One Day, One Job » animation

Slide

Willy Franzen — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 14:39:03 +0000

It looks like Yahoo! Finance has taken a page out of my book and used Fortune’s 40 Under 40 list to highlight some companies that are hiring. I found the link on Twitter, and was pleased to see that I had already featured a number of the companies. One that I haven’t yet featured (and don’t remember hearing about before) is Slide. They’re a San Francisco based startup that claims to be “the world’s leading social entertainment company.” I think that’s a bit of a stretch, but they do make social networks more fun for hundreds of millions of people. Their 40 Under 40 CEO is Max Levchin, who co-founded PayPal (which was sold for $1.5 billion to eBay). He is apparently well on his way to having built another billion dollar company, considering the fact that Slide was valued at $550 million last time that they took money.

Slide into a New Job

The basic premise behind slide is that social networks are better when you can bring outside content in—whether it’s sharing something that you’ve made like a slideshow or using an application that allows you to throw sheep. People want customization, yet they don’t have the web development skills to do it on their own. They need help, and that’s where Slide comes in. Monetizing social network traffic isn’t necessarily easy, but Slide seems to be heading in the right direction when it comes to turning their massive traffic into revenue. Not only do their investors believe in them, but so do advertisers like Starbucks, Sunkist, Activision, AT&T Wireless, Discovery Channel, Estee Lauder, McDonald’s, Lionsgate Films, Universal Pictures, and Paramount Pictures. I guess 5 million sheep thrown a day is worth more than I thought it was. Slide is very clearly growing, and as I mentioned in the opening of this post, they’re hiring. Their Jobs page shows more than a dozen open positions, and a bunch of those are suitable for new grads. These include Product Manager, Community Manager, Flash Animator/Illustrator, Flash Social Game Engineer, Graphic Designer, Junior QA Engineer, Linux Server Engineer, OO Javascript/Front-end Engineer, Python Web Developer, and Community Support Representative. You can apply online directly from these links, so give Slide a look.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Do you use Slide?

Rockstar Games

Willy Franzen — Thu, 13 Aug 2009 14:22:44 +0000

Before I get started, I’d like to ask you all for a favor. Businessweek is seeking nominations for their list of the Best U.S. Entrepreneurs 25 and Under, and I happen to be under 25 and an entrepreneur. I’d love to be on this list, but only if you think I should be. If One Day, One Job has helped you with your job search or you just love what we’re doing, please nominate me. It won’t take more than 90 seconds. Thanks!

After a second company used the term “rockstar” in their job postings, it became clichéd. I know that I’ve said this before, but no matter how good your coding skills (or whatever other rockstar skills employers look for) are, you’re never going to be a rockstar. Unless, of course, you land a job at Rockstar Games. If you work there, at least you’ll be a rockstar in name. You may not have a guitar, but you’ll be working for the company behind video game series like Grand Theft Auto, Max Payne, and Manhunt. And for those of you who have a different taste in games, they’ve got Table Tennis for the Wii. I keep harping on the fact that the video game industry is doing well, but it’s just so impressive. Other content producers like newspapers, magazines, record labels, and move producers are struggling with changes in how we consume content, but video game companies keep humming along—and Rockstar Games is no exception.

Grand Theft Entry Level Job

I first found out about the fact that Rockstar Games is hiring when I watched this YouTube video from the Art Institutes’ Career Services team (this video actually comes first in the series). It was cool to see such in-depth content on what it takes to get a job at Rockstar Games, and it obviously got me looking to find where they post their job opportunities. Their website is entirely in Flash, which is a total pain in the butt, and the main navigation for the site only shows up if you put your mouse over it. And even if you do put your cursor in the right place, you won’t find a link to their Jobs page (at least I couldn’t).

