Having doubts about taking a first job landing

illumisanic · Apr 14 2026

Hello everyone, I'm in a dilema. There's a contract job offering in game industry with wich I was contacted that pays very below my country's minimum wage (my country's minimum is 250 dollars at the time) if you work 8 daily hours, in rig and animation. The company in question looks like it's going to fall apart at any moment.

I've never had the chance to land my first job, but the job doesn't offer new knowledge (they sent me the documentation beforehand and it's not a big deal) and I could never post what I would do in my portfolio.

I'm in conflict between using my time for doing something better for my portfolio or taking it for having it in my resume and say that "I have industry experience"

zetheros · Apr 14 2026

you should delete their email and block them. That ain't an opportunity nor a foot in the door. That's literally modern day slavery bro. Make more art, post more art, get actual, real opportunities

illumisanic · Apr 14 2026

I'm not gonna lie it is very enslaving, but still I'm finding hard to find a job, so it looks tempting.

I guess I have to redo and focus my portfolio in something specific and then be back to sending resumes

zetheros · Apr 15 2026

If you get offers like that again, always keep in mind if it's better than working a normal minimum wage job in your country and spending your free time to make art you can put on a portfolio.

Francois_K · Apr 15 2026

I'll reframe your post a bit of what I understood, correct me if I'm off or wrong :

" I want a job that actually moves me forward not just a resume filler, but experience I can be proud of and showcase. At the same time, I need fair pay and a stable company, not one that exploits me or might collapse any day. I’m looking for a first step that invests in my future, not a dead end. At the same time I am afraid of missing out and being left behind"

Also some thoughts of mine on this topic:

I don't think being hyper aggressive about blocking deleting them and their contact is productive. If it doesn't fit , it doesn't fit. You don't have to burn bridges out of spite or if you feel you're not being disrespected. If you don't want it , let it go and move on. There's a healthy way to say no.

Opportunities will always arise if you work on yourself and your art. It might take a bit longer , it might seem like an endless battle at times but things happen in shapes or forms you might not expect.

You can also take that Opportunity that you were given right now and try to make the best of it and grow from that experience. Be it bad or good, each experience can help you grow. It doesn't have to be just more art expertise but also how to negotiate , communicate with others and handle feedback.

There's always two side to a coin.

Anyways,

My unasked two cents on this.

ThisisVictoriaZ · Apr 15 2026

I was in a similar situation a few years ago. I was struggling so much to find my first job, and working on my portfolio but feeling like I was just making stuff but never getting anywhere. I got a email from a semi shady company that had me do an art test, and send the .fbx files ( i know now I shouldn't have but I was so desperate to get a job I just did it anyway,) then they stole my models and ghosted me. I also tried working for free on a game just so that i could gain "industry experience." Ultimately those "opportunities" did not help me at all in my journey to enter the games industry, what did help me was consistently working on personal projects and becoming part of the game dev community!
What I learned it making connections with the right people, getting your art work to a higher quality, and showing up for yourself is key. Also being open to working contracting/part time jobs is super helpful for gaining real experience.
Don't worry, you got this!

illumisanic · Apr 15 2026

Francois_K said:

I'll reframe your post a bit of what I understood, correct me if I'm off or wrong :

" I want a job that actually moves me forward not just a resume filler, but experience I can be proud of and showcase. At the same time, I need fair pay and a stable company, not one that exploits me or might collapse any day. I’m looking for a first step that invests in my future, not a dead end. At the same time I am afraid of missing out and being left behind"

Also some thoughts of mine on this topic:

I don't think being hyper aggressive about blocking deleting them and their contact is productive. If it doesn't fit , it doesn't fit. You don't have to burn bridges out of spite or if you feel you're not being disrespected. If you don't want it , let it go and move on. There's a healthy way to say no.

Opportunities will always arise if you work on yourself and your art. It might take a bit longer , it might seem like an endless battle at times but things happen in shapes or forms you might not expect.

You can also take that Opportunity that you were given right now and try to make the best of it and grow from that experience. Be it bad or good, each experience can help you grow. It doesn't have to be just more art expertise but also how to negotiate , communicate with others and handle feedback.

There's always two side to a coin.

