Alisha L Animation (LAU): Professional Practise 3: Researching Career Paths

Professional Practise 3
Researching Career Paths

As part of my Study Task of my exit strategy, I decided to explore possible career paths and do some further research into ways I might need to tailor my show-reel/portfolio for roles.

Entry Level Animation Positions would consist of "Junior" titles in the job description. It's also worth looking at the years of experience required for the role. Blue-Zoo Animation tends to offer entry positions, which they label on their careers website. They also frequently post positions to their Twitter page!
I will frequently check this page for positions.

In their most recent tweet, they talk about the day-to-day focus of animators, which timing seems to be important, acting choices and meeting deadlines. I think I have met these skills within my 603 module, which will be evidenced in my portfolio. They have labelled both "Entry-Level" and "Junior" positions separately, which leads me to believe that they think Junior positions require slightly more experience than "Entry-Level" animators.
In addition to this, I found an opportunity on LinkedIn with Boulder Media, which are an Animation Studio based in Ireland. They are starting an Animation Training Bootcamp for graduates, which I will be trying to apply for. I had previously tried to apply for some positions in Ireland before, however because of the UK no longer being an EU Member, they specify that EU Citizens can only apply. I will still attempt to apply anyways, as it doesn't state where you need to be based.

In a talk with Golden Wolf, they stated that they frequently offer Internships, which is something I would like to consider. I don't believe my show-reel completely fits within their style of animation, however it is something I would like to consider. Something I could develop is a separate show-reel specifically for their style of animation. This would require me to develop further character animation for my show-reel after graduating.

I messaged Isobel Stenhouse on LinkedIn to talk to her about how she changed her roles so easily within industry. She was incredibly kind and supportive and provided really great information about going forward. She told me about just having a specific focus now, to put my energy into and then once I am in industry, I have the ability to switch roles if I'd like to. This is one of the reasons why I would like to, whilst improving my 2D Animation, continue to develop my Concept Art, Illustration and Storyboarding skills.

After Kate Lander's talk, she spoke about Storyboarding Apprenticeships (Level 7), which is a possibility of something I could do. I haven't heard anything about this apprenticeship since Kate Lander's talk, however she had mentioned that we needed to contact studios enquiring about this.

Alisha L Animation (LAU)