Luckily a Google search turned up Rockstar Games’ Jobs page. It’s loaded with opportunities (and not all of them are in Software Development), so it’s kind of like a hidden treasure. We can’t link to specific postings (stupid Flash), but I can tell you that they have Game Programming and Animation jobs in Vancouver, British Columbia; a Game Content Creator position and all kinds of Game Programmer positions for RAGE in San Diego, CA; Game Programmer and Character Artist positions in Toronto, Ontario; Junior Web Developer and Marketing Coordinator in New York City; and Gameplay Generalist/Programmer in Andover, MA. Additionally, Rockstar Games has a ton of open position at their 4 locations in the United Kingdom. It’s amazing how many job openings Rockstar Games has, so whether you’re an artist, programmer, or marketer, there’s probably something for you. You can apply online for any of the positions.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Which of Rockstar Games’ titles is your favorite?

Bungie

Willy Franzen — Tue, 28 Apr 2009 14:50:56 +0000

It’s been almost 6 months since I first started talking about how the video game industry is a good place to find a job during a recession, yet I continue to be amazed by how aggressively some gaming companies are hiring. I don’t know if it’s a result of the fact that people buy video games when they’re unemployed or it’s that hard to find people to fill these jobs, but I’m shocked to see a company like Bungie with 21 job openings – many of which appear to be suitable for new grads. Now, Bungie and I go way back. I’ve been using Macs since the early 90s, and Bungie was one of the premier game creators for Macs. Although I was never a serious gamer, I definitely have fond memories of Bungie’s first huge success – Marathon. Then they hit it big with Halo. Microsoft bought them out, and they picked up shop and moved (all of their employees chose to follow the company) to Kirkland, WA.

Take a Bungie Jump

Bungie may have been bought out by the evil empire (they were the premier Mac game publisher), but they’ve remained true to their roots. Here’s the Bungie Creed:

Bungie is a studio built first and foremost on the strengths and abilities of its people. We use the best technology and the best talent in the industry, assembled together in the best place, to create compelling games, stories and worlds.

With all these pieces in place, Bungie can concentrate on its ultimate goal:

7 Steps to World Domination.

1. Start independent gaming software company.
2. Dominate Mac platform: Launch assault on Windows platform.
3. Announce killer gaming title.
4. Acquire strangely addictive Chinese food company.
5. Recover Ling Ling’s head.
6. Stage bloody coup of new parent company.
7. Take over World. Shoot enemies into sun with giant slingshot.

If you’re interested in world domination, then you need to check out Bungie’s Jobs page. Their job listings are easy enough to browse that I don’t need to repeat them for you, but I will tell you that most of the opportunities are in Art and Engineering/Software Development. There are also positions in Production, Design, and Testing. You can apply by sending resumes (along with demo reels, portfolios, sample code, and anything else that demonstrates your skills) to jobs@bungie.com, and you really should dive deep into their website. It’s one of the best corporate websites that I’ve seen, and it’s loaded with information that potential employees will find fascinating.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Did you ever play Marathon back in the day?

Kaos Studios

Willy Franzen — Thu, 19 Feb 2009 15:41:25 +0000

If you’re sitting around playing video games instead of being a diligent job seeker, then you’re the reason that companies like Kaos Studios are on “a hiring binge.” I guess that’s a good thing because you’re creating jobs for other people. It won’t do much for you, but you can call it an act of selflessness. I continue to be amazed by how well video game companies are doing in such a rough economy. The connection between unemployment and gaming seems to be pretty clear (although the question of which comes first is yet to be answered). I’d rather you enroll in our job search training course, than buy a couple of new games, but I’d imagine that the folks at Kaos Studios would disagree. They’re a NYC based video game and their most recent title is Frontlines: Fuel of War – yes, it’s a shoot ‘em up.

Need Some Kaos at Work?

It’s nice to see a company that is as aggressive about hiring right now as Kaos Studios is. They seriously have Jobs stuff plastered all over their site. They have an unannounced project that they’re working on that they need help with, and that’s only the tip of the iceberg when it comes to reasons why you might want to work at Kaos. Others include Donut Fridays, Bagel Mondays, a breakroom with all kinds of games, shooting your boss with a paintball gun, and a creative and open environment. Those are just some selections from their Top 10 List, which doesn’t even include the top notch compensation and benefits that they offer their employees. Kaos is an indie studio that has a deal with a major publisher – THQ – which apparently is a good thing in the video game industry. There’s a lot more to know about Kaos Studios, but you should be able to find plenty of info on their website. Right now they’re looking for mostly Senior people, but they have a few job openings that should appeal to new or recent grads. These include Graphics Programmer, Animator, Multiplayer Programmer, HR Generalist, Level Designer, and Associate Level Designer. You can apply for each of these jobs directly from the job postings, and if you don’t see anything that suits you, you can send a resume and cover letter to Jobs@KaosStudios.com.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Have you ever played Frontlines: Fuel of War?

