How did I land a 2D Concept Artist position in the industry ?

Hello Steemians !

I know some of you want to break into the video-game industry. So here are my thoughts about how to break in. (useful links in the end)

As a disclaimer, just keep in mind these are my thoughts only, I just landed my actual position, but I think this experience is worth something as not a lot of artists are sharing this kind of stories from what I’ve seen so far.
Also I talk about inhouse position =)

SO. From what I see and hear in various mentorships, classes, awesome artists around : if you want to find a job, just grind, study a lot, post your art out there and wait, someone will knock at your email address with a nice contract. At least that’s what I heard the last couple of years. And it works. If you are skilled, you might have the chance to get noticed on forums, art communities etc and land a job pretty quickly.

Naughty Dog’s Human ressources(HR) head hunt on Linkedin and Artstation for exemple. So it is pretty common in the Industry, at least among big companies.

**But what if you are no celebrity ? What if you are not as good as the Big shots out there (but let’s be clear, you have a decent portfolio still) ? Or what if you don’t like social medias ? **

Well in that case (and this is the pretty common case I think), You have to crush your way in.
But how do you do that ? Multiple answers (and surely you can find some more) to this question.

• Be present on the web (Forums, Artstation, Linkedin, Instagram, Facebook…)
• Make friends (be nice, don't be weird or an a**)
• Make a Resume or CV (always a plus)
• Make a Portfolio (Printed and PDF)
• Create an Excel sheet (track your studios)
• Knock at the door (gently first)
• Crush the f* door (or leave calmly and come back with a bulldozer to make your own BIG gate just on the side)
  
  
  
  
  

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Be present on the web

Let’s be honest, the Steemit Rule applies everywhere :** “If you hide everywhere, we can find you everywhere”** (or something like that ^^”).
Don’t be afraid to showcase your work at least in 1 place. In more if you want and more importantly : can. “Can” because you will need to maintain the posting and show how active you are and this is quite a time consuming task (if no one does it for you). One lesson I learned is better to have one social media exceptionnally well done than a multitude half abandonned.

To give you a slight idea, when we were at GDC Cologne with some friends, we learnt Linkedin was THE social network to be in. Most headhunters and HRs are looking for artists on Linkedin ! To be honest it was quite a shock and we had a hard time to believe it. But after a few talks and discussions with senior artists, we could find confirmation that… it is the right thing to do. For me, Artstation is the main one. I will spend most of my energy to present my profile in the best way possible. But I don’t forget the other ones and therefore I use them in synergy with AS in order to leverage the later. Linkedin is a very powerful tool and Facebook has its fairshare of headhunters through the multiple artgroups on it. These were the two tools to help my Artstation to be more visible and it also allowed me to gain some time on the posting as Artstation manages shareposts on these two platforms.
But basically, go with the one you feel is the best for you. It seems Instagram is really powerful as well (but I’m just starting so I can’t say for sure).

Make friends

The ultimate passive weapon. Friends help you grow. Friends help you on a personal and professional level. One can say it is networking, and he might be right. But I don’t like the term, it is cold and unhearting (?). And you don’t really feel for your network. But you feel for your friends, it works in both sides and is a long lasting relationship. You can find friends at school (haha I bet you didn’t know that one =D), or during mentorships, classes, on Forums like Cubebrush, Facebook groups etc.

Don’t be an ass, be nice and yourself and you will find some greaaat people out there. I found my dream team through my mentorship at Robotpencil and I have to say, they’re the best bunch I have ever met. I grew my art so much thanks to them and they led me to some cool opportunities.

Another way to find friends is to go to Events. If your really want that job, like Warren Buffet says :** “Invest in yourself”**. So put the money in and find those badass events to go.

A couple in Europe : Trojan Horse was a Unicorn -THU-, the best one I ever went, I met with so many incredible people and could feel the Tribe =D ; IFCC, never been to this one but definitely on my list ! ; GDC Cologne, this one was reaaaally nice, it helped us to meet top artists, top CEOs and HRs from companies all over the world. THis one is mostly for networking but you can get out so much more. I learned that my art was junior pro level and when an AD from Epic Games tells you that…. Your confidence goes right to the moon _(even though they didn't hire younglings this year haha T-T). So go there, you will never regret it.

Make a Resume/CV

I know, you don’t need one in the Art field…. But trust me, it helps. People like to know what happened in your life before you applied to their company. So a resume and a cover letter are definitely on the to do list. Especially the cover letter ! There are multiple templates on the internet to help you write one and same for you resume. For the design, feel free to check https://www.canva.com/ , they make pretty neat designs for everything for free.

