Finding your first job?

Shanck

Hi everyone, I just quit my studies for Digital Arts and Entertainment in Belgium.
Now I'm looking for a job but I'm having a lot of difficulty with finding a first job.
Here in Belgium they all want a degree and everywhere I look they also want a minimum of 3 years of experience.

Is there anyone with some advice oh how to get my first entry level job?
What to look for, and where to look,... Things to keep in mind.

maxsc

Apply anyway, even if you see 3 years experience in the requirements, you have nothing to loose tryin.
I am from Belgium as well and honestly I have never been asked for a degree or anything. In the end if you can show people good work, they probably won't care where and when you graduated.

Don't hesitate to send speculative application. That's how I got my first job, from a speculative application I sent a studio 3 months before.

Don't be afraid to go a bit out of your field in the beginning. It can help you a lot to make new contact with other artists. Belgium is a small country, people know each other from a studio to another. That might open some new opportunities later on.

There is this document where you can find daily job posted 

Good luck !

Zi0

maxsc said:

Apply anyway

This, because you never know.

MMKH

maxsc said:

Apply anyway, even if you see 3 years experience in the requirements, you have nothing to loose tryin.
I am from Belgium as well and honestly I have never been asked for a degree or anything. In the end if you can show people good work, they probably won't care where and when you graduated.

Don't hesitate to send speculative application. That's how I got my first job, from a speculative application I sent a studio 3 months before.

Don't be afraid to go a bit out of your field in the beginning. It can help you a lot to make new contact with other artists. Belgium is a small country, people know each other from a studio to another. That might open some new opportunities later on.

There is this document where you can find daily job posted 

Good luck !

I'm in a similar situation, though I've applied to many game companies and either not get responses or got my application declined. To be honest, sometimes the process of writing my CV and applying makes me feel like I would rather spend my time just creating 3D art that I enjoy and let the jobs find me.

HarlequinWerewolf

maxsc said:

Don't be afraid to go a bit out of your field in the beginning. It can help you a lot to make new contact with other artists. Belgium is a small country, people know each other from a studio to another. That might open some new opportunities later on.

This! ^ Obviously, if you are in a position to do so. I'm in the UK and I graduated not really sure what I wanted to do but I knew I wanted to work in games. I send out dozens of applications and got no response or, sorry, your portfolio isn't good enough (Which it isn't for specialised roles). I ended up applying for an internship in Vietnam on a whim, got an interview and they liked that I was a bit of a generalist so here I am! It's totally worth looking at jobs outside of your home country, or even the EU. And I second the other comments here about applying anyway and sending out speculatives, it's always worth a shot

pmiller001

The best pieces of advice I ever got were
1. in response to seeing 3 years of experience  needed. Apply anyway. Its not your job to decide whether you're good enough or not. Every job I've gotten I've been woefully unqualified for. (if the 3 years experience rule is to be believed) 

2. Apply every 3-6 months, BUT dont ever apply without showing a significant change in your work. I used to just keep applying with the same portfolio. Chances are, if it's a smaller studio, they saw it the first time. If you keep applying with the same work, it shows them you're not taking it very seriously. 

3. If you're not sure whether or not you should send an application. Then you probably should (That's how I got my first job in the industry, I applied to Bioware on a whim, not expecting anything, and they got back within a week). You seriously never know. DO keep in mind rule step 2. 

4. Tenacity and consistency. Do not stop. Thats the main reason I see people not making it where they want to be. It'll take time and patience, but with consistent growth, and trial/error. I think anybody can make it to a point where they' are happy.  

Benjammin

MMKH said:
I'm in a similar situation, though I've applied to many game companies and either not get responses or got my application declined. To be honest, sometimes the process of writing my CV and applying makes me feel like I would rather spend my time just creating 3D art that I enjoy and let the jobs find me.

The jobs probably won't find you. In my experience, the only people who headhunt junior artists are looking to take advantage of them in some way. The competition at entry-level is fierce, and most studios will have a buffet of applications to pick from without having to actively hunt people.

Shanck

ok, I have a long way ahead of me...
I sent out quite a few applications. No luck so far, probably will search for a regular job at a store or something while I keep working at my portfolio.
I'll never give up though

Thanks for all the advice 

rollin

pmiller001 said:

The best pieces of advice I ever got were
1. in response to seeing 3 years of experience  needed. Apply anyway. Its not your job to decide whether you're good enough or not. Every job I've gotten I've been woefully unqualified for. (if the 3 years experience rule is to be believed) 

2. Apply every 3-6 months, BUT dont ever apply without showing a significant change in your work. I used to just keep applying with the same portfolio. Chances are, if it's a smaller studio, they saw it the first time. If you keep applying with the same work, it shows them you're not taking it very seriously. 

3. If you're not sure whether or not you should send an application. Then you probably should (That's how I got my first job in the industry, I applied to Bioware on a whim, not expecting anything, and they got back within a week). You seriously never know. DO keep in mind rule step 2. 

4. Tenacity and consistency. Do not stop. Thats the main reason I see people not making it where they want to be. It'll take time and patience, but with consistent growth, and trial/error. I think anybody can make it to a point where they' are happy.  

 5. You have to live at the right location

Eric Chadwick

No. Be willing to move wherever the work is. Flexibility is key when you're starting out.

Plenty of time later once you're experienced to settle down and invest in one spot. 

Andreicus

Eric Chadwick said:

No. Be willing to move wherever the work is. Flexibility is key when you're starting out.

Plenty of time later once you're experienced to settle down and invest in one spot. 

Finding your first job abroad because in your country there is none is way different than living already in a country with lots of companies of different kind and simply moving to another city. 

And this is true for any full time employee job out there. 

rollin

Eric Chadwick said:

No. Be willing to move wherever the work is. Flexibility is key when you're starting out.

Plenty of time later once you're experienced to settle down and invest in one spot. 

At my last company we once tried to hire someone from another country.. no chance.. We tried really hard but we where simply not allowed to by the government. 
Then we took one from 100 km away.. no prob..

Eric Chadwick

I live in the US, so I meant moving around in-country. Agreed, visas make it much much harder.

maxsc

You won't need a visa if you stay in some parts of Europe so you could actually consider relocating to a place with more jobs. Belgium is actually well located for that as you have Paris, London and Amsterdam right next door (visa situation might change for London whenever Brexit happens tho). 
But you have to be aware that you won't go from "struggling to find a first job" to "being hired in a blink of an eye" just by moving somewhere else. It can be a very different situation depending on the reasons why you struggle,  especially for a first job

Alex_J

It's important to enjoy the work you are doing for it's own sake. If you are sweating over every application you send out and only grinding hard cause you think big break is around the corner, maybe you burn out and quit too soon. If you focus on falling in love with the work first you pout in more hours than your peers and sending the job applications is just fire and forget. 

Persistence wins every time.

Shanck

Alex Javor said:

It's important to enjoy the work you are doing for it's own sake. If you are sweating over every application you send out and only grinding hard cause you think big break is around the corner, maybe you burn out and quit too soon. If you focus on falling in love with the work first you pout in more hours than your peers and sending the job applications is just fire and forget. 

Persistence wins every time.

oh yeah!!! 100%
I'm enjoying my projects and so on but the issue still remains that I need a job so ofc I'm going to stress a bit about finding one