(Character) art test submission - Playing the waiting game

imijatov · Jul 2012

Hi, Folks! I submitted my character art test the other day. Although I am not concerned (whatever happens, happens as they say), I was very curious to know the turnaround of a game studio's response after art test submission.

Any general experiences concerning this curious conundrum would be totally appreciated. Thanks, all!

ZacD · Jul 2012

Could be a week or two, could be 3 months later, could be never. Game studios are very bad about replying to everyone. They hire who they need, and maybe keep a few people on file.

low odor · Jul 2012

I would wait a week..then send a follow-up email...if nothing comes from that, I would call it dead and move on

ScudzAlmighty · Jul 2012

dunno about Rockstar, but ND took about two weeks to get back to me. This was a couple years ago and depending how busy the studio is when the test is received it'll probably vary a bit.

Bigjohn · Jul 2012

In my experience, the reply to art tests is either pretty swift (couple days to a couple of weeks) or never. More often then not it's never, which in my opinion is really shitty.

But then I think the practice of art tests is a pretty shitty practice in general, let alone not even sending a copy-paste decline e-mail.

David-J · Jul 2012

Like they said. It depends, but in my experience it has been within weeks. Although sometimes the shitty scenario occurs when you never hear back from the company. I'm always amazed how bad their HR department can be when it comes to replying to applicants. Come on, just a simple automated email saying You Got In, or We received your test, or Access Denied Try Again.

JO420 · Jul 2012

Fire and forget and hope for the best. If you focus on thinking too much on a response it can just be too stressful and can lead to let down. Sadly alot of HR people in this industry fail to realise that they can have your expectations and livelyhood in their hands and often they take their sweet time.

D4V1DC · Jul 2012

JO420 wrote: »

Fire and forget and hope for the best. If you focus on thinking too much on a response it can just be too stressful and can lead to let down. Sadly alot of HR people in this industry fail to realise that they can have your expectations and livelyhood in their hands and often they take their sweet time.

^ Besides that you are waiting for them and almost have nothing else to do if you don't have other interests/jobs/hobbies/activities to keep you busy so It starts to feel like more wait time then It really is.

Get started on learning a new technique or sharpening your anatomy skills or something along those lines. (Anatomy doesn't only have to mean human anatomy...) Draw up some concepts and start the next piece always striving for better than your last!:thumbup:
Keep hope alive in the background, but don't stay stuck.

Ged · Jul 2012

Bigjohn wrote: »

In my experience, the reply to art tests is either pretty swift (couple days to a couple of weeks) or never. More often then not it's never, which in my opinion is really shitty.

But then I think the practice of art tests is a pretty shitty practice in general, let alone not even sending a copy-paste decline e-mail.

Is this really common practice? I mean considering you could have spent all your evenings and spare time for a week or 2 making that art test on top of your normal work and be exhausted and they cant even spend 5 minutes to give you the dignity of a simple reply?

Jason Young · Jul 2012

Yep, it definitely happens. ND, from my experience, took about 3 weeks to respond. Though, they were handing out art tests like candy at the time, so often getting an art test really doesn't mean anything.

imijatov · Jul 2012

ScudzAlmighty and David-J - Because of a few hiccups that occurred with downloading the file from Google Drive, there was communication there. Once I got it ironed out, ND let me know that the file was received successfully and that the leads are in the process of reviewing it. I commend them on their communication, it's been really a good experience, at least for me.

But yes, I've both heard and experienced unpleasant stories with art tests.

$!nz - Luckily, there is plenty to keep me busy

. 8-5 job, personal events, and then there's polishing old/creating new art.

skylebones · Jul 2012

A few years ago I did an art test with a pretty big MMO developer. I didn't hear anything back at all. So I moved on, accepted a job from another company, and moved to the other side of the country.

About 18 months later I get a phone call from the art director of that MMO developer asking if I was still interested in the position and they would like to move things forward if I still wanted the job.

I think it's a record for longest time spent between turning in an art test to when I heard back.

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(Character) art test submission - Playing the waiting game

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