Anyways,
My unasked two cents on this.

Nope, you're not wrong.

I won't block them xd don't worry. The money can be a kind of a secondary objective by now, I was looking at it by different angles.

Thank you for your two cents

illumisanic · Apr 15 2026

ThisisVictoriaZ said:

I was in a similar situation a few years ago. I was struggling so much to find my first job, and working on my portfolio but feeling like I was just making stuff but never getting anywhere. I got a email from a semi shady company that had me do an art test, and send the .fbx files ( i know now I shouldn't have but I was so desperate to get a job I just did it anyway,) then they stole my models and ghosted me. I also tried working for free on a game just so that i could gain "industry experience." Ultimately those "opportunities" did not help me at all in my journey to enter the games industry, what did help me was consistently working on personal projects and becoming part of the game dev community!
What I learned it making connections with the right people, getting your art work to a higher quality, and showing up for yourself is key. Also being open to working contracting/part time jobs is super helpful for gaining real experience.
Don't worry, you got this!

Thanks for sharing your experience, I had no idea that it could be that shady
Any tips for start being part of the game dev community?

zetheros · Apr 16 2026

Francois_K said:

I don't think being hyper aggressive about blocking deleting them and their contact is productive. If it doesn't fit , it doesn't fit. You don't have to burn bridges out of spite or if you feel you're not being disrespected. If you don't want it , let it go and move on. There's a healthy way to say no.

True, it isn't productive at all. However, employers should be held to a much higher standard of conduct compared to employees.

Me saying they should block and move on isn't burning bridges. Paying far below the minimum wage and disallowing posting of the work in the artist's portfolio means there isn't any bridge to burn; this is a chest-high swamp of poopy water with no passage across, not even a sus floating log or slippery rocks, and I'm never not appalled there are employers out there that make these offers.

Also isn't it illegal to pay people below minimum wage? This is an 8hr/day job, doesn't sound like a freelance gig.

illumisanic said:
Any tips for start being part of the game dev community?

you're doing it now. Just keep making stuff, post that stuff, and improve. Join game jams and art contests on artstation, unreal engine, blender communities. Try to find indie studios that you think you can contribute to and email them, make your own opportunity and don't wait for it to show up. Set goals. The industry is in a bad spot right now, but in a few years it'll bounce back. Now is the time to bring your skills up to a competitive level so you're ready for the resurgence

Francois_K · Apr 16 2026

illumisanic said:

ThisisVictoriaZ said:

I was in a similar situation a few years ago. I was struggling so much to find my first job, and working on my portfolio but feeling like I was just making stuff but never getting anywhere. I got a email from a semi shady company that had me do an art test, and send the .fbx files ( i know now I shouldn't have but I was so desperate to get a job I just did it anyway,) then they stole my models and ghosted me. I also tried working for free on a game just so that i could gain "industry experience." Ultimately those "opportunities" did not help me at all in my journey to enter the games industry, what did help me was consistently working on personal projects and becoming part of the game dev community!
What I learned it making connections with the right people, getting your art work to a higher quality, and showing up for yourself is key. Also being open to working contracting/part time jobs is super helpful for gaining real experience.
Don't worry, you got this!

Thanks for sharing your experience, I had no idea that it could be that shady
Any tips for start being part of the game dev community?

Being consistent is probably the best way to go, in my opinion

Joining discussions, sharing artwork over long periods of time helps.
Try making a sketchbook and just post stuff over here https://polycount.com/categories/digital-sketchbooks

ThisisVictoriaZ · Apr 16 2026

ThisisVictoriaZ · Apr 16 2026

@illumisanic As other people have said, you're doing it now! Post your work and be open to feedback, and comment on other peoples stuff too, do game jams, make friends. There is also the route of joining various game dev discords where people are discussing the industry and trying to get feedback, a lot of times for me those can end up feeling too populated and overwhelming, but I've still found them super helpful. There's also the chance that you can get involved with local game devs depending on where you live, I live near a city where we have a IDGA group, I met up with them occasionally, and found a freelance gig that way. Theres also other social media like X and Bluesky.
Also I accidently posted the blank post above lol ignore that!

Having doubts about taking a first job landing

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