence why all my jobs have been environment related.
look at peoples portfolios who currently work at game studios who make games you are into. compare your work to theirs and honestly ask yourself what you can do to get your work to that level. It is probably going to be sitting down and creating a few new current gen spec portfolio pieces, another thing you are currently lacking.
that's the first thoughts off the top of my head, but this post is designed to help rather than hurt, so apologies if it comes off as blunt. Good luck dude
P.S. - Do you realize that seven years is an insane amount of time to wait for A JOB?
It's made me realise I think I've lost my passion for this type of work. I used to be much more enthusiastic about it than I currently am. I need to rethink if this is really for me or not going forward.
Thank you for making me see that.
P.S @Ryanb - I haven't been waiting for a job for 7 years, I've applied for every type of job going from library jobs to office jobs to fast food to the post office to hundreds of others that I've applied for over that time. Finding any job for me has proved extremely difficult. It's just that the one constant job I almost kept getting was in the game industry and nothing is more frustrating than that.
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Probably my favorite piece in your folio.
But I agree with what has been said. I think some pieces show promise, but they could need some polish and refinement to truly stand out. I would:
1) Pick a focus area: environments or characters
2) Pick 2 or 3 pieces max and polish the heck out of them to make them as awesome as possible. Also, pose your characters.
3) Remove all other pieces from folio
That's good advice I appreciate it.
@ryanb - I don't know what your problem is but I'm not going to explain myself to you. You obviously don't know how hard it is to get by in the real world.
I've just been in a part time job that I've absolutely hated for over 2 years working really hard and I've just managed to escape it to another part time job.
I've been applying for all kinds of better jobs for years but haven't been successful as of yet.
Life hasn't been easy for me and the only thing that got me through it was making things on my computer.
Shame on me for asking for advice from people who I have a lot of respect for and look up to.
took me about 4 years to get a job in games after starting in about 1998, finally got a junior artist job in about 2002 I think
it was, so maybe nearer 5 years
I understand the frustration man. I spent almost five years between jobs after graduating college before I got my first studio game job. It's definitely something where if you stay passionate about it, you'll keep making better art.
As everyone here has said your portfolio is spread thin and could definitely use some polish. I think a quick start you could do is to just organize your portfolio a bit better between characters and environments. Also, when it comes to polish you could take a handful of those office assets and building an office environment.
Honestly, I think if you just clean up and organize your portfolio while working on polishing your works and finding your craft you'll be in good shape!
Just keep your chin up, keep learning and making art.
Good luck!
Is it your interviewing skills, something triggering a bias towards you in person, you have inadequate references, you don't appear what your portfolio suggests you are in person, you ask too much pay, you demand special consideration for a disability, were you incarcerated, you have a medical need that would require an employer to adjust to it....
I'm not casting judgement. You said you have had interviews so it could be more than portfolio or skill reasons.
Would you hire this guy to brew your office morning coffee?
As far as getting interviews and not getting the job, that is not always a factor of you as a person or how you interview. It could be that they just found someone better. It could be that they found someone closer (ie local if you are applying in other cities) and they can start sooner without having to relocate.
It's always a good thing to ask the person you've been interviewing with where you can improve. Sometimes they respond, sometimes they don't but it never hurts to try.
1) Taking seven years to find a job is a hell of a long time. A typical apprenticeship takes five years.
2) His first post implied that he spent those seven years applying for game industry jobs. Later, he moved the goal posts and said he was actually looking for ANY job and can't find anything except his current part-time employment.
3) There are tens of thousands of people who want these jobs and they are all doing the same things. What separates him from the pack?
I'm asking the same questions any employer would ask. What have you been doing for seven years? When I ask you what you've been doing is your story consistent and does it sound reasonable?
His response is revealing of his personality. He got hostile very quickly when I pointed out that he changed his story. Anyone who can maintain employment in a job with any responsibility knows that you can't be snippy with your employers and expect to survive.
Telling someone like this to "work harder" doesn't really help them. Almost everyone is working harder. He's up against thousands and thousands of other people who are all working harder. Of those thousands, most of them will have a much better work history and a better attitude when asked basic questions about their work history.
