I saw this article at Livehack, How To Negotiate Freelance Pay For Non-Negotiators, and it struck a bit of a nerve. I hate asking for money, but I LOVE getting the check!

Another article that has been going around (and linked at the Lifehack story) Earn More Money by Demanding It. The article, written by Andrea Dickson, is especially pertinent to women, but you all can learn something from it.

I finally have decided on my hourly rate after trying a few and although my rate is a bit high for the smaller town that I'm in, I've found people are willing to pay it. I've found that underselling myself leads to problems. Clients expect you to work at that rate forever. The client not only gets my skills and experience, but also my guarantee. The project will be done on time and it will meet or exceed their standards. Well, that's the plan anyway.

What are your negotiating techniques? Do you demand what you deserve? Have you ever been laughed at? Tell us about your experiences and your tactics!

It's an open thread. Please leave your comments below.

Labels: jobs

It seems that video résumé's are really gaining acceptance. This really is perfect for people in our industry. In addition to an online portfolio, it makes a lot of sense to have a video résumé.

Benefits of Video Résumés

• Practice your interview as many times as you need to and do as shoot as many takes as you need. Your comfort level in front of the camera will show, so keep that in mind. (Yes, you can call me Captain Obvious).
• Edit out your embarrassing flubs.
• Paint out any blemishes, cold sores or unsightly facial scars.
• Show off your mad lighting and shooting skillz. If you shoot over blue screen or green screen, you can show off your keying and compositing skills as well. Employers will notice how much effort you put into your video résumé.
• Present your personality in a way that a paper résumé doesn't allow (of course, this might work against you).
• Intersperse clips of your video work and explain them.
• Interview for jobs across the country without having to fly out there. If you're looking for artists, this is a nice way to check them out before initiating the interview process or paying for expensive flights to your city.
• You can possibly achieve a high level of exposure if you put your movie up on YouTube, MySpace or Google Video. Include links to your video résumé in emails, on your website and on your MySpace, Facebook, Linkedin, etc. and the employers will be knocking on your inbox before you know it.
• Video résumé's are still pretty new so it will show that you're on top of the wave.

The Downside

• If you're not too pretty or you're carrying around a few extra pounds, it might hurt your chances at a job. The media promotes an unattainable standard of beauty onto the public. I'm just sayin'.
• Your potential employer may have lousy bandwidth or an old computer with out-of-date software and can't view your video. Most of the people in this industry have high-speed, so I don't think this is a hot issue.
• YouTube and other video services don't have the best quality.
• Stalkers. No joke here, ladies. I don't think the men are at as much risk, but I've had a few men send inappropriate emails to me and it's creepy and unsettling.
• You need to keep it fresh, keep it up-to-date. It's not as easy to update as a text or pdf résumé.

Overall the benefits highly outweigh the downsidess of a video résumé. Have you created one? Please post a link in comments.

Labels: jobs, Tips

I had my 15 year class reunion over the weekend. They actually had 3 reunions - a golf outing (which I skipped), an evening cocktail party, and a family picnic on Sunday. It was really great to see everyone and interesting at how people had changed so much. I was very surprised how good all the ladies looked - very thin and stylish. I was also surprised how many of the grads had 4 kids! Unbelievable to me. One kid is hard enough!

I always keep my ears open for people who work in the industry. I was talking with a French exchange student who flew back for the reunion. She's now a patent lawyer in Toulousse and doing very well. Her husband had one of the most interesting jobs I'd ever heard. He works for Airbus and flies planes for the French filmmaking industry. He has a plane that is fitted with film cameras and a joy stick and he does ALL of the arial filming in France and most of Europe. Anytime you see a European film that shows a plane flying, he probably filmed it with his plane. Color me impressed.

Labels: jobs

A collegue of mine, Bill Fischer, sent out a memo with some tips from his New York City visit to some big studios, including Psyops, Brand New School and Animation Collective. Just thought I'd share them, paraphrasing and adding my own comments...

• A DVD reel is critical for animators. Bill says to also be prepared to create a VHS. I'm not sure if VHS is that important anymore, however, it can't hurt.
• Reel length: 2-3 minutes. In my opinion, I'd rather see 1.5 minutes of hot animation and graphics than 3 minutes that is repetitive and weak content. Quality outweighs quanity any day.
• keep it fresh. If it's obviously more than 2 or 3 years old, you might consider not including it.
• Studios prefer to pre-screen applicants by looking at online portfolios. Your website should be easy to navigate. They're there to see your video reel, not your experimental navigation. Don't hinder a possible employer from seeing your work!
• For 3D character work, include some of your sketches, storyboards, and other important details on the process.
• Showing work completed with a group shows that you can work with a team.
• If you have the ability to do more than one specialization, show it off. Character design, animation, storyboards, titles, etc. Show a variety on your reel.
• Make sure the work is indeed your work! Yes, it should go without saying, but I have seen work on a reel that I knew was done by someone else. This is a surefire way not to get hired and to get yourself into some trouble or blacklisted in a city.