Blue Sky Studios

Willy Franzen — Mon, 26 Jan 2009 14:43:33 +0000

This weekend my Dad e-mailed me about a company that had just moved to Connecticut (where I’m originally from). Connecticut has been working hard to attract the movie industry to the state – they even have what is called a “Hollywood East Task Force” in Hartford – so it’s big news when a company like Blue Sky Studios makes a move to Connecticut because they’ve been bribed by tax credits. It certainly brings a lot of jobs to Connecticut (even though New York loses just as many.) As interesting as it is that Connecticut is trying to become “Hollywood East,” it’s not nearly as interesting as what Blue Sky Studios does. They “pioneer creatively superior photo-realistic, high-resolution, computer-generated character animation for the feature film, television and entertainment industries.” Put more simply, they’re behind feature films like Ice Age, Horton Hears a Who, and Robots, and some pretty cool shorts too.

Live in Blue Sky Country

If you want to work in Animation or Production, there are few, if any, better place to start than Blue Sky Studios. In fact, Blue Sky Country has a comprehensive FAQ on how to break into the industry. Whether you’re interested in a job with Blue Sky or at another animation house, this will tell you everything that you need to do (from high school all the way through college and beyond) to groom yourself to get a job in the Animation industry. That’s a great place to start, but if you’ve already checked off a few things on the list, it might be time to take a look at Blue Sky Studios’ Jobs (or to subscribe to their Jobs RSS feed). We browsed over the listings and tried to find the jobs that might be most suitable for new grads. We came across jobs like Production Assistant, Administrative Assistant (Production), Temporary Animator, Modeler, Character Software Developer, Cloth TD, Materials TD, Character TD, Character Designer, and Designer. It’s hard to say how many of these jobs can be considered entry level, because many of specific knowledge requirements that use jargon that we’re not familiar with, but you’ll have a good idea whether you qualify or not. To apply for a job with Blue Sky Studios, check out the individual job descriptions for specific instructions. Also, if you’d like to know more about what it’s like to work at Blue Sky Studios, you can check out their pages on their Environment and their Process.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Which of Blue Sky’s movies is your favorite?

Blizzard Entertainment

Willy Franzen — Thu, 20 Nov 2008 15:47:47 +0000

Some people seem to think that this financial crisis is a sign that the end of the world is coming. Well, I can assure you that it is not going to lead to the end of the World… of Warcraft. Why’s that? Because video game sales were up 18% from last October to this October. I guess when you can’t find a job, a new video game seems like a smart investment (you have a lot of time on your hands). I’d recommend that you invest in our job search training course instead, but that’s just my opinion. So, even if you’re frustrated by your job search, don’t give up on the World… of Warcraft. Not only can video games give you a way to blow off your steam while you’re getting pwned by your job search, they can also provide you ideas for new employers to look into. For instance, Irvine, CA based Blizzard Entertainment, the company behind World of Warcraft seems to be on a hiring binge. Maybe your 1337 gaming skills aren’t useless (and don’t tell me that you don’t need a job because you’re mining cybergold). Oh yeah, and if you’re playing Hello Kitty Island Adventure, you’re doing it wrong, n00b.

Looks Like You’re About to Get Pwned

Most of the jobs at Blizzard require technical expertise, but that’s what you’d expect from a major video game developer. There are also a ton of artistic/creative jobs and customer support jobs, and there are even some opportunities in HR. There’s no need for us to list the specific job opportunities, because Blizzard’s Jobs page is fantastic. They lay out and categorize all of their opportunities for you on one page, and they provide a drop down box that highlights jobs by specific function. That means that you can see all of the Software Engineer jobs highlighted across different departments. It’s really slick. Unfortunately, they don’t come right out and tell you which jobs can be considered entry level, but it’s actually not hard to tell just from looking at the job titles.

