How much does age matter breaking into the industry?
polycounter lvl 8
Hey all. I am about to start putting together my portfolio after 2 years of studying game art and animation at AIE and had a question for anybody who has been in my situation or has some advice. I decided a few years ago to quit my job that I had been working at for 10 years to try my luck and learn how to create game art. I am now ready to put myself out there but I was wondering if it would be different for me as I am 32. It may seem like a weird question but I was one of the oldest people in my class, and was concerned that I may be looked at strangely applying for a junior position and they might prefer a someone younger.
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However, there's a thing called work culture. So your personality also matters. But that is to be seen during an interview. And to get an interview, you need good art.
Do you have portfolio and such to get started on ?
Ps. 29yr old here.
47 this year and still working as a freelancer.
Plus because of certain social work laws, if you are older you are more expensive so less attractive as an employee. That is just in general. I rekon if your work is incredibly good it wouldnt matter how old you are in either of the two so called developed regions of the world.
PyrZern - I am about to start work on my portfolio. I made one for school but we worked strictly in groups so I would like to start from scratch. I will be posting my work and hoping to get some feedback from you guys. I was top of my class but I know it's you guys that are in (and trying to get in to) the industry that I have to try to match and impress.
Ruz - it's good to hear that there is someone else who broke through. That gives me no excuses if I don't get a job. I just have to make the best art I can and work my ass off.
kanga - I come from Australia so I am afraid that I will be more expensive to hire. Plus we have a pretty weak industry over here at the moment.
a 19' years old can be more mature then a 29y/o.
Most of the time when I hear anything about ageism in the workplace, is that the company might want to hire someone cheaper so they automatically assume they can hire a younger person for less or are worried about someone retiring versus sticking around for years (has been happening to my dad and it really sucks). I doubt you'd have to worry about being 32 and starting, 32 is still the prime of your life and people can quickly get better at producing art if they work hard. I've seen some people on these forums drastically improve in a year or less.
I myself while still on the early side of things have so far gotten all my previous jobs and my new studio one through knowing other artists I've either studied under, was a fellow classmate, or worked with on a project before. It's also great when you've been looking for jobs and can't seem to find any open positions online, but someone you worked with before recommends you for an open position you had no idea even existed before then.
If you're also having trouble finding studios in your area, you might want to consider opening yourself up to applying for other studios of a slightly different field but that would still use your 3D skills and have fun making things in the process, such as advertising, architecture rendering, or simulation companies.
Feel free to post your portfolio for a review or something you're working on and want crits on in the 3D Art Showcase and Critiques section!
Best of luck!
Nowadays it's handy being the greybeard in design meetings that says "You know, a game exactly like you're proposing was released on the SuperNes back in the early nineties."
There are a lot of small houses that focus on hiring youngsters and new graduates for their low wages. As long as you don't run into this sort of place you'll be fine.
http://www.gamasutra.com/blogs/DavidMullich/20140822/223945/No_Consoles_For_Old_Men_Ageism_In_The_Game_Industry.php
http://www.kotaku.com.au/2015/05/the-subtle-demon-the-games-industrys-problem-with-ageism/
Some people have a problem managing people who are older than them, I have had this managing artists who are are older and more experienced than me, it is a little weird but you have to get over this stuff, we are all adults.
At 35 you should be fine, we have plenty of 50+ devs where I work so 35 is pretty young!
I was unemployed after being a student, so life was rather uncertain then.
I was always in to art and was primarily an airbrush artist, before deciding computers was the way to go.
It still was not an easy road though, took ages to get my first gig and the pay was diabolical:/
You probably already know/have learned this, but i guess i'll give this advice for anyone else who needs it:
We're groomed from an early age to respect our elders and accept that they're wiser and that we should learn from them etc. And that's why "managing" older people can be difficult, it goes against something that's deeply embedded in us.
So it's important to try to realise that your job as a manager isn't actually to advise or to instruct, but to guide. If they're more experienced, or a better artist than you, awesome! That's not something to fight against, all you need to do is guide them to doing the awesome artwork that's needed for your project. Managing a group is about using everyone's strengths to overcome combined weakness.
The time issues will arise is when the older staff member subverts your management by saying "i know better", which they might do... but it's not their call to make. At which point you just need to explain that while their way might be better to them, it might not be the best way for the group to proceed.
If a manager is too immature to handle working with an older person, then maybe he wasn't ever going to be good management material in the first place.
Its not as though you don't get 'I know better than you' from younger people also.
I thnk that its really easy to find an excuse not to hire someone and I read that there is a huge shortage in the games industry on the BBC website wtf?
In my first games company, I had to work with a few older people and on the whole they were great. learned so much from this texture artist called rob i think his name was. no ego, great example of what a game artist should be.
I intend to work in games until I retire or die, albeit that will probably be in a freelance capacity.
Only you have the power to close that window mate. Keep pushing and it will always be open.
During the interview, we realized he was 33 and married with 2 kids. Almost 6 years later, he's one of our best animators and we will still joke about how 'this kid is good'.
In my opinion, age may matter a bit when all other things are equal, but they almost never are. If your reel/portfolio is awesome, it won't matter at all.
It's also a matter of what you can handle in your life. If doing a career jump will be doable, knowing that you`ll be moving back into a junior job / wage. Studios won't hand you a senior position just because of your age, or your job title at a previous job if it's not in the industry. You need to be willing to accept wages that are offered to young, fresh graduates. I feel that the biggest problem with hiring older people is that they expect higher wages.
Dismissing somebody because they're "young and inexperienced"; dismissing the old because "they aren't quick learners" is just ridiculous.
I've many friends who have been affected by it for different reasons. It really doesn't matter in this industry what age you are and if a company makes you feel or believe that it does, then it's not the type of company you want to work at anyway. If you're good at what you do, people will see that in you.
I come from the younger side but still had to put up with a lot of crap. I was a Lead and then Director at a young age - everyone working on my team was older than me. I could give examples but I will hold back. It was extremely difficult learning how to navigate through things, but people shouldn't make it a problem.
I used to let it affect me when I was starting out, but now I just embrace it.
TLDR; Age doesn't matter.