Got any tips of your own? Please comment below.

Labels: demo reels, jobs, Tips

I was reading this humourous article at Business Week Online called Internship Mistakes: 10 Top Goofs Interns Make.

I've had a lot of experience with interns... some bad and some good. Some that I thought would be great interns turned out to be lazy and flippant, and other that I thought would be weirdos turned out to be the best interns ever.

Michele's Tips for Interns

1. Network - I worked at a post house for 10 years. If you didn't know someone there, your likelyhood of getting an internship was not too high. I know you all hate to hear about "Networking" but that IS where it's at. Attend user group meetings, MCAI meetings and other get togethers with local professionals. Get on all of those mailing lists. Volunteer for film shoots. This will look good on your resume and it will help you meet the people that can get you the internships and jobs.
2. Learn about the industry - By networking and going to user group meetings, you're already learning about the industry. Read the magazines, hit the websites (like this one!) and use the online forums. You never know who you might meet on those forums and I'm sure you'll learn something new.
3. Get your hours and contact info in writing - Maybe it was just the place I worked but we were immensely disorganized. We didn't have the hours that the interns planned to work and we didn't have their phone numbers either. Yes, it seems odd, but this sort of thing often seems to be overlooked.
   
   Problems arise when you can only work part time on certain days and they need you at other times. Getting this in writing up front will keep problems about your hours from popping up later.
4. Make yourself valued - When I interned, the Avid editors would bitch about having to black tapes all of the time. I had a hundred blacked tapes ready to go for them in a variety of durations. The graphic artists complained about not being able to find logos when they needed them. At that time many were printed and stored in boxes... yeah, it was the dark ages. I scanned them and created a logo database for them, complete with alpha channels. Everyone was so pleased that they didn't have to do this grunt work and they finally decided that they couldn't live with out me.
   
   Incidently, I left last fall and pretty much daily I'm still asked how to do certain things. It's called job security, kids. Use it to your advantage.
5. Keep busy - This really goes with the previous point. If you have nothing to do, find something to do that will benefit others at the company... something that they will notice. Ask if you can catalog their backups, set up a database of logos, update the client database, proof read others work... whatever you can think of. Ask others if they need help. You can be their extra hand. Maybe they need something small done that they can pass off to you.
6. Learn some new software - If you have nothing to do at your internship, spend it learning some high end software that you can't afford or brush up on your editing skills. Of course, you'd need an open computer to do this.
7. Help the non-profits - Find out what causes the owner or boss supports. There are always non-profits needing free work, so ask your employer if you could do some free work for the company, using their equipment. It makes them feel like they're helping the community, gets some professional work under your belt and helping non-profits is a good thing.
8. Never burn your bridges - So, your internship isn't what you want it to be. You don't like your boss or your clients. The best advice I can give you is to keep a positive attitude, even if it kills you. Keep showing up even if you don't want to. Internships are short term, usually just a semester, so it will not last forever. You will need references for future jobs and you never know... this guy could be best buds with the owner of the company you REALLY want to work at.
9. Don't be afraid to talk to people - Find the person in the office who is the lead designer and bond. You can learn insider tricks and build a relationship with a mentor. You'll soon get to hear the gossip and learn how thing REALLY work at the company.
10. Dress the part - The place I worked was really laid back. Everyone wore jeans and t-shirts every day. Some employees had crazy hair and lots of piercings. If that's how the company is, then sure, dress that way. However, if everyone else wears khakis and polo shirts, your Fugazi t-shirt probably isn't impressing anyone. Remember, this is a stepping stone to something else, so if you have to wear a shirt with a collar for 4 months, it could mean the difference between getting hired and getting a "Good luck with your career".
11. Take notes - No, it's not school, but writing stuff down as someone explains can help it absorb into your brain. I had notebooks full of notes on how to patch the patchbay in the machine room to the proper size to make logos to how to make a corner bug. I could go back and refer to it any time. The successful interns take notes and make lists.
    
    I had an intern that did a lot of damage by screwing up our numbering system in the library. I explained it all twice and the intern claimed that they understood the system. It all had to be redone at a cost to our time. Another intern messed up a website by not paying attention to instructions. Neither of these tasks were difficult and could've been avoided if the intern would've paid closer attention. They both blamed their ADD by the way. Take your ritalin, kids, and take notes.
12. Don't talk about your drunken partying - Yes, it's tempting to talk about the sexy girl you met last night and took home to meet your 1000 thread count Egyptian cotton sheets after 8 Jaeger bombs. There's a time and a place, and your internship ain't it. Don't talk to other co-workers about it and don't talk on the phone about it with your homeys.

Labels: Internships, jobs, Tips