Arty's GDC report 2019

Post date: Apr 06, 2019 3:49:35 AM

Everyone is put into a different bin:

This year GDC was a drastically different experience than the one last year. There was a multitude of small and big changes in how people would approach or react to candidates or portfolios. One of the more pleasant changes was the fact that companies were more willing to review portfolios and consider seniors as candidates for positions as opposed to last year’s GDC when everyone was looking for internships. With that in mind there is a handful of different filtering acts that take place during a conversation with a recruiter. Some are more obvious than others and many more may exist that a potential candidate is completely unaware of. From occupation choice, willingness to relocate, years of experience to whether or not a candidate has a green card. Following a multitude of conversations with different recruiters some companies are far more forgiving than others. One of the more surprising statements that I heard was from a Sony recruiter who told me that Sony either hires interns or professionals with a minimum of 5 years of experience but nobody in between. A Ubisoft recruiter also said that unless there is prior 2 years of industry experience Ubisoft will not be considering international candidates for a position. TLDR, have a green card, kids.

Importance of summits and roundtables:

This year was the first time I had a chance to attend summits. My main target was being present for the entirety of Tech Artist bootcamp conducted throughout Tuesday. In general it was an invaluable experience having a chance to listen to some of the technical marvels and clever ways that other studios or individuals employed to work around a certain problem. Armed with new knowledge I was walking out of many talks eager to try to implement what was discussed into my own projects. One of the most important takeaways for me was just how much the industry relies on Houdini. Every second talk would bring up Houdini in one way or another. From procedural assets and destructibles to visual effects and other pipelines Houdini allows artists to set up. So what am I going to do with this information as an up-and-coming Tech Artist? I am going to choose Houdini as the base for my final project this semester. With companies fighting over artists that have knowledge of Houdini it is going to be an important asset in my portfolio.

A way to mingle and wow:

As a way of bringing everything back full circle we are going to return back to the first observation. With many companies having many different ways of dispatching candidates it becomes vital to find a way to differentiate yourself from the masses. Ringling provides a recognizable name which may serve as a conversation starter but from that point something has to distract and captivate a recruiter or an employee of the company while your carefully position yourself behind them ready to land a critical blow with the weight of your portfolio over their head. This can be done through a published article, a playable game at the booth, a flashy business card or something as simple as noticing that a person you’re speaking to is named Kirill and making an educated guess based on their accent that both of you come from the land where 15 degrees in March is the perfect weather to go tanning on a local beach. As a result from this point on I will be approaching every work and networking related task from a standpoint of creating something unique that other candidates don’t have. An example of that would be my procedurally generated soundtrack system.

Finding new ways to experience the old:

This year I had the opportunity to work as a representative of Ringling's GDC booth. Putting my conversational skills and the choice of my cologne to the test. It was an interesting change of pace to have the ability to attract people to you rather than chasing them around. From other students and aimless roamers to recruiters looking for talent there is a lot of people out there to converse with. One of the highlights was being able to showcase student work to recruiters from SledgeHammer and Rockstar Games. By the end of a quick presentation and a brief conversation they walked away ending up asking for business cards and recommendations for perspective candidates. By the end of the day quite a number of contacts were made and it was an interesting change of pace compared to the last GDC. The only downside to this opportunity was the stress put on my metal knee standing around for a couple of hours a day. Now that I'm back from GDC it is time to follow up with all the connections made and leverage any potential opportunities.