newb question about applying for work

[specialk]

90% of the companies i apply to say "no phone calls please" or they say that they prefered it if you didnt call and that they will call you if they like your stuff...

well that goes against everything i was taught, i was always told to phone after applying and also a phonecall before hand is sometimes usefull.

so what do i do? phone them or not? do they really dislike the phonecalls? cuz its drilled into you starting in Junior high to always do atleast a follow up call after applying.

[Yossarian!]

I feel your pain... I'm personally not in a situation to offer much advice, but I've noticed a few little things in past experiences.

The time for a phone call is probably before you send your application. I've found it useful to touch base with the people doing the hiring and firing as soon as you read the job ad - it gives you the chance to make a good impression, ask any questions and make it clear in your head exactly who they're looking for. Plus it puts a voice to the name. If possible also get in touch with others working there and get some down and dirty advice that management won't give (like how to hit it off with the interviewers, etc). If you do this just remember to respect the fact that the staff member is doing you a huge favour answering, and could get into trouble for doing so, so keep the info to yourself. If after applying you haven't heard for a few weeks then I think a follow up phone call (or email) is perfectly acceptable, both to ease the anxiety of waiting and find out how to do better next time. Obviously repeat phone calls will work against you in most cases.

Of course the most useful piece of advice would be to get your foot in the door any way you can. Hassle your way into doing some unpaid work or work experience (I think they call them interns in the US). I've been passed over at interviews for people who have worked with the companies before And rightly so - proving you can handle the work will always outweigh saying you can. But then again, even getting unpaid work can be a monumental task in itself...

Anyone here been in a situation where you do the hiring? Got any tips?

[Aruna]

Funny story... Well, not really funny, just insightful, I guess. A couple years ago I was a flint demo artist for a company in Vancouver. There was a booth at VEAF, the Vancouver Effects and Animation Festival. It was kind of neat, but very small. The industry just wasn't big enough at the time to warrant something like that. I'm not sure if it's still going on.

There I was, doing the demo thing. Basically I sat there for three days straight playing around with footage on a flint on Octane and doing my business schpeel and trying to get interested parties to spring the cash for it. A couple bonified leads, but since I was hired just for those three days, I don't know if the company sold any.

At VEAF, ALL the schools in Vancouver had a booth. That's the moneymaker right there. Not visual effects studios, schools. A couple of students from CDIS (at the time) came over and asked a bunch of questions, and even a couple gave me their reel to bring to the office when they found out I worked for a local company.. None of them really caught my eye, however one of the CDIS instructors came over and asked to see a couple from some promising kids. I agreed and at their booth a couple of booths down, I saw some really nice stuff. The students were there as well, and I got some reels from them..

A week or so later, we were hiring a junior for some work, and I had the reels handy. I gave one of them off to the lead comper at the company, and we looked through it together, and I gave him my thoughts on the reel and the person that created it. Things worked quickly, and pretty soon, she was working with us!

I think the plus on this side was instead of the lead comp artist looking through a bunch of crap, I was an intermediary, since I was at the festival.

I have no idea if this evens answers your question, but I thought I'd tell you a story because it's Thursday night and Sharkboy and Lavagirl are OUT THE DOOR and I'M HAPPY FOR THAT.

Oh... I wouldn't call them if they don't call you first, especially at a big company. They have so many people sending in reels, they won't remember you even if they do hear your voice (the person answering the phone is never the person that's responsible for hiring the artist), and the odds of reaching a lead or an HR person at the time when you call is like the lottery. At smaller companies you can probably get away with calling them and finding out if they received your tape, but I wouldn't ask for an artist or lead at that time.

Anyway, I could probably write a book about this stuff, but this is a forum post. :) I wrote an entry about Recruitment on my blog, check it out and see if it answers your questions.

[Hugh]

At the same time, it was phone persistence (they hadn't asked me not to) that got me my current job....

I just kept phoning and e-mailing and leaving messages until the HR guy phoned me back. He said he hadn't seen my reel/CV, but asked me to describe what I was after and what I could do.

Okay, so they didn't hire me to do what I was after, but they did ask me if I was interested in another job. It was purely persistence and being in the right place at the right time for me...

[specialk]

hmmm.....i need a big break.