In addition to Blizzard’s sweet Jobs page, they also have a University Relations page. It offers some additional information for college students who want to work at Blizzard, and it includes a calendar of Blizzard’s upcoming campus recruiting events. Other than that, though, there isn’t much additional information. The page says

We’re hiring recent graduates in all areas, including programming, art, animation, and design. Please research the available positions and send your resume, cover letter, salary history, and demo reel (if applicable) to resumes@blizzard.com.

So, in other words, go look at the jobs page and see which positions you think that you’re a good fit for. There is a universityrelations@blizzard.com e-mail address, so you may want to direct any questions that you have there. Blizzard does a great job of selling their jobs, so you should be able to easily find everything that you need to know. Now get together a 1337 cover letter and resume and show Blizzard that you’re not a n00b.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Do you play WoW?

Marvel Enterprises

Willy Franzen — Tue, 26 Aug 2008 13:39:22 +0000

Are you a superhero whose alter ego happens to be looking for a job? Just for cover, of course, because superheroes don’t actually need to work. You’ve managed to keep it quiet through your 4 years in college, but now that you’re going off on your own, you need a good place to hide out when you’re not beating up villains and saving the world. Why not work at the last place that they’d ever expect you to work – Marvel Enterprises. It’s so obvious that it’s completely unobvious. In all seriousness if you’re not familiar with Marvel, they’re “one of the world’s most prominent character-based entertainment companies.” They made their name in comic books, but they’ve expanded into tv, movies, toys, video games, and more.

Are You an Entry-Level Superhero?

From what we hear, Marvel is the type of company that is filled with fanatics. If you don’t have a comic book collection, you’re probably not going to be a good fit. Because Marvel has such strong brand recognition and loyalty, it seems like they always get plenty of job applicants despite the fact that they may not be seen on any Best Places to Work lists any time soon. We don’t know this for sure, but this blog post about Why Women Don’t Work at Marvel is enlightening. We don’t think that you should write off Marvel just yet (that blog post is 2 years old), but you should certainly research with caution. You could also try to be the superhero who initiates change and brings equality to Marvel while fighting the “Howard Stern/partytime/fratboy/strip club” mentality.

So what kind of job opportunities are available at Marvel for new college graduates? There’s just one right now – it’s as an Advertising Coordinator. All of Marvel’s job openings are listed on Monster.com, which dissapoints us because we thought that superheroes were supposed to defeat evil monsters, not make them stronger. We’re not sure if this job is located at Marvel’s Los Angeles, CA office or their New York, NY office because they don’t list a location on the job posting (maybe it’s really at a secret superhero hideout), but we’re pretty sure that it’s at one of the two. You can apply online through Monster’s interface.

There’s also another employment option for the more creative Marvel Fans. You can submit your writing or art for consideration by their team. If they like what they see, you could be the next Marvel superstar. They get a ton of submissions, but if you’re good, it’s worth a shot. They are very specific about how you should submit your art or writing, so be sure to read over their submission guidelines very carefully. Just imagine having your own comic book series.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Who’s your favorite Marvel superhero? Leave a comment and let us know.

Pixar

Willy Franzen — Thu, 26 Jun 2008 13:45:50 +0000

In case you couldn’t tell by our post about Apple’s entry-level jobs, we’re really big Steve Jobs fans. That’s why we’re going to look at another one of the Steve’s projects (one that you probably didn’t even know was his) for exciting career opportunities for new grads. Steve Jobs started Apple, but left in 1985 after some disagreement with the board of directors. That left him with a lot of money and a lot of free time, so he did what any creative genius would do and purchased Lucasfilms’ computer graphics division from George Lucas for $10 million in 1986. It eventually turned into Pixar, which has put out computer generated classics such as Toy Story, A Bug’s Life, Monsters Inc., Finding Nemo, and The Incredibles. Pixar was bought by Disney in 2006, which made Steve Jobs Disney’s largest individual shareholder. Now that you know that Steve is even more of a genius than you previously thought he was, let’s look at what kind of entry-level opportunities Pixar offers.