A note about your resume, keep it concise, accurate and short. Most importantly, it should be well written and well organized (let your parts breath and don’t try to put everything.). Tailor your resume AND cover letter to the company you are applying for, be pertinent in what you decide to show to that company in term of experiences or schools. It is time consuming I know, but it is efficient. Again, think about the recruitor, he doesn’t have a lot of time, so make it easy for him, he might tend to spend more time on your case (maybe =))

Make a portfolio

A must have. I talk about making your portfolio here : https://steemit.com/art/@alcy/how-to-build-your-portfolio-for-a-concept-artist-position

But You should as well be prepared for events or face to face interviews or job positions by adding a pdf or printed portfolio. In case your 3G or the Wifi doesn’t work, it will be a plus for you. Again, Canva.com is your friend in case you don’t know how to design. The important thing here, is a portfolio accessible without internet.

Create an Excel Sheet

Make a list of your dream studios ! And for each studios, track it down.
Now you are on LinkedIn, Facebook, Artstation and DeviantArt. You have no excuses, be smart, and use these tools to your advantage.

Find out who are the Lead Artists, Art Directors, Creative Directors, Lead HRs, Senior artists, intermediate artists or junior artists of each studios. Know their names, which studio they are in and which team do they lead. You need to do the research and to gather all the info you need. What are their email adress ? how can you reach them ? What do their work looks like ? What are their connections ?

It seems a bit harsh like this, but this will help you far more than just sending a mail to the job server for a position. This way, you won’t end up in the forgotten pile of unread emails good for database of candidates. Instead you will find your way to the memory and emotional response of a real person.

The Excel sheet is your database, though, to track the infos and now when you mailed them the 1st time and when you should send a reminder or 2nd email or follow up in case of non answer.

Knock at the door

You have gathered all the infos, you have now a clear vision of what studio you want to get in, you know the organigram of the company, their games, their vision, their values. You did the homeworks. Good.

Now send them an email (or FB message whatever). Find a way through it, be nice, polite and don’t be that guy “EEEEEHHH I NEED A JOB PLZZZ”, Remember the part “Make friends” ? This is part of it as well. So be honest, ask for a portfolio review and if they have by any chance some openings you could apply for. Show you are motivated and very interested in that job. Show how serious you are and what kind of person you are.

If they reject you for any reason (you don’t have the level, they don’t have any openings…) Ask for feedbacks and how you can improve your portfolio/skills/communication skills in order to re-apply later. There is always room for improvement and they will be glad to help you out. In some cases you will even make friends with them or keep contact. Nothing is lost, and failure is a matter of point of view. You can’t fail here as this will make you grow in both cases. (The difference by sending to a job server, is here you are more likely to get an actual response by an actual real person, and also to get reviews and feedbacks from a real artist who knows what he is talking about. So you don’t lose your time with an automated server.)

Crush the f* door (or leave gently and come back with a bulldozer to make your own BIG gate just on the side)

This is a lesson from Brenda Chapman (The Lion King, The little mermaid, Brave…). ALWAYS ASK. And never accept a “NO” for answer. Push your way in if you have to. (But remember don’t be a dick, there’s a really fine line here haha). If road 1 doesn’t work, try road 2, 3,4,5 until you find the One.

A friend sent 150 resumes and called a hundred times her dream studio before landing her internship. She got it. Another one called every day 2 times during 2 months before getting her job. Show that you want it and you mean it. (but really, don’t be creepy x)). (Learn more about Brenda Chapman, she is so inspiring). And Always try to get at least feedbacks to improve your craft for next time.

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Here is how I looked for my job haha… And it worked pretty well. Last thing you need to know, not all AD’s or leads are on Artstation or DA or social medias headhunting. And some of them might love your art. But you will never know until you find them. It will rarely be the opposite.

Keep working and studying on your craft, hone your skills, but know when it is time to step up and how you can make a difference. Sorry it is a really long post, feel free to comment if you agree or disagree I will love to talk about this, especially if you think I missed something or if you think some points are unclear or ambiguous.

Links :
https://www.canva.com/
https://steemit.com/art/@alcy/how-to-build-your-portfolio-for-a-concept-artist-position

Pictures from my work for Frozen Wasteland and their game Final Equinox : The Arrival and from screwing-around-with-my-brush

Have a wonderful day and week end peeps !
Cheers !