jayneedsajob

[jayneedsajob]

Final resume that was submitted to Blizzard for the Concept Art intern application

[jayneedsajob]

Final revised letter of agreement as of 12/9/18

[jayneedsajob]

Cover Letter Final

Jay Qin

603 E. Huron St. Unit 215

Ann Arbor, MI 48104

Nov 30, 2018

Dear Blizzard/Overwatch Team,

It has always been a dream of mine to work for a video game company that is as passionate about its players as it is about its games. As a huge Blizzard enthusiast and prospective concept artist, the opportunity to intern for such a diverse and representative game like Overwatch would be a dream come true. In an industry where a lot of identities are underrepresented, I see Blizzard making an effort to be inclusive and diverse. That is exactly the kind of company I would feel proud to work for, and a company that inspires my work every day.

As I detail in my resume, I have been working freelance on illustration with a concentration in concept and visual communication for the past several years, in addition to studying concept art on my own outside of university. Through my creative work I strive to represent a variety of aesthetic fantasy characters that are as real as they are imaginative. This shows in my portfolio, which features both personal skin concepts for existing characters and characters I have developed independently. I also have years of experience with visual software, including Photoshop, Illustrator, and InDesign just to name a few.

In addition, I have always been active in the gaming communities in my university, learning a bit of every step of video game production and earning a leadership position in our gaming club. Being one of the officers of the club, I have the experience with both creating media for the organization and cultivating a feeling of community and inclusivity within the club. I really value welcoming, collaborative spaces, and my work as a peer educator has allowed me to really thrive and embody those communities.

From my years of experience gaming to my visual communication skills, I think I could contribute a variety of new ideas and concepts to the video game, while maintaining the diverse and rich world that Overwatch is so wonderful at building. My work can be found at https://jaychi.myportfolio.com.

I will follow up at the end of December, but please do not hesitate to reach me at (330)4132495 or jaychiart@gmail.com in the meantime if you have any further questions or request any other information.

Best Regards,

Jay Qin

Enclosure: Resume, Portfolio

[jayneedsajob]

Informational Interview #3

Recently, I had the pleasure of speaking to Rich Liverance at the Stamps Career Bootcamp. Rich is a Stamps alum who currently works as an editor at Dreamworks. I was particularly interested in speaking to him since he works in an industry that operates similarly to the one I want to work in. He is primarily an animator, which is not exactly what I’m looking to do but is something I’m interested in as a potential career path. In addition, he was also a summer intern for Nickelodeon and someone who hires for Dreamworks so I felt he had a lot of very good advice for me.

During the networking portion of the career bootcamp, I got to sit one-on-one with him for quite a long time, with occasional other students coming by. As a result, we got into pretty deep and insightful conversations about internships, applying, and interviewing. Although I hadn’t exactly planned to interview Rich, it kinda ended up turning out that way. I didn’t do a lot of prior research as a result, but I got to know a lot about him throughout the evening.

Some of the major topics we discussed were his experience as a Stamps student, his internship at Nickelodeon, and his job search that led him to Dreamworks. He talked about his portfolio being lacking as a Stamps alum, and how he got his foot in the door at Dreamworks as production assistant before moving up to work as an editor. He also even took the time to look at my resume and give me some tips as someone who hires at Dreamworks.

Rich gave me so much good advice and information, I feel like I have a ton of takeaways. First, he emphasized how we can use Stamps’ broad education to an advantage, and use the fact that we are knowledgeable in a lot of areas to differentiate us from other candidates. In addition, he encouraged us to take advantage of Stamps resources before leaving. He also told us about how he was jobless for 5 months after graduation until he applied to Dreamworks and ended up moving out about two weeks later. I think paths are not set, and the fact that he applied to hundreds of jobs before landing in Dreamworks made me feel a lot better about potential failures. We won’t always be accepted, but that doesn’t mean we can’t do it.

After the bootcamp, I connected with Rich on both instagram and LinkedIn. I will make sure to send him a thank you for his time, and he also offered to give some advice if we ever needed it.

