Getting the J-O-B Part 3: Professionalism in Animation…or Anywhere

This is the third post in a series of getting a job storyboarding professionally. I started with Training, then Building a Storyboard Portfolio and now it’s on to Professionalism.

Here is Karen J Lloyd’s official definition of professionalism:

Show up. Do the work. Don’t be an ass.

Patent pending. 😉

Sounds simple enough, doesn’t it? But I’ve seen people in animation school and on their first jobs (and beyond) violate one, two or even all three of these principals. It boggles the mind. When you get that first job, great. Now you have to keep the job.

Mind you, this could apply to any industry or job. I mean if you were an employer, wouldn’t this sum up what you’d expect at the very least out of an employee?

Let’s break it down, shall we?

SHOW UP

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When I was teaching, students would just saunter in 20, 30, or in the rare cases over 60 minutes late. No excuse. No guilt. Some would think because they ‘worked late’ the night before, it was justified. Well, it’s not. And let’s face it, some of them were probably playing video games all night.

The instructors are there for a reason. To lecture, give assignments and offer feedback on your work. If you’re not there, how can you get any valuable feedback? You should be getting as much as you can. That’s how you really learn.

And don’t think instructors don’t take mental notes. They do. I know I did.

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Getting the J-O-B Part 2: Building a Storyboard Portfolio

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Hell Week is over. I’m in recovery and I’ve promised this post, so here it is. Finally.

So far I’ve talked about Training for getting a job storyboarding professionally. Now it’s on to the portfolio.

What do you need for a storyboard portfolio?

Storyboards.

Sorry to sound so obvious, but you’d be surprised how some people expect to get a job storyboarding without any good samples. This is especially true when they’re trying to break into the animation industry. “But I can draw, see?” Um, sorry but that’s not enough.

ON A GENERAL NOTE

Students tend to put a little bit of everything into their first portfolio. Animation, character designs, layout, life drawing, backgrounds, storyboards and maybe a few other things.

On one hand it could be good to show all you can do. But on the other, it can also look like you don’t know what you want. And that can hurt you. The person trying to fill a position might pass you by because they just don’t know how to classify you. So you could be doing yourself more harm than good by including everything.

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My First Tag: 7 Strange But True Facts

Well, this is a first. I got ‘tagged’ by Heather over at Cottage Blogger. This is when bloggers write about the same topic and kind of ‘pass it on’ to other bloggers. It helps get your blog seen by some who might never look for it. Kinda cool.

The subject is ‘7 Strange But True Facts About Me’ . So if you’re interested, here we go:

  1. I’ve had a driver’s license for almost 22 years and have never owned a car. Frankly, I’ve barely driven. If you ever see me behind the wheel, you might want to steer clear.

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