Can you be 'too old' for an entry level gig?
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Hey guys, having a bit of a personal crisis over the last few days and I'm keen to get some feedback from those in the industry and with personal experience.
Bit of a wall of text here but I'd appreciate it if you could at least skim through it all.
I'm 27 in a few weeks, and have spent the last couple of years 'experimenting' with game art, and occasionally considered really trying to make a career out of it.
In terms of where my game art is at, it's not bad, but it's not amazing either. I applied for a few jobs last year and got a combination of no reply, a thanks but no thanks, and one art test. Needless to say I failed the art test. I managed to get some feedback from two small companies in the UK who said I was 'almost there' but needed to work and refine my stuff, which is true.
I'm thinking if I spent 6 months or so, maybe a year really knuckling down and getting a few really polished projects into a folio, I'd be in good stead for a good shot a job. I'm not totally tied down in the UK either, I'll have a degree and can at least apply to companies worldwide which will hopefully increase my chances somewhat.
I also toyed with the idea of Animation, which I love, but I'm a complete beginner in that field and we'd be talking even longer before I was anything even remotely competent. So with that in mind, I'm leaning towards an artist since I already have all the technical skills I need.
That said, I'm wondering if it is too late. I mean, would a company hire a Junior aged like 28-29? That seems awfully old for an entry level guy. I know there's plenty of people in the industry (and here on Polycount) who are older than that, but as far as I know, they have been in the industry a while.
I saw the 'entry age/current age' thread and it seems I'm 4 or 5 years over the average entry age even now, so add to that a year of development time and I'll be an old man!
Thanks
Bit of a wall of text here but I'd appreciate it if you could at least skim through it all.
I'm 27 in a few weeks, and have spent the last couple of years 'experimenting' with game art, and occasionally considered really trying to make a career out of it.
In terms of where my game art is at, it's not bad, but it's not amazing either. I applied for a few jobs last year and got a combination of no reply, a thanks but no thanks, and one art test. Needless to say I failed the art test. I managed to get some feedback from two small companies in the UK who said I was 'almost there' but needed to work and refine my stuff, which is true.
I'm thinking if I spent 6 months or so, maybe a year really knuckling down and getting a few really polished projects into a folio, I'd be in good stead for a good shot a job. I'm not totally tied down in the UK either, I'll have a degree and can at least apply to companies worldwide which will hopefully increase my chances somewhat.
I also toyed with the idea of Animation, which I love, but I'm a complete beginner in that field and we'd be talking even longer before I was anything even remotely competent. So with that in mind, I'm leaning towards an artist since I already have all the technical skills I need.
That said, I'm wondering if it is too late. I mean, would a company hire a Junior aged like 28-29? That seems awfully old for an entry level guy. I know there's plenty of people in the industry (and here on Polycount) who are older than that, but as far as I know, they have been in the industry a while.
I saw the 'entry age/current age' thread and it seems I'm 4 or 5 years over the average entry age even now, so add to that a year of development time and I'll be an old man!
Thanks
Replies
I'm on a similar boat BTW. I've spent my last 8 years with struggling between making game art and completing my engineering degree which is getting more and more difficult due to the rules of the university getting tougher over the years. I'll be 26 in December with no related job experience nor a degree.
I'm not depressed about my situation anymore though, that's something
In fairness I've got nothing to lose by just going for it, but I don't want to get my hopes up and work my ass off on a portfolio if my applications are only reviewed up to the box that says 'age' and then put in the bin!
This is not a manual labor job so being old is really meaningless, talent and passion are all that matters! Good luck
If you've got what they need/want, then it doesn't matter. In fact, it doesn't matter no matter how you look at it.
27 is young anyways.
I still have not applied anywhere but is there a real application with requirements about your age. I always thought that you send your portfolio, resume and that is it. Another thing I noticed is the age is not listed in many other resumes I have checked.
Also I don't believe it matters so much to the employer than it should matter for you - as long as you can keep up?
You have to ask yourself what do you want to do? Environment? Characters? Animation? which profession are your gearing your studies towards?
I've seen quite a few older juniors come into a company, and due to their maturity in their thought process and past experience they have moved up quickly
Acr0 - You're right, I did look into Animation Mentor. Animation is another 'passion' of mine but as mentioned in the OP, I have pretty much zero experience with it, and I don't want it any more or less than an artist job so I may as well just go with the one I have a bit of experience in.
It's enviro art I'd be applying for. I've done some characters just for the sake of trying it out, but I'm not 'character focused' and whilst I certainly admire great character art, it's not something I can see myself being amazing at. Environments however, are what I enjoy making, I think it's probably come from my work in Arch-Viz. To me, environment art is just a realtime form of Arch-Viz, but fun.
but on the whole you will be fine unless you act like and old grandad:)
I am nearly 43 now and fully intend to stay doing this until I retire.
Ha no way!! I live about 5 minutes away from Blitz! Maybe I'll follow a similar path!
leamington is like game town or something:)
Senile old man, you were 33 in 2002.
Lol, Ruz, get you facts straight, man
On the subject, though, the places I worked at had quite a bunch of older dudes and as Autocon said no one ever generally asks about you age.
It's all about how good you are at what you do. Be smart and persisitent about your studies and you'll be up and running in no time. good luck:)
and its true I am going senile
perhaps I was actually right and now I am only 37
Great story Seth thankyou! Very inspiring, and I'm so glad to hear I'm not the only one in the same position.
Thanks again for all the encouraging comments.
The median age is probably 32 - 34 here I would guess
I think having previous work experience and not being straight out of school helps.
On the other hand, your staring at the lowest level again. So you can probably expect a pay cut compared to what you used to get.
We have a wide range of employees here at Massive as well, The median here is probably around 30-35 as well though. But yeah like most places we have some veterans in their 50-60s. YOu can do it man, just get your head down and do the work. Realize what you need to focus on and spend time getting that area of expertise up to a pro-level, you will be hired eventually
Follow your dream, it's a harsh and long road but it's well worth it once you realize it and end up at a kick-ass studio.
haha, shiiiiet, when i started at massive average age was 25...
Of course, I really don't like working from home...
http://journeyguy.typepad.com/.shared/image.html?/photos/uncategorized/dilbert2006040261702.jpg
The company has grown a lot, over 200 employees now. We got cake ^^
If age trumps skill and a good disposition, the chances are GREAT that they horribly miss manage some other part of their department or business and it would be a horrible place to work. Great to have a shipped title (if you or the company last that long) but the chances of one of you burning out before that title is shipped will be stacked against you...
Also being a little older you might have already started to acquire a slightly more affluent lifestyle than what you can afford on entry level wages so you could be facing what might seem like a low offer to you but is right on par with what the industry pays for starting wages.
Also your own bias is playing into your perception of the industry and it's a perception that a lot of people have. Games are for little kids, therefor little kids make games! Screw that. Its just how life normally works out in any job situation. Shortly after leaving school people need jobs to support themselves, so the majority of people applying are young people...
And 27 is old? Woa... seriously? If you are old enough to get this then you can rank yourself among the elderly. I don't know, maybe 27 will be the new 65, with the way most people eat that could become a possibility...