[jayneedsajob]

Informational Interview #2

Recently I was able to speak to a Stamps alumni, Marc Morisseau, who is currently working on motion capture for video games and movies. As someone who is looking to work for the video game industry, I had a lot of questions for Marc about transitioning from Michigan to the real world, and how he navigated that through his time here at Stamps. Although I do not specifically do 3D animation like him, I think he had a lot of valuable insights into preparing for life outside of college and within that specific industry.

I was lucky enough to be connected to Marc through John Luther’s suggestion, and within a few e-mails we scheduled a phone conversation. As he had worked on many games that I was familiar with, I knew immediately the work that he did. I also talked to John about his current projects and his experiences. Marc and I spoke for nearly an hour, and I really enjoyed my talk with him. I think it was extremely helpful for me, especially the tips he gave me as a student of Stamps.

We covered topics from his time in the art school to daily life at a video game studio. I expressed my struggle as I felt that Stamps had little to no classes suited for my career path, and he shared similar struggles. He told me of his time in college always hanging out in the Dude and working on motion capture whenever he had the chance outside of class. In addition, he also gave me program recommendations and suggestions for projects I could work on outside of class that would help with the specific position I wanted within the video game industry.

One of the most helpful takeaways and topics we touched on was his tips for getting into the video game industry. He covered the importance of networking, of familiarizing myself with all aspects of video game production, and he especially emphasized the importance of being yourself in interviews. I think my talk with him further reinforced my dream to work as a concept artist for a game company. He told me about the environment of video games studios, explaining how being surrounded by creatives was a great place to work and thrive. He told me both the benefits and downsides of working in the industry, and he was very honest with me.

After this talk, we have maintained communication through texting. He offered himself as a resource for me, and I talk to him often about his recommendations and his input on my progress. I think he has been a great resource and a cheerleader almost for me, as he has calmed a lot of my anxieties about where I am in my studies and where I should be. I think talking to him has helped me see a clearer path now to my goal that I didn’t have before, and I really appreciate that. I will continue talking to him as a mentor, and maybe one day I’ll be lucky enough to work with him.

[jayneedsajob]

Informational Interview #1

Recently I spoke with Gediminas Einikis, the lead artist for indie video game company SomaSim and freelance illustrator. As someone who wants to work as an illustrator--specifically concept artist--in the video game industry, I thought hearing from someone in that field firsthand would really help me in my career path. In addition, I have always been caught between the benefits of working freelance versus working for a corporation, and as someone who is working both simultaneously I thought his input would help me think about things better.

I knew about Gediminas because he is my former roommate’s boyfriend. I asked her to connect me to him so I could have a formal conversation about his professional life. We had a call when he was free to have a conversation about his work and his insights, and we had a long, really informative conversation about his career as an artist. Prior to the conversation, I only vaguely knew about what he did. I had seen some of his art on social media and knew him a little from brief interactions when he visited my roommate. Before our conversation I had my connection give me a little more background information so I could formulate effective questions for our talk.

We spoke for almost an hour about a variety of subjects, from his path to his career to his day to day life to his advice for me as an aspiring artist in the same field. He talked a lot about the difference between his freelancing experiences versus working in an office, corporation type of environment. In addition, he gave me a lot of information on how he went from barely doing art in high school to attending an art college with no destination in mind, to going in a different direction from his university program, to finally reaching where he is today. He also gave me a lot of good advice on portfolios, establishing oneself as a concept artist, and the pros and cons of working freelance.

Ultimately, I think I gained a lot from this experience. My major takeaways are mostly from his advice to me as a current art student. He gave me a lot of tips on how to create work for my portfolio, like participating in online challenges from websites like ArtStation. He also reinforced the importance of showing variety in my portfolio, especially for concept art. He emphasized the value of having a targeted portfolio while still showcasing my ability to design more than just one aspect of a character. I think talking to him really inspired me to keep on doing the work that I am doing, and it reinforced the direction that I’m going.

Towards the end of the conversation, he encouraged me to ask him questions whenever I needed to and offered his help in looking over my work and portfolio. I will continue keeping in contact with him throughout my path, as a sort of mentor to talk to and discuss my work and concerns with. I have his contact info and we can message back and forth.

