How to Land Your First Job as a VFX Artist

Some ideas on finding the first paid job for graduates.

Just graduated as a VFX artist? Looking for a job? Having a trouble finding a paid one? There is a one nice thread over at Real Time VFX that might give you some ideas. 

Art by Kevin Leroy, VFX Artist at Riot Games

First of all, you should consider all your contacts you know in the industry. Mederic Chasse, a Sr. Technical / FX Artist at Ubisoft with 10 years of experience in the video game industry, shared some advice that might help you get a foot in the door:

One thing to note, while you are interning in those 2 months, you can also still be looking for a job, make sure your LinkedIn is up to date, and the intership is likely to do more for you and your future career than spending those 2 months home working that portfolio.

Also, correct me if I am wrong, but those 2 months internship, they are part of the school / company partnership, correct? Aka, it’s more like the school giving you contacts / work experience in partnering with the industry, rather than the company trying to edge out free labor. Back in my days (old gramps voice) this sort of school / industry partnership was the former and more often than not resulted in formal hiring after the internship period.

Mederic Chasse 

Considering internships? Here are some ideas on the matter from a VFX Artist Travis Henderson:

I don’t know how internships work in terms of taxes, benefits, labor laws and other legal stuff, so I’m not sure if the reason there is no pay because it’s only 2 months, or if they just don’t/can’t pay at all. The no pay is a bit of a red flag though. If it’s a successful company or new startup, they should have the money to pay you a livable wage for 2 months. I haven’t heard of too many places that still do that nowadays.

What is the reputation for the company? Do they have talent or a good history? This can probably go one of three ways: first, you could waste 2 unpaid financially stressful months and learn absolutely nothing while making lens flares and dust motes and getting coffee. Second, you could learn a lot, but be given a huge work load and basically do a chunk of the company’s vfx work for free. Third, it could be equal parts learning and workload, where you would learn some good skills, get a feel for the workflow of a studio, and get a few things into a game and your demo reel.

Travis Henderson 

What are your thoughts on the problem? What could you advise? 

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