I thought it was an interesting article, and relevant to what a lot of people on this forum are going through. I have yet to get a 3d job in the actual games industry, so I was wondering what the thoughts were of people who have gone through the same thing.
Seems pretty on the ball. It is important to keep current with techniques, but anyone reading this thread likely knows that and is why they hang out here
Relocation is key, got some advice recently on it and it rings true. Rent only - mortgages pin you down. This is a nomadic career!
i also think studios have a different approach to hiring than they use to. in the past i have submitted my res/ portfolio to a studio and then hear back, these days 100% of the work i get is through studios contacting me directly, i generally only pick up work through people i know now, but my linked in is spammed daily with offers, i think more companies are using headhunters over the traditional apply/ wait for a call. this way the headhunters can filter out all the crap and studio heads can just concentrate on qualified applicants.
when i was at insomniac i would get hundreds of portfolios a week, it was really too much to look at and do my job, so when we did need someone, i rarely even looked into the thousands we had on file, and i would look to the forums to see who was doing good work and bring them in and interview them. i think too many people submitting portfolios/ resumes to companies has changed the approach, you cant expect an art director to look at hundreds or more portfolios a week, you need a dedicated recruitment team to do that, like blizzard, and even then i have a feeling blizzard probably reaches out to the people they think will be best for the job, not dipping into they sea of 1st year art school anime sketches or traced fan art that probably gets dumped on their doorstep hourly.
my advice would be to get your name out there, and meet as many people as you can. if you do that you don't even need a website. i don't have one, and i turn away work regularly because i am too busy.
i go out of my way to meet people in the industry, so yeah mostly word of mouth, old colleagues who now have their own studios, going to gdc, siggraph, e3. when you go to these events you really need to reach out and meet people, make good impressions, make friends, don't burn bridges. i still do work for companies i don't work at anymore because when i left i made sure everything was on good terms, i also do work for companies that generally don't do contract work.
if your having a hard time finding a studio job i would recommend doing contract, you can make wayyy more money and live anywhere you want. there is plenty of work because more and more studios would rather outsource art then hire a team then fire them after the projects over, it also saves the studio money to do this, no heath plan to pay, no software to buy. also being able to speak english is a huge plus, as most contract houses are in china and india sometimes communication is a hurdle .
knowing people will get you further than websites and spamming your portfolio to every studio in existence and re-spamming every time you update it with a new model.
Replies
Relocation is key, got some advice recently on it and it rings true. Rent only - mortgages pin you down. This is a nomadic career!
when i was at insomniac i would get hundreds of portfolios a week, it was really too much to look at and do my job, so when we did need someone, i rarely even looked into the thousands we had on file, and i would look to the forums to see who was doing good work and bring them in and interview them. i think too many people submitting portfolios/ resumes to companies has changed the approach, you cant expect an art director to look at hundreds or more portfolios a week, you need a dedicated recruitment team to do that, like blizzard, and even then i have a feeling blizzard probably reaches out to the people they think will be best for the job, not dipping into they sea of 1st year art school anime sketches or traced fan art that probably gets dumped on their doorstep hourly.
my advice would be to get your name out there, and meet as many people as you can. if you do that you don't even need a website. i don't have one, and i turn away work regularly because i am too busy.
if your having a hard time finding a studio job i would recommend doing contract, you can make wayyy more money and live anywhere you want. there is plenty of work because more and more studios would rather outsource art then hire a team then fire them after the projects over, it also saves the studio money to do this, no heath plan to pay, no software to buy. also being able to speak english is a huge plus, as most contract houses are in china and india sometimes communication is a hurdle .
knowing people will get you further than websites and spamming your portfolio to every studio in existence and re-spamming every time you update it with a new model.