Mike Wants You to Work for Pixar

This icon has to be one of our favorite ways a company has influenced visitors to it’s home page to check out the Careers section of their site. If you do end up clicking through, you’ll be given two options – Career Opportunities and University Programs. This is where Pixar stumbles a bit, the University Programs section looks like it’s just for internships, but it actually is for new grad too (although they don’t have any jobs listed for the new grads in this section). If you dig a little deeper, you’ll find that they offer information on their Technical Director Residency Program, which is somewhere between an internship and an entry-level hiring program (the jobs aren’t guaranteed to be permanent). Here’s more:

We have a new program titled Technical Director Resident. This position is similar to a Technical Director position, but specifically designed for recent graduates. To be eligible for a Technical Director Residency at Pixar, you must be a new graduate from a Bachelor’s, Master’s or PhD Program at the start of the residency. The goals of the program are to provide new graduates the opportunity to apply their academic training and knowledge to a real job at Pixar. Residents will work on Pixar’s films and will have the opportunity to build their skills and learn from our creative and talented workforce. All technical “Residents” will receive ongoing mentorship and training throughout their time at Pixar. The residency is a twelve-month program. Residents will be evaluated during their term and may be considered for ongoing employment, dependent on overall performance and Studio needs. Recent graduates interested in being a Technical Director are also welcome to apply for a regular full time position with Pixar. The Technical Director Resident position is just a great way to start off your career.

Here are some profiles of new grads who are now working at Pixar as well as some of Pixar’s Interns (this includes some pictures of the Pixar office). Positions that these new grads are currently working in besides the Technical Director Resident job include Animator, Software Engineer, Lighting Technical Director, and Layout. Since it appears that Technical Director Resident jobs aren’t available right now, we took a look at Pixar’s general job listings and found some recent listings that require little or no prior work experience. These include Story Production Assistant, Animator, and Creative Services Assistant. All jobs at Pixar are located in Emeryville, CA, and to apply, make sure that you follow their submission guidelines since a demo reel or portfolio is necessary for almost all of the jobs.

Also, if you want to learn more about working at Pixar, you can check out this interview with a Pixar Animator, or you can look at Pixar’s profile on Yelp (don’t forget to check out Yelp’s entry-level jobs too).

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

What’s your favorite Pixar movie? Leave a comment.

Armstrong White

Willy Franzen — Tue, 03 Jun 2008 13:32:05 +0000

People don’t typically associate technology and innovation with Detroit and the auto industry. Whether it’s deserved or not, American car manufacturers have a pretty weak reputation these days. It’s unfortunate because the decline of the Big Three has seriously hurt the entire Michigan economy. That’s why you see these commercials with Jeff Daniels that try to sell businesses on a Michigan location. Armstrong White is exactly the type of company that is going to bring jobs back to Michigan. They have built a business in Bloomfield Hills, MI that directly serves the auto industry, but is also high tech and extremely innovative. No, they haven’t developed some sort of alternative energy technology. They specialize “in rendering reality out of automotive 2D and 3D assets and digital landscapes for print, broadcast and interactive mediums.”

Did You Draw Cars As a Kid?

If you were one of those kids who was always drawing cars, then working at Armstrong White will probably be your dream job. They take technical drawings and renderings from the automotive manufacturers whom they work with and turn them into lifelike images and videos. They have a lot of work displayed on their home page, so take a look at that to get a better sense of exactly what Armstrong White is all about. The work is so impressive that we couldn’t pick just a few to link to, you need to look at their entire portfolio.

Although most of what Armstrong White does is extremely artistic and technical (read: way over our heads), there’s not much more that we can say to explain their business. We do recommend that you take a look at this interview with Eric Bruneau, who is an Executive Vice President / Creative Director at Armstrong White as well as a four time Academy Award nominee. You might also want to take a look at Armstrong White’s YouTube channel. If you want to get a sense of what kinds of people work for Armstrong White, you can check out their employee profiles, which include pictures and some biographical data about their employees.