What he needs to do is try new things and separate himself from the pack. Here's some examples:
1) Make tons of assets and sell them on the asset stores. His work is already good enough to make a living just selling stuff online. This requires self-motivation.
2) Use his free time to do volunteer work. If he's only working 20 hours a week part-time, he could easily do 10+ hours of volunteer work.
3) Take an apprenticeship in a trade.
4) Move somewhere that has a labour shortage. He could combine this with learning a trade.
5) Offer to work for another artist for free for a set period of time. The artist gains a helper and he gains new portfolio pieces.
6) Work on a fishing boat?
7) Work on a farm?
Do something different.
I've also worked next to convicted murderers (dude killed neighbour for stealing his tools), bank robbers, drug dealers, gang "associates" and ex-drug addicts. They all made good money at their trade jobs and most were easy to get along with.
I really get that you are disheartened, but there is so much inspirational work out there, and the soft and hardware leaps that have been made lately should make it impossible for you not to get excited. You asked for advice and you have been honest about your situation. The result of that is you got spot on advice from people who know what they are talking about. The hardest thing you are going to have to do is press on and get good enough so you can see your work objectively. From personal experience I know this is quite the trick. If you see that as a challenge instead of a chore that will be reflected in your work. While you are working keep your ear to the ground and maybe take part in the challenges here, make wip threads, check out the technical forum here (gold gets dumped in there all the time).
Good luck man, keep going.
if you need a place to start, start with learning PBR. It's a crazy fast industry and when new technology or workflows come out you better learn it.
You don't get an option. You don't get to stay in your comfort zone. You better learn it because the industry is just going to get further away if your not willing to learn the new stuff.
However that fact that you had a few interviews makes me question a bit? Usually when they give you the in person interview it means they actually like your work. They check for your personality and want to get a feel if it would be cool to work with you . We can't know for sure but maybe working on those skills too could never hurt. There's a whole section in the wiki dedicated to interviews tailored to the game industry!
As it is now, if I was in a position to hire you or recommend you, I would probably click off your page after 60 seconds or so, it wouldn't make it to the maybe pile. Sorry if that sounds harsh, but that's the honest truth.
As someone else has said, you need to find your focus. Your portfolio should be a shining beacon of the art you want to be hired to do, but right now the signal you're sending is "I don't know, whatever, I guess".
I would suggest hard surface/environment art, where there are a lot more entry level positions. To be a character artist you have to be exceptionally good, there are very few character art positions in the industry (generally only a few per studio unless the studio is really big).
When you figure out what you want to do, find a bunch of artists that are good at that thing. Take some time and honestly compare your work to theirs. Not to make yourself feel bad, but to see what it is that they're doing, what professional quality work looks like, and to give yourself a target to hit. Once you have a clear goal in mind, spend every hour of your free time getting better until you hit it. Post here for feedback (even if you don't get much response, keep posting), join challenges, work work work.
After 7 years though, you should pretty much know what is wrong with your portfolio. Just by reading all the other threads of this nature (I made one myself a few years ago), you should be able to pick up on what you need to do. It's far too general and looking at your page I have no idea what position you even want to apply for. 7 years is a hell of a long time to have so little to show for it.
Sorry if that comes across offensive, but at this point you don't need people coddling you.
Presentation is everything... Just try using a template or something like this: http://https//creativemarket.com/3Angle/605445-The-Complete-Resume-Collection
You can even browse through a zillion designs on google and choose something for the gaming industry in particular. Also I would say with a resume or portfolio.. Aim for the interview not for the job. A lot of people try to close to early and it usually doesn't come off well...
https://deardesignstudent.com/100-clever-0-hired-77b8ad81ff7#.o52ltv9sm
Just give me a good old black and white text doc about your employment and education, because I'm going to spend all of 2 seconds reading it anyways.. Combo that with an easy to view portfolio that puts your best work in front of my face without me having to do so much as click your link, you'll be ahead of the pack in no time.
Everybody knows it but only the succesful people have actually done it. It is not talent but hard work and determination that pays off.