[jayneedsajob]

Informational Interview #5

Today I had the chance to have a short conversation with Dominic Cianciolo, a UM alum who currently works as Story & Voiceover Director at NetherRealm Studios, a game company with titles like Mortal Kombat and Injustice. He went to UM for Business and Law, so his creative practice started post-education. I was interested in speaking to him on his current experiences in an executive position at a video game company and on his path learning creative practice outside of classes.

John Luther connected me to him, and we emailed back and forth before finally connecting over the phone. Prior to speaking to him I looked up some of his work on his website and read a little about him on his LinkedIn website. Most of our conversation was about his tips for the industry and about his personal experiences working for NetherRealm.

When talking to him about concept art positions, he gave me a lot of info about the competitiveness within the industry, specifically within his company. A lot of concept art is now being outsourced to other countries, with very few teams inhouse. He emphasized the importance of having the technical skill to be able to stand out in such a small industry. In addition, he encouraged me to really focus my portfolio and studies if I was looking specifically into concept art. He also gave me the same advice for my writing internship, making sure to focus on creative writing for a creative writing internship.

My main takeaways weren’t a lot, as I realized after speaking to him for a little that a lot of his experiences were pretty different than mine, given both the age difference and the different way that his company works as opposed to the ones I’m interested in. For sure emphasizing the importance of targeting portfolios. He also reminded me further how competitive my field is, which was less than reassuring but definitely reinforced my need to improve and constantly work. He also mentioned the importance of a mentor, even in addition to learning tools like YouTube and other websites, and that made me even more grateful for Marc’s help.

I will definitely email him thanking him for his time in the middle of his busy schedule, and he also said I was welcome to send things his way to look over if he has time. It’s nice knowing someone pretty high up in the industry.

[jayneedsajob]

Informational Interview #4

This past Thursday I had the pleasure of eating dinner with and speaking to the Stamps Lecture Series guest, Lina Iris Viktor. Lina is a British-Liberian artist who creates beautiful works with 24 karat gold, fusing together craft, photography, painting, and performance art. A lot of her work focuses on and incorporates visibility for Liberian history and rejection of Eurocentric ideas.

I’m lucky to have been invited to eat dinner with her after the official lecture. At the beginning of the semester I did research into all of the visiting lecture speakers, and Lina was definitely one of the ones I was most looking forward to. I like the way she incorporated identity into her art, and honestly her pieces were just breathtaking to me. I had taken a look at her website and portfolio, and it fueled my interest in her experience as an artist.

At the dinner we spoke on a variety of topics, from living life as a creative to what fuels us as artists. She talked to me about closing and opening doors, and opportunities coming and going. Honestly I was at a pretty stressful point in my art career, and she gave me some very good advice I think I really needed to hear. She told me that if something didn’t work out, or if something I applied for didn’t want me, then it just wasn’t the right fit or it wasn’t meant to be. Rather than being sad about it, I just needed to look for another door, another window of opportunity. You never know how they’ll come around, after all. I think she helped me keep it in perspective that I didn’t need to just get caught up in one way or one path. In fact, she emphasized the fact that artists and creatives are great at finding new doors, new ways.

I think she helped refine for me a lot of how I think about myself in relation to my professional practice (forgive the pun). She helped me find courage as an artist, relating to a lot of how we think in similarity. That is, she emphasized strengths and ways of thinking that artists share, and I really agreed with her. I think she has a lot of amazing insight on individuality and self-expression, and I think she helped me a lot with my confidence as a maker.

Contacting her is a bit daunting to be honest, as she is such a famous existence to me, but I will definitely follow up thanking her with an e-mail. She may have already been at Michigan, but she didn’t have to take the time and speak to me like she did. She also expressed interest in returning to Michigan, and I offered to show her around when she returns.

[jayneedsajob]

Q LTD and Looking Forward

Recently in class when Q Ltd visited, I had the chance to sit down with Emily Cedar and talk about my web portfolio. The main points she encouraged me to work on were primarily little tweaks here and there. First, including more info in my About page in addition to adding some captions describing my art and their context. She complimented me on my navigation which was pretty straightforward, and just mentioned some small clarity points here and there with font size and hover colors.  I have already gone in and made all the changes she mentioned, and I think my website is pretty clear and easy to navigate.

