Good point. I hadn't touhght about it quite that way. :)

This article might as well have come from a youtube response by a 13 year old trying to act grown up. There was really no point to it other than to make fun of people who are not as good as something as you are. The right thing to do would have been to just pretend you never saw the demo in the first place. By responding to the person (who is obviously not an artist as you keep calling him) you are only provoking him.

If this is the best article you can write, you should probably give up and let them hire the guy who's going to "animate your ass off" because at least the stuff he wrote was entertaining, unlike anything you wrote in this article. As for people with big egos, yours shows through just fine in your mud slinging article. Go pat yourself on the back wasting 10 minutes of my time.

Funny stuff. First, the fact that people actually send mails like this and think they'll be hired. Second, that company heads actually take the time to mail other peoples job-applications and letters to each-other for laughs, then go on to post an article about it for further ridicule. "I, like most studio owners, am very busy" Spot on.

More responses from LinkedIn:

Very good points Tom and I totally agree. I think you realise these kinds of things much more once you have been in the seat of the employer. 

When you are a job-seeker who just wants to be in the industry so so much you start wishing people to take pity or remember how much they wanted to be in it. However, when you are in that position you have your own priorities, goals and deadlines to hit and all you want is for someone who can help you out, not the other way round. So the person who demonstrates that they can be of great service to you is the one you take. 

Similarly, when I started assembling a crew for a short film I made I started holding certain qualities extremely highly, such as integrity and reliability. The last thing you want to be worrying about is whether person X is actually going to turn up or not. 

I find that the best people are not necessarily the most talented (although you of course want them as skilled as possible) but the ones who are the most solid. I would take a slightly less skilled cast/crew member who is reliable over a "better" one who is likely not to turn up (which would be plaguing my mind every moment leading up to the shoot!).

Another comment I was sent through LinkedIn:

Funny article. Aside from the extreme attitudes cited in the piece, this also pointed out a problem I see a lot (minus all the drama, threats and name-calling cited.) Basically, the job-seeker focusing on what they need over what the client needs. Never a good idea to talk about how much you need a job, or "Give me a chance," or "I want..." That is not their concern. Their concern is finding someone who can solve a problem for them. One's resume and cover letter need to emphasize "This is how I can help you." Of course, lists skills, education, experience, but particularly emphasize how you have helped others in previous jobs, and how you will help them in their production. 

As mentioned in the article, being someone they can get along with is nearly as important as having the right skills. Part of why networking is focused upon so much. If your that fun guy/gal from the party who had some good stories of their job experience are more likely to be remembered when a gig comes along than those who focus on "I really need a job; why won't someone give me a break?" 

Here's another response I got from LinkedIn:

Hi Mark,

I get these types all the time. I guess I am a little more sympathetic in that, when people write those type of nasty e-mails or they are rife with grammar and spelling errors, I know that they probably have some type of mental problem or I feel that they have not been set up with the proper social skills.

I hire animators and artists all the time. I have found that in the animation, graphic arts there seems to be a lot of issues with quite a number of artists not having a full grasp on how to act in social situations, a superiority complex, a lack of understanding the rules of the workplace or anger issues.

I don't see this as much with the art department itself, the camera department, production dept or wardrobe or makeup. I do see it a bit with grips, but the gaffer usually shields them from me, but if I catch wind of it, they are gone. I have know a few editors back in the day when editors actually existed just as editors with this issue, but once a producer/director walked in the room and they started this crap, it was not really tolerated.

I wonder since you experience this as well, if it is the nature of these art types. Meaning the part of them that attracts them to animation and graphic arts is intense and the common sense part of grasping what is right or wrong is not as developed.

And since this type of work in our industry is such a "one person" or small group thing compared to other departments where everything you do is "show" for a large group of people, it is just does not lend itself of them to learn social skills.

I have blown through so many motion graphic animators over the years, that now I am down to one great guy who is completely normal. Just like your friend said in your article, sometimes he is not 100% there on pushing the envelope on his animation work, but he accepts all feedback, he improves and listens, he loves receiving direction, he shows up on time, he can work alone and in a group, he meets deadlines and he is just an all around nice guy. It took me years to find this guy and now he is my go to guy.

I literally had one artist tell me that he did not show up for work one day, after he had been late 20 times, because he was up night drawing a Galaxy and he got lost inside a Nebula. Swear, that is what he said!!

I think it is so important that we out here on the net talk about this, so that the schools who are churning animators and motion graphic artists, hundreds byt the minute, can think about adding in social interaction and job interview classes to their curriculum to help these young people get jobs and not piss us off. 

Whilst our company's never had e-mails quite that self-centred and egotistical, we have had some clangers. I also tire of telling students that if you cannot spell or write a cogent application letter, then you're going to have to have a whopper of a demo reel to outweigh that, because I won't hire ANY employee who cannot adequately communicate with others or who doesn't have a modicum of dignity. I will always hire the polite and enthusiatic person with the lesser animation skills over the arrogant fool who cannot be told anything, because I know who I'd want to deal with on a daily basis.

I know it must have been tedious at the time for all concerned but I have to say I love reading about this kind of stuff, so it's much appreciated. There is such a splendid absence of self awareness people can have, or awareness of what's beneficial to them. While it's nice when people say something I've worked on is impressive, 90% of what's driven me to improve in certain areas are potential employers being candid and saying 'work on this more', 'I don't understand what's being conveyed here, try again' and so on. I think the most dislocated is the 'effective communicator' tirade, with the others it's easier to write them off as either nuts or just hopelessly deluded, but it's quite alarming to read that guy's response with his comparative level of articulacy. It paints a picture of someone who wants to break into an industry he can't have researched to any degree.
Anyway cheers again for the post.

That was not good, anger management class. I think will put him on the right path. I do like the way you handle the situation. No matter who you are positive feed back is helpful. I applaud you for sharing this story. Well done!

Stories like these sound funny usually in some kind of context like a t.v show but when it happens in real life, its a drag.