Students for hire: competition for jobs at CG studios is fierce. Here are four key factors to getting your foot in the door.(Computer Graphics World)

Every year, newly degreed CG artists stream forth from colleges and universities, seeking jobs from the studios that make movies, or the effects for movies, television programs and advertisements. Unfortunately, the applicants outnumber the jobs. "We see about 1,000 demo reels a year," says Blur Studio creative director Tim Miller. "Of those, I see about 10 that I like, and we probably end up hiring three or four of those people."

The good news is that animators fresh out of college do get hired. To find out what studios are looking for, and what makes applicants stand out from the crowd, Computer Graphics World and Post Magazine spoke with recruiters and outreach specialists at Blur Studio, Digital Dimension, Kleiser-Walczak Studios, The Mill, Orphanage Animation Studios, PDI/DreamWorks and Rhythm & Hues Studios.

All these companies do hire CG artists straight out of college on at least an occasional basis (though some, like Rhythm & Hues, do so through apprentice programs arranged with schools). The numbers of students hired varies greatly, according to the studio and whatever projects it has onboard. At PDI/DreamWorks, with two campuses and multiple feature films in production at any given time, between 20 and 50 full-time recent graduates are hired each year. Smaller facilities might hire only two or three annually, if that.

"We like to give people a try, but it depends on the project," says Jeff Kleiser of Kleiser-Walczak Studios (www.kwcc.com). For example, his company wouldn't hire a recent graduate to work on a challenging feature film with a tight deadline, he says. "But if it's an industrial film with a flexible deadline, we might."

Some studios like to hire generalists and let them find their niche. Other facilities are looking for specific skill sets. At Digital Dimension (www.digitaldimension.com), which hires student animators occasionally, visual effects producer Chris Del Conte says, "We start interns in production and let them get a taste for what we do." Eventually interns gravitate toward 2D, 3D or some other area, he says. Laurie Blavin, recruiting manager for Orphanage Animation Studios (www.orphanage.com), says she is able to bring on students in specialized areas under certain circumstances. "If a project has three to five riggers, for example," she says, "I could hire one or two entry-level riggers, and they would have mentors."

So if a studio is looking to hire, what qualities, exactly, is it looking for in an entry-level candidate?

Talent. A likely candidate simply must have talent going for him or her. The sort of talent required differs somewhat from studio to studio. It's hard to beat the winning combination of being able to create great content plus knowing the software package the studio uses, but studios don't always expect that.