Looking to class on Monday, I think I primarily want to work on my STAR interviewing and general interviewing tips/structure. I feel that everything else has been pretty set especially since my applications were all due this past Friday,

[jayneedsajob]

STAR Interview Story

My original story lacked substance, so here is a new and better thought out example Skill: A lot of work in a very short amount of time

Situation- Many internship applications were due in a month and I did not have a good enough portfolio

Task- To learn as much as I could and create the best portfolio in order to get my dream job

Action- I used all my free time to study methods and practice illustrating for the specific field I was looking into. I also spent all my time outside of class either preparing my portfolio or learning a skill that I felt would be helpful in that job.

Result- As a result, not only did I produce a lot of better art in a short amount of time, I also learned a lot that I can use in the future. In this one month I feel I have improved so much, both in my visual skills but also in time management and multitasking. Even if I don’t know the result of the applications yet, I think this experience helped me grow as an artist. It helped me better understand my strengths and my limitations, and how to capitalize on those when I have a lot to do in a very short amount of time. For example: I developed and polished my digital painting process, and now I have a structure that allows me to be more flexible and faster at illustrating.  

[jayneedsajob]

Revisions to Letter of Agreement as of 11/25/2018

[jayneedsajob]

Sample Letter of Agreement (first draft, was not in class for suggested changes)

[jayneedsajob]

STAR Interviewing

Example: Meeting deadlines-

Situation- Performing international orientation as part of my job at ETC, just returned from studying abroad and I needed to memorize all of my lines in a week so I could perform properly

Task- My responsibility was to memorize all of my lines and my blocking in time for the show and early enough to get practice in

Action- As a result, I made an effort to memorize outside of rehearsal. I came to rehearsal early and left late, I worked with fellow cast members who also needed to memorize by meeting up outside of rehearsal and running lines. I made notes on all my blocking and parts I had difficulty memorizing. I made resources for myself to reference and help me better memorize, like recording the lines and playing them on repeat or writing down the lines over and over again

Result- I had all my lines and cues perfectly memorized pretty quickly and the orientation show went without a hitch. The students really enjoyed the show, and I was proud of all the work I put in in such a short amount of time.

[jayneedsajob]

Top 10 Takeaways

1. Get your foot in the door

Recently at the Stamps Bootcamp I had the pleasure of speaking to several professional alums and about their experiences as artists. One of the artists I spoke to most often was Rich Liverance, an editor at Dreamworks. He emphasized a point that really stuck with me, which was making sure to get our foot in the door. He described his experience entering Dreamworks as a production assistant then working up to an editor and showing them what he was capable of. There are many arrogant artists who refuse having any position besides the top ones, and he noted that having that early or junior job gets you into the company, then you can work your way up to the position you want. I think as someone who’s looking to work for very competitive and famous companies, this is really relevant.

2. Make use of your resources

Another point Rich stressed was making the most of our resources while we are still attending school. Here, we have studios and technology and access to multiple methods of making. However, once you graduate and perhaps return home, you won’t have any access to those materials unless you buy them yourself (which can be very expensive). Taking advantage of the art books and 3D printing and art software installed in the Dude will help us in our making and learning before we leave college and the safety net of school.

3. Emphasize the well-rounded education

One of my primary concerns was making myself stand out when typically students from Stamps do not have as strong of a portfolio as students from more concentrated technical art schools. I think several alums gave me the advice of focusing on the benefits of having the well-rounded education at Stamps. Rather than putting all our eggs in one basket, we are familiar with and can use multiple mediums and programs, making us familiar with more than just one type of making. This is a strength. This gives you flexibility in the professional industry and is something we can take advantage of and talk about when marketing ourselves in interviews.

4. Don’t cheat yourself

During the freelancing session, I had concerns over how much to charge when we’re still students or perhaps considered not as professional. Rose talked about the importance of not cheating ourselves, and asking for their budget first. In this way, they throw the number out, and maybe that’s much higher than you were expecting so you go with that. In any case, the client is commissioning you specifically for a reason, and it’s important not to undermine yourself. In addition how much you charge also affects other artists, and making sure clients don’t expect free art.

