Nellie Tehrani is a career advisor at the The Art Institute of California Los Angeles for students seeking animation jobs.

After four long years of exams, planning your graduation thesis, drawing classes that leave you with charcoal stained fingers, bloodshot eyes from late nights in front of the computer, damaged disks, blood, sweat and tears… now comes the hard part… going out and finding a job! This is the time of year, when students begin the worrying, hand-wringing process of putting their knowledge and talents to use out in the world and this can