Is it worth it to spend a lot of money just for the opportunity to talk to recruiters in person?

jeffxfcVA

I'm thinking about going to Siggraph, a conference about computer graphics, and talking to recruiters on the job fair section of the exhibit. Unfortunately, I'm all the way on the East Coast and the conference is in Denver, CO. I might have to spend $800+ just for a chance to talk to recruiters in person because I just can't find any luck applying online. Is this a good idea?

Alex_J

if you already have an idea where you want to work, then somebody familiar with that studio or similar might be able to give a solid answer whether or not your current portfolio is in the ballpark of being hirable or not. 

Depends on what $800 is to you, but if you aren't demonstrating the same quality of work as people working wherever you want to go right now, it's probably not worthwhile to spend money you otherwise wouldn't just for networking. If you are putting out similar quality as your competition and you have exhausted all available free means of networking and $800 isn't going to cut into your ability to pay rent or eat, then I'd say sure, go for it. Always good to meet new people.

zetheros

This will suck to hear, but I would say no. Your skill level is simply not competitive enough; your work still looks fresh-out-of-college level. Like Alex said, it also depends on where you want to work, and what you want to do.

IMO that $800 would be better spent on tools and resources to upgrade your work, and  the time spent at the conference better spent joining game jams, contests, and looking for work in indie dev. Especially contests - if you join an Artstation contest, I think you'll very quickly realize why you're not getting replies back from companies you apply to. This is an incredibly competitive industry, and there are some massive heavy hitters out there. You'll learn a lot by joining one; where you need to improve, as well as new methods for making art by lurking in the other artists' progress threads.

However, travel is always fun and you'll likely learn a lot at the conference. If you're the social type, you might also make friends there, but I would not join a conference with the primary purpose of finding work.

Eric Chadwick

You can also be a conference volunteer, in exchange for a few hours of work you get free pass to walk around and check things out. 

poopipe

I'd only go if it's worth $800 to visit and not talk to recruiters.  

Apart from anything else Siggraph is focused on engineering - the recruiters aren't there to hire artists, they're looking for graphics programmers.

jeffxfcVA

poopipe said:

I'd only go if it's worth $800 to visit and not talk to recruiters.  

Apart from anything else Siggraph is focused on engineering - the recruiters aren't there to hire artists, they're looking for graphics programmers.

Thanks for that info, if 3D Video Game Art isn't the main focus of the convention, I guess I can probably pass on this one then.

poopipe

https://s2024.conference-program.org/?_gl=1*445fyg*_gcl_au*MTY5ODQ3NjgwOC4xNzIxNTczMzE2*_ga*MTE2NjAzOTUxOC4xNzIxNTczMzE2*_ga_RL605478DH*MTcyMTU3MzMxNS4xLjEuMTcyMTU3MzM2NC4xMS4wLjA.

hopefully that's a link to the talks about art and games this year.  
if not it's a link to the page where you can filter the list

there's some pretty interesting stuff going on tbf.  I'd 100% go if someone else paid for it