Armstrong White has a number of job openings, which they list both on their Jobs page and on Twitter. It’s hard to tell which jobs are entry-level, since we’re not familiar with the jargon, so we’re going to mention all the jobs that don’t list any experience requirements. Armstrong White is looking for a full-time Retoucher and for a freelance Geometry Prep, Environment Artist, and Flash Programmer. They also include that they’re always interested in Animators, Compositors, Lighters, Modelers, Retouchers, and Riggers. If that’s you, don’t be afraid to give them a cold call, or maybe it’s a lukewarm call since they said they’re “always interested.”

To apply for a job at Armstrong White, you’re going to need to include a cover letter, resume, and portfolio or reel. You can send that (and any other inquiries) to jobs@armstrong-white.com or

Armstrong White
ATTN: Mark DeRidder
800 W. Long Lake Rd. #100
Bloomfield Hills, MI 48302

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Which of the things in Armstrong White’s portfolio impresses you the most? Tell us in the comments.

AngelVision Technologies

Willy Franzen — Thu, 06 Mar 2008 13:00:34 +0000

Sales is a field that is an odd mix of art and science. A lot of things that should work don’t, and a lot of things that shouldn’t work do. In fact, you’d probably be amazed at what tactics most effectively convert people from readers to buyers. Getting your online visitors to read is one way to get them to convert, but Portland, Oregon based AngelVision Technologies has found a much better way to help businesses make sales. They create “impact movies” that go beyond the normal text-based marketing that drives most online business. These animations are exceptional sales tools, and AngelVision has made a big business out of developing them – their revenue has increased 1,441.2% over the past three years.

To get a sense of what AngelVision Technologies does, you really need to look around their website. You can look at their list of testimonials, clients, and sample movies, or you can watch AngelVision’s own impact movie. You’ll quickly realize that these aren’t the most beautiful flash animations, nor are they the kinds of advertisements that will get you searching for them on YouTube. AngelVision’s animations are created with one goal in mind, and that’s converting sales, often in a business to business setting. Here’s why they work.

AngelVision is a bit quirky, from what we can tell, but they still look like a great place to work. First off, their website isn’t all that sharp looking for a company that is in the business of designing things. We’ll give them a break, since they’re the first to say that they’re not about being flashy (despite the fact that Adobe Flash is their preferred medium). What’s more interesting is that AngelVision Technologies Founder and President Michael Jingozian is running for President with hopes of securing the Green Party, Reform, and Libertarian nominations. We also are a bit befuddled by their careers page, which has great content, but also has a few items thrown in there that must have been added with the intent of checking to make sure that you’re paying attention.

For instance, AngelVision’s job openings include: Flash Developers, Telemarketers, Customer Service, Project Managers, Picture Hanger, Office/IT Support, and Messaging Experts. Or, you could look at their list of desired qualifications which include gems like “Must be able to kiss-up and say ‘yes’ to anyone, and then actually follow-through on those promises.” and “Knowledge of sprinkler system repair and sushi-making are a definite plus.” Obviously, having a good sense of humor is important if you’re going to apply for a job at Angelvision Technologies. Then again, having a good sense of humor is like being a self-starter – everyone thinks it applies to them.

We like this approach to a careers page because it gets the self-selection process started off early. Those of you who aren’t amused by AngelVision’s antics won’t apply, and those of you who are laughing through the job descriptions will send out a resume right away. This is smart, because it saves time for everyone. It also sounds like AngelVision’s interview process takes a similar approach to finding people who will be a good fit without investing a lot of time in the process. AngelVision doesn’t explicitly say that they have entry-level opportunities available, but the attitude of their careers page makes it pretty obvious that they’ll be open to anyone who is talented and has the right personality traits, regardless of experience.

AngelVision’s online recruiting message is in a lot of (good) ways a caricature of what we think most companies should adopt. AngelVision certainly goes over the top, but they’re honest and authentic about who they are and what they’re looking for. Instead of having to spend hours of research trying to find dirt on them, you can just visit their careers page to get a vision of their corporate culture. If more companies would be this upfront, they’d waste a lot less time and money (their own and the candidate’s) on candidates who aren’t good matches.

Note: On April 25th we revisited entry-level jobs at AngelVision Technologies.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

How do you feel about a company whose CEO is running for president?