Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/1585
Competition is fierce in computer graphics. Everyone wants to be part of the next groundbreaking, breathtaking hit and respon- sible for the greatest eye-catching computer graphics and visual ef- fects in film, television, gaming, or the Web. at's not really news. What is making daily headlines, however, is the economic reces- sion. Today, we hear daily reports of the plunging US dollar, in- creasing layoffs, and unstable oil prices. So what will the summer bring for a new class of ambitious graduates eager to find or make their niche in the industry? Truth be told, qualified applicants today outnumber industry job vacancies. "e economic downturn has made more applicants available, giving us the ability to select from a large pool of resources," acknowledges Jeff Rothberg, president and co-founder of Future Media Concepts (FMC), a digital media training center. A boon for recruiters, this fact can present a challenge for recruits. Indus- try veterans—the recruitment and human resources professionals who interview you from across their desks—offer advice on how to best render yourself "recession-proof." Portfolio Perfection "In a competitive market, it is more important than ever to get the basics right," says Vic Rodgers, HR manager at Double Negative (www.dneg.com), a full-service visual effects facility in London. "Ensure that your show reel is working hard for you: ere should never be any excess or diluted work that will detract from the main event, which, for us, should be the first 15 seconds of any reel. Continue to update your reel, he says. And if you have left college, don't stop there. Keep working on things and adding them to your reel. "e VFX world moves fast, and it's good to see that you are keeping pace." "e most important thing is having a solid demo reel," says Kraig Docherty, director of talent strategy and acquisition at Blue Castle Games (www.bluecastlegames.net). A full-service, third- party publisher/independent developer in Vancouver, British Columbia, Blue Castle Games more than doubled in personnel, in 2008, adding 80 staffers. New graduates tend to include all their material—everything they did from the first day of school n n n n Recruitment This half wireframe/half rendered bust of Ben Franklin was created by DMD alumnus Salim Zayat, who got a job at Shaba Games.