5. First impressions in interviews matter!

A vital nugget I learned from the interviewing session was the first glance in an interview. Rich specifically referenced the fact that from the second you walk in, they are judging you. Seeing how you behave, if you would fit in to the work environment, etc. Along these lines he encouraged us to do our research into the company beforehand. How employees typically dress, level of casualness, and so on and so forth. Nothing is more awkward than walking into an informal company with a suit on and looking stiff and out of place. He even encouraged us to call and ask if we aren’t sure what to wear to the interview.

6. Learn from and connect with artists you admire

We are all fellow artists! We should support each other. Rose really touched on this point and encouraged us to reach out to those we want to learn from. Asking them about how they got there, their process, etc., can be very helpful especially when freelancing. In addition, she mentioned the possibility of collaboration that can result from contacting them. Worse comes to worst, they don’t reply. We have nothing to lose, and so much to potentially gain.

7. Freelance contracts are your safety net- use it wisely

In the world of freelance, you are your own everything. There is no company or contract binding you, but also none to protect you. This is why freelance contracts are so important. Having something written down can really be a safety net to ensure that you do not get screwed over, and it holds both parties to be liable. In knowing this, it’s important then to make sure to flesh out the contract, from cost to material to even the amount of consultations. There should be an end date, as we don’t want to get stuck in a loop of working on this piece forever. Protect yourself!

8. Work on projects on your own time! Show that you care

Especially in a school like Stamps, it’s important to work on things that you’re passionate about outside of class. Not only does this help you improve as an artist, but it also shows potential employers that you care about what you’re doing. Even if your work in that field isn’t the best, you can still own that you spent a lot of time and energy working on it, which means you would continue doing so. To a company, this shows passion and dedication- something they are looking for!

9. Tailor your answers but also don’t lie

An interesting point I heard about the interview process was making sure to be honest, but also with a twist. For example, we shouldn’t lie about skills we don’t possess, only to get hired and found out then probably immediately fired. There is, however, some leeway, as you want to tailor your answers to the company. Rich gave the example of his interview with Dreamworks, in which they asked him his favorite animated movie and he answered, of course, with a Dreamworks movie. He said that although it wasn’t actually his favorite movie, it’s relevant to the job and something they want to hear. Dreamworks probably would not want to hear as much about an amazing animated movie from Disney.

10. Don’t freak out

Finally, I think one of the best things I heard and will stick to was an emphasis on not panicking. I know it sounds obvious, but for real though. Most of us won’t get a job immediately after college that we will do for the rest of our lives. Everyone has their own path to things. Rich explained how he had 5 months on unemployment where he lived at home and applied to hundreds of companies before he was suddenly hired at Dreamworks and immediately moved. Life works in funny ways, so not immediately having an internship or job is okay. Don’t freak out, you got this.

[jayneedsajob]

Updated  resume with most recent feedback:

changed font

added bullets

Color change

fixed spacing and wording

[jayneedsajob]

Web Portfolio Changes

For my web portfolio, I want to update the old art with newer, better pieces. In addition, I want to fix some of the formatting and spacing issues within the categories. I want to flesh out the categories and make sure they are targeted for specific opportunities.

[jayneedsajob]

Specific Targeted Opportunities

1.) Riot Art Intern

https://www.riotgames.com/en/work-with-us/job/1313993

2.) Blizzard Intern

https://careers.blizzard.com/en-us/students/internships

3.) Square Enix Japan Internship

https://www.jp.square-enix.com/recruit/intern/

4.) Activision Internship

https://activision.referrals.selectminds.com/jobs/art-animation-intern-2745

5.) Warner Bros. Art Internship

https://careers.warnermediagroup.com/TGWebHost/jobdetails.aspx?partnerid=391&siteid=36&jobId=814779&Codes=NIND

6.) Sony Intership

https://www.sony.com/en_us/SCA/careers/internships.html

7.) 2019 Japan Internship Initiative

https://www.ii.umich.edu/cjs/undergraduate-students/japan-internship-initiative/2019-japan-internship-initiative.html