10 Tips on applying to a mograph job - Repost from Mograph
This is a repost from a thread over at mograph.net. Some good stuff listed here, so I thought I'd share:
1- the link to your reel / portfolio should be one of the first things
that is seen on your cover letter.
2- make sure your link works.
3- in your cover letter, be brief, be to the point, and for the love of all things holy do not gush about what a perfect opportunity for you
this job is, or that you are sure that you are a good fit for the team.
it makes you sound desperate, and even if you happen to actually be
desperate, you don't want to come across like you are in your cover
letter.
4- spell check. please. for the children.
5- do not ramble on, you aren't being graded on the length of your cover letter. especially if it references anything mentioned in #3.
6- your reel should start with your best work. while i appreciate some build up etc, i am looking at hundreds of reels every time i hire
someone. im gonna close the window and next you if the first thing i see
is some mediocre student project that was put in so you had enough
material to fill out the 4:56 techno track that you threw at your
montage.
7- edit. editing. please at least show that you tried to edit your work. a truly great song does not need to use every key on the piano, if you
know what i mean. 1-2 minutes is about perfect for a reel, don't feel
like it needs to be any longer than that. also, if you are going to use a
music track for a montage, try and cut to the beat. it shows some
polish and effort that will help you stand out.
8- on your website, make sure the navigation is clear and easy for me to find your reel. please also make sure your reel is in a common format /
codec. quicktime or vimeo are wonderful, but you can't reasonably
expect me to be able to view your SheerVideo Pro X file.
9- this is just a personal preference, but if you insist on creating a reel for each season / year, make sure that when i see it, it is
currently that season / year. it is just about spring 2010 now, i'm not
sure that i am looking at your most current work if your reel says fall
2006.
10- do yourself a favor, if you call yourself an art director or a creative director, please show me at least one job where you have held
that title. while we are at it, if you label yourself as director level
on your website or resume or cv, it looks awkward if you are applying
for a jr or designer position. just sayin'.
1- the link to your reel / portfolio should be one of the first things
that is seen on your cover letter.
2- make sure your link works.
3- in your cover letter, be brief, be to the point, and for the love of all things holy do not gush about what a perfect opportunity for you
this job is, or that you are sure that you are a good fit for the team.
it makes you sound desperate, and even if you happen to actually be
desperate, you don't want to come across like you are in your cover
letter.
4- spell check. please. for the children.
5- do not ramble on, you aren't being graded on the length of your cover letter. especially if it references anything mentioned in #3.
6- your reel should start with your best work. while i appreciate some build up etc, i am looking at hundreds of reels every time i hire
someone. im gonna close the window and next you if the first thing i see
is some mediocre student project that was put in so you had enough
material to fill out the 4:56 techno track that you threw at your
montage.
7- edit. editing. please at least show that you tried to edit your work. a truly great song does not need to use every key on the piano, if you
know what i mean. 1-2 minutes is about perfect for a reel, don't feel
like it needs to be any longer than that. also, if you are going to use a
music track for a montage, try and cut to the beat. it shows some
polish and effort that will help you stand out.
8- on your website, make sure the navigation is clear and easy for me to find your reel. please also make sure your reel is in a common format /
codec. quicktime or vimeo are wonderful, but you can't reasonably
expect me to be able to view your SheerVideo Pro X file.
9- this is just a personal preference, but if you insist on creating a reel for each season / year, make sure that when i see it, it is
currently that season / year. it is just about spring 2010 now, i'm not
sure that i am looking at your most current work if your reel says fall
2006.
10- do yourself a favor, if you call yourself an art director or a creative director, please show me at least one job where you have held
that title. while we are at it, if you label yourself as director level
on your website or resume or cv, it looks awkward if you are applying
for a jr or designer position. just sayin'.
Comment
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Comment by Jeff McIntosh on April 5, 2010 at 4:54pm -
I have received a lot of job post responses and I usually skip the reel if any of these occur:
- site doesn't load
- the site is difficult to navigate or it is some kind of a personal/portfolio blog where I need to hunt around to find what I am looking for
- too much personal flare
- the work is straight from a VCP tutorial
- typography is wacky or amateur (ie. the use of importer type faces)
- anything where I see improper resolutions or video distortions
- anything strange (this type of stuff turns me off)
That is all I can think of right now.
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Comment by Robby Trione on April 5, 2010 at 3:08pm -
I disagree with you, Christopher, about your logo not being your best work. Your logo animation is your chance to show off your skills and really promote yourself. Sometimes people haven't had the opportunity to be a part of big projects and so they might not have a bunch of polished work. If your reel is full of awesome work…then you don't have to worry about an elaborate intro and out. I have almost stopped watching a reel based on the nameplate. It was poorly designed and lasted too long.
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Comment by Christopher Kirkman on March 17, 2010 at 10:45pm -
Quickly adding to Stephen's comment, unless you're a studio, is a logo even necessary? Personally, I find it just a tad annoying that so many people put more effort into making up some fictitious name and animated logo then actually showing off their best work. Name, address and phone is what you want up front. They make the best bookends (in my opinion) for a demo reel. Your intro 'logo' shouldn't be your best work.
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Comment by Stephen Panicara on March 17, 2010 at 10:36pm -
I'm just a student, so I've never hired anyone, but as an avid reel-watcher, one thing that's also kind of annoying is a dragged-out logo build at the beginning. 5 seconds seems to be good. How do those of you that make the hiring decisions feel about this?
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Comment by Christopher Kirkman on March 15, 2010 at 1:15am
-
I would add in one thing... for the love of Adobe, NEVER EVER put footage of a tutorial you followed from a website like VideoCopilot, Ae.tuts or graymachine into your reel and then claim it was yours. When in doubt, leave it out. It shows off neither technical prowess or creative skills. All it demonstrates is that you can listen and click.
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