You already have shown that you have the determination to finish projects which is great. Now go on and start taking additional courses/tutorials.
i can't really give you useful advice since i am in the same situation as you, but just keep working hard. I see many improvements you can make.
I can give you one piece of advice,
hide the crane,
I mean it's not poorly modelled(texture isn't very... compelling though) or anything, it's just relatively low quality compared to your star trek model
show only the best pieces of work you have
The better your presentation the easier it is to land a job
I teach part time and I'm sometimes astounded by the answers to this.
Just go where the jobs are. Even if it's Montreal, Beijing or Warsaw.
Also start making uber epic insanely detailed pieces people will remember you for.
Think like a Radial Engine or Jumo Engine.
I thought the general consensus around here is that, thats a bad idea.
Also have you asked your students what their frame of mind is?
They might think they are being pragmatic assuming that they are at the start of their careers. The might consider that any studio that's not in their country probably isnt going to relocate them until they have some strong experience under their belt and just decided to target closer to home.
Then there are language barriers and cultural barriers that they might not be willing to grapple with.
That said, it's still smart advice: go where the jobs are, as much as you are able to. Or, apply to where the jobs are in hopes bigger companies would help you relocate (or you save up and relocate yourself).
Also, regardless of location, improving the portfolio constantly should still be the priority. Don't spend more time applying than you spend working on new art. And goodluck. The FIRST job is always the hardest to get.
It's a...tragedy if you're a citizen in a country that has LOTS of jobs but concentrated in a few cities but you're scared of leaving your home state/ province/ hamlet and only wish upon a star that your portfolio outcompetes those by applicants already a short bus or car ride away from hiring studios. And then, foreigners (albeit talented and deserving ones) take those jobs before you.
They both have a lot of top notch work and so have a lot more content and can use text to explain things, you won't be able to get away with any of that yet. Keep it simple, but it needs to be presented better. Basic art principles still apply, even for your webpage.
Your work honestly looks decent. Nothing is really standing out as terrible (other than the presentation). But what I think is separating you from the people that are getting the jobs, is the polish. None of it looks 100% complete, everything looks like a WIP. Focus more on adding small details to your models. And definitely revisit the texturing and lighting on all of your pieces. The textures/materials look like you assigned everything a base coat of paint and then called it a day. For example, you have a giant red crane presented at a weird angle that has no detail in the texture at all, there's no AO, no difference in spec/roughness etc... and no micro details to the model. The flat lighting makes it even more boring than it was already. All of these things make it seem very amateurish.
If I were you, I would re-texture/material/light the Cloud Emporium art test, the tank and possibly the car. Keep the printer which is the only thing that looks decent now (unfortunately it's an office printer, that isn't very exciting) but come up with better renders/shots for all of them for presentation. If you want to keep character stuff, I would put them in a different section, but honestly I don't think any of the character stuff is up to par.
I would read this: http://www.marmoset.co/toolbag/learn/pbr-practice
and these: https://www.allegorithmic.com/pbr-guide
Check out Romain's presentations: https://www.artstation.com/artist/wizix
Notice how none of his backgrounds are complicated, yet each image still looks completed.
And like everything in life, it's about who you know. If there are 3D/Art groups near you, make sure you are a member and going to their meetups. Meet other people already in the industry and become friends with them. Get their feedback and show them you are always improving.
Don't move anywhere before landing a job, but DEFINITELY apply for jobs worldwide.
Yes, the frame of mind is almost invariably "they want to be around their high school friends, and family".
This includes staying in remote towns with NO game studios, or taking on quasi-related jobs in web design, web graphics, or working at the school, or just working whatever minimum wage gig they'll find.
Another variation is they want to be near their girlfriend/boyfriend who doesn't want to move because they like it there.
As a Brit, the OP was more than capable of going under the commonwealth VISA or working in the EU (I guess prior to today.. we'll see).
Visa and money issues aside, there is nothing preventing anyone from offering to relocate themselves. It absolutely sucks, but is still a lot better than working at McDonalds for the next 7 years.
Yeah I agree theres no reason to not send in an application when you have nothing around like that.