In this assignment, I have been tasked with researching a job within or closely related to the animation industry. The job I have decided to research is a game animator. I then have to create a Curriculum Vitae with the information I have gathered, lets begin.
The first thing I needed to do was find out what skills I needed as a game animator in order to tailor a C.V. towards showing off the skills I already have and to show the employer I’m more than willing to gain new or unique skills if needs be.
So to start I need to know what skills and traits I need to not only work towards those skills and get them up to industry standard but I also need to include them in my C.V. But not blindly copy and paste a skill requirement sheet from the internet, I need to add some personality and believe-ability to my list of existing skills.
Below is an image of the general skills you need to even be considered by an employer that you are fit to be a game animator:
Now these skills give me a good insight on what interactive media/animation employers are looking for in new employees. Remember that they are investing time and money into you, thus that makes you an asset of their company, so the employers wanna see that you actually know what your’re doing and that you’re not gonna waste their time.
Now I have a diploma in games design, which gives me a good head start on gaining the necessary skills to get a job as a game animator. Its also good to let employers know that you have a diploma. Though I learned that I should also make my G.C.S.E. and B.T.E.C. qualifications visible on my C.V., as even though their small and don’t really matter that much its still good to show that you started somewhere, be it good grades or bad grades, all progress is good progress.
Below is an image my skills, diploma and education on my C.V. Let’s have a look how I broke all that down into an easy to read, concise form:
These are the skills I have gained through my diploma and correlate well with pursuing a job in game animation. Instead of saying bland things like ‘Experience is multiple image software tools’; You should be more specific and mention certain software which you may have specialized in over the course of a few months to maybe a couple years. Example; ‘3D Modelling in Maya 2019-21 and Blender.’ This shows the employer that you have sought out or actively learned how to use software that is industry standard. Software they are going to expect you to know how to use efficiently and to have intermediate knowledge of.
its also a good idea to have a variety of skills that can be used in different environments. A good example is how I said that I have good knowledge on game engines, solely based in software and that I said I have done reconnaissance/Recce work, a skill based in an outdoor environment. This shows diversity and you need to have as many skills, tools and relevant qualifications as you can get a hold of. In every industry you will be met with moderate – fierce competition and you need to make yourself look as savvy as possible.
The diploma is the more important of these two as its directly tied to game animation/interactive media as a whole. Its also higher up that B.T.E.C’s and G.C.S.E’s but its good to include all three even if its nothing that would really influence or sway the odds in your favor with the employer for all progress is good progress.
The image above shows a bit more insight on the job I would like to apply for. Its a basic role where you animate characters and bring environments to life. This tells me that this is an entry level job, the annual pay starting at £14,000 also tells me that this job isn’t too high up. But this is a good thing as it shows the company may be willing to say keep you on a basic job for a year or two then either ask you if you want to specialize or give you the necessary training or experience to specialize in a certain part of game animation, such as lighting, physics, color management and so on.
I myself would like to start at an entry level as it would give me much needed industry experience and a give me a good look on how the internal workings of both big and small companies function.
As for what I should have in my show reel that much is obvious. This job advertisement is looking for 2D or 3D animators, so its a good idea to show my work on these areas which I have a good amount of.
The above material shows a good variety of work both in 2D and 3D. Though the majority of my work is in 3D which is good if I wanna specialize in an area that is in 3D such as using MAYA, Blender, Unreal Engine or Unity. But it seems very one sided, which is why I’ve included some 2D work as well to show employers that if needs be, I can take on 2D and 3D roles and help our team and company in as many ways as I can.
In conclusion I learned a lot about C.V.’s and how to look, act and be professional. I learned a lot about making show reels from scratch the most because even though it can be finicky, tedious and hard to get a smooth show reel created, it’s well worth the effort.
I also really enjoyed this assignment, having a look at the business side of the industry as well as tapping into my logical mindset and finding a good balance between creativity and practicality with the animation industry and its communities.