Unit 3: Industry Preparation

Instead of applying to every single vacancy that I’m not even qualified for, I’ve selected a few studios I see myself thriving in and tailored my cover letters for. General advice for cover letters is to keep it as short as possible. Another great piece of advice is to search the company on LinkedIn and try to find the name of the director – someone will end up reading the letter, and addressing them by their name and not the registered company name feels more personal and shows that you took the extra step to research them. As I’ve done the research on the companies I want to work for, I’ve also mentioned specific projects or clients I really liked.

In terms of portfolio content, the most important piece of work is the animation showreel. Depending on what I’m applying to, the clips should show the role I aim to get. For me, I’m aiming for a 2D animator role, so I should be including fluid animation, lip sync, and an overall process from rough to clean – anything that will demonstrate my ability to execute movement. It also helps to include variety, such as work for other people. Always put the strongest work at the front and the strongest at the end of the video, and an intro animation to draw people in.

My website + portfolio: https://kiddykirsten2a40.myportfolio.com/work