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Artist Job Applications : Round 2

5/31/2018

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As I find myself in the hiring seat once more, and my inbox flooded with applications, I can’t help but think of a few more “Do’s and Don’ts” when it comes to applying for artist positions. I’m only just now realizing that I’m writing this on the anniversary of my first post on this topic from May 2017. Today I’ll be covering more of my recommendations and thoughts from the seat of a hiring manager.

  • Do what you can to make your application stand out!
Artist positions are highly competitive, and if the jost posting is in the right place, the hiring manager is most likely inundated with e-mails. After the first night of our latest job posting, I woke up to 40+ applications in my inbox. While the hiring process can be exciting, it is not exciting to filter through all of those e-mails. Therefor you should be careful of anything that might make your application harder to digest. Specifically on that front, I have a few more suggestions…

  • Make sure your portfolio link is obvious
More often than not, I have to really search for a portfolio link. The longer it takes for me to find the link, the more likely I am to give up the search and move on. Do not bury it in text within your cover letter, if it’s within your cover letter let it be on his own line break… so if someone is skimming for it, it’s easily recognizable. Also I wouldn’t recommend sending more than two URL links, unless specifically requested. I would normally expect a link to a demo reel (or specific piece of art that links up well with the application) and your website portfolio… beyond that, as a hiring manager, I don’t want to be skipping across the internet to multiple locations.

You should also double check your URLs, I had more than one application with broken links.

  • Your website should feed me information, not make me search for it.
When I land on your website, having a collage of a bunch of different videos and links… doesn’t really work for me. When I land there I should easily understand where I’m intended to go and present to me the main piece you’d like me to see. Ideally I would first see your latest work or demo reel, before scrolling into the depths of your portfolio. Keeping in mind that the hiring manager likely has a ton of these websites to go through, the more of a puzzle your website is… the more likely they’ll give up on it and move on.

  • When your portfolio link is in you resume, please have it open a new window.
Often resumes are looked at in the previewer within outlook. Specifically I use the browser version of outlook, and it’s super annoying if when I click a portfolio link it takes over my e-mail client. I then have to back, right click, open in new window… etc. Ideally as you create your PDF, you set the link to open in new window.

  • Allow me to see timeline controls on your demo reel
A few times I encountered demo reels that didn’t show the timeline controls, but only allowed me to play and pause the reel. Really you should allow people to scrub the timeline of your reel, so they can specifically inspect pieces of your artwork.
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  • Don’t include your rate in your cover letter…
I know I mentioned this last time as well, but MAN yea do not include your salary expectations within the first correspondence. That’s something to be discussed and negotiated after at least the first interview.

  • Write a cover letter.
Write a cover letter, even if it’s filled with fluff… it’s good to have SOMETHING there. Honestly cover letters are probably only read if your portfolio has seemed worthwhile for the position. So I would still recommend trying to make sure your portfolio link is obvious, and can direct the hiring manager immediately. I had a few applications that just didn’t have a cover letter, which really shows that you’re not putting in the effort… even if we all know it’s a copy and paste from previous letters you’ve written. I had one cover letter that was just :

“10+ years working as Illustrator and animator, I do it all the day!”

Please do what you can to make your cover letter more informative and a tad more professional.

  • Music in your reel should facilitate the art and not dominate it.
Music is an obvious and good addition to your demo reel. Yet I found a few demo reels using music that was just more popular and “hip” to use…and honestly distracting away from the artwork itself. I would lean away from music with lyrics or too similar to a movie franchise. I don’t care how epic you think the Inception soundtrack is, when it’s in your reel I’ll be thinking about that movie and not you.   

  • Keep your reel updated.
If your reel is 5+ years old, it likely won’t be taken seriously.

Alright I think that’ll end today’s rant! Hopefully this was helpful to some of you who are looking to apply at new positions. I may write another post soon from the position of the hiring manager, and some tips and tricks I’ve picked up along the way. In any case thanks again for reading!
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#WarGames

5/18/2018

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Have you ever played a Full Motion Video (FMV) Game? They were popularized in the mid-80’s, and featured pre-recorded video to showcase the action… rather than sprites, 3D models, etc. #WarGames, released March 14th 2018, feels like a modern spin on a FMV Game. From the creators of Her Story, a game I briefly discussed in an article about “Implied Knowledge," #WarGames presents itself as a tale of “Hacktivism” and political intrigue. Overall it feels very much like you’re watching an okay Netflix show play out in front of you, and you’re slightly engaging with the narrative. Today I’ll be talking more about my experiences with #WarGames and it’s unique take on an old formula.
When #WarGames starts, it’s a bit difficult to understand what’s expected from you. You’re pretty immediately presented with different “screens” to view, as characters are chatting with one another. #WarGames does a clever thing where it will incorporate “FaceTime” style videos, with news broadcasts, websites, emails, etc. that all further the narrative in some way. These all run “live” with the story, and there’s really no pausing or hiccups to the story as it moves forward. A little detail that I loved was that whenever you hit the esc key to access the game’s menu, there was an estimate to how much longer the episode was...knowing that the story plays our linearly. The players can zoom in on the screens they find the most interesting as the story unfolds, meaning they could potentially “miss out” on things happening on another screen if they aren’t careful. I think that’s one of the most interesting elements to this game, at the end of the day it really doesn’t “expect” anything from the player. If you did nothing, the story would unfold in it’s own way… without you. Yet supposedly how you choose to look at screens, potentially by length of time or just by being on a certain screen at a specific timestamp, changes the course of the story. It’s definitely rare that you actually understand what “decision” you’re making in the game… there’s probably only one instances that I felt like I was consciously making a decision. In fact there were a few times I didn’t agree with the decisions the protagonist was making. To that end it’s best to play this game pretty passively and just observe the story in whatever way feels right.
While I just argued that you should play this game “passively,” my main critique of this game would be that I never felt like an active participant in the story. Like Orwell, it was a bit too much of a voyeur experience for me. Instead of modifying the protagonist’s actions, via the screens I watch the most, I felt like I should almost be the one hacking the people I was watching. It would have potentially have been a more drawing narrative if the player/user was an active character and participant into the story. Instead it was very much like watching the lives of others unfold, in a way that felt like we were creeping in on their personal lives…. Which could make for its own creepy hacker narrative.
Overall the narrative was pretty good, maybe with some over dramatic acting at times, but felt believable enough. #WarGames plays with the ideas of fake news, the military complex, and “hacktivism” in pretty interesting ways, but I’m not sure if the game is really making a statement on today’s political discourse. Now that I work at a Cybersecurity company, I can’t help but laugh about some of the ways they interpret “Hacking”… but #WarGames is a pretty entertaining experiment. If you’re curious, it’s definitely worth the $3 price tag on steam. Although I do think I was probably more drawn into the narrative from “Her Story,” but I think that’s just based on personal taste. In any case both of these games are super interesting, and are doing things that other games simply aren’t.
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You can pick both of these titles up on Steam, thanks for reading!

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