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So you graduated – whoopee! and you’re looking for entry level jobs in animation Now what? Well we’ve all be there, and then hit with the sudden realisation that you now have to find a job in the industry.
Entry Level Jobs in Animation, where to start?
You’ve sorted your reel out of your best work – 90-seconds or less (no longer). You’ve email hundreds of animation studios, some have replied, some haven’t. You’ve been to those animation meet-ups (Festivus is a good London one).
And now you are waiting, waiting for the email or the call, from a studio asking you to come in for an interview. If you’ve got a good reel, you’ve presented yourself well in your opening application (kept it short and polite, highlighting key skills including reel link), and you’ve sounded like you can offer real benefit to an animation production. Then the call finally comes, and you get invited in for an interview…
Lets be honest when you walk in that room you are thinking “Please let me get this gig”, knowing that if you do, this could be the start of your career in animation. Before you go, make sure you do your research about the studio such as; How long have the been going? What are their primary applications? What sort of projects do they do? etc. etc.
When you arrive at an interview, you’ll be seated in front of one or more people who will probably ask you a couple of friendly questions, like have you travelled from far, how was the trip etc. Be mindful these are actually leading questions, and part of being interviewed for the job. After that, it is likely you’ll be asked questions about where you studied, how was the course, they’ll also go through your reel and ask you further questions about your approach.
At Sliced Bread Animation we’ll also ask for examples of your life-drawing work and most entry level jobs in animation require some sight on your animation portfolio. It’ll probably feel like a quick fire of questions… and then, if you haven’t had the chance, you’ll be asked if you have any questions, here are some you might want to consider…
- How many others are your interviewing for the position? (know your competition!)
- What did you like on my reel that made you consider inviting me in?
- What particular challenges do you come across in your productions?
- What sort of tasks will I be expected to do?
- What are the hours of working?
- DO also ask about pay, try and go with a rate in mind, either annual salary, or a freelance rate.
If its going well, ask…
- Will I be able to use the work for my reel?
- At the end ask, make sure you ask “when can I expect to hear from you?”
After the interview, if you haven’t heard from the studio after say a week, follow up with a call, or an email, if the response if not positive make sure you ask for feedback. I hope those quick tips help!
In the meantime if you’re looking for a start check out entry level jobs in animation!
![shutterstock_502318087-[Converted]](https://i0.wp.com/animatedjobs.com/wp-content/uploads/shutterstock_502318087-Converted.jpg?ssl=1)
Written by Jamie Denham
Managing Director of Sliced Bread Animation and expert in entry level jobs in animation
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Sliced Bread Animation produces high-impact, bespoke animations and applications for marketing, corporate communications and e-learning, including virtual reality and augmented reality projects. Our work has won many awards for both us, and our clients.
We have an unrivalled reputation for offering complete and seamless project management, partnering with clients to create innovative, original multi-platform digital content strategies. We transform messages into compelling stories that captivates target audiences. So whether clients are looking to increase sales, develop brand awareness, or reach out to employees, we work hard to get the results they want.
We create games, apps, animation, explainer, films, infographics and illustrated content for education, marketing and internal communications that push the boundaries of technology and design, whilst working seamlessly across all platforms and are always providing entry level jobs in animation, where to start?
We have all chosen animation as a career because we love it! Once we’re hired, most of us are naturally eager to start animating the most heroic, physical, or emotional shot we can get assigned so we can wear them like a badge on our demo reel.
However, it’s not up to us but our leads or supervisors to assign shots and, for good reason, these demo reel-worthy shots usually go to more senior animators. So if you’re recently hired to a job you are probably not assigned the most meaty shots.
Recently, I was in my first lead position at a commercial studio and realized how nice it is when everyone is project focused and not demo reel focused. The old adage here is “There’s no ‘i’ in team.” When we were in school, we usually worked alone and the goal was creating the best demo reel to be hired. But, when we are hired for a job our mentality must shift from demo reels to completing the project as a team.
On an animation team, especially at commercial studios with tight turnarounds, your mentality should be “what can I do to help get this project across the finish line.” You should put aside your aspirations of getting ‘the best shot’ of the project and imagine if you were leading the project, what kind of attitude would you want your team of animators to have? Would you want them positioning themselves to always get the best shot? Or would you want someone who’s going to take whatever is thrown at them with a smile on their face and get the job done?
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Your love of animation needs to broaden in these cases, not dwindle or narrow, when you don’t get the best shots. You’re contributing to a greater whole with many moving pieces that all have to get done. Animating background characters or making a library of cycles for a crowd may not be the most glamourous animation you envisioned yourself doing when you were a student, but once you’re an employee, and if you want to continue to be hired, you need to develop a project-focused attitude and not ‘can I put this on my demo reel’ only attitude.
This also means you’ll probably have to continue to animate at night to get your demo reel-worthy shots if you want to move onto another studio, but if you’ve been project focused and not demo reel focused then most likely the studio you’re at will want to keep you for the next project as well.
Your demo reel can only say so much about you as an animator, so once you have the job take the opportunity to show you’re easy to work with and a team player if you want to keep getting hired. Your resume will also speak volumes if it shows a studio wants to keep you around, it means you’re doing something right.
Hi, I’m Lucas Ridley! I’ve been working in animation for 5 years and look forward to learning more each year. As I learn I want to share it and help others. These thoughts are my own and don’t reflect any of my employers. If you want to check out a Maya-specific animation resource, I made a free eBook on some tips I discovered when I was animating my 1st place 11 Second Club entry, you can download the ebook here and take a look at my demo reel here. Happy animating!
ebook: https://gum.co/
my demo reel: https://vimeo.com/
https://www.linkedin.com/in/
https://twitter.com/
http://lucasridley.com/
Rig or Material used with permission (© Animation Mentor 2014). No endorsement or sponsorship by Animation Mentor. Downloaded at animationmentor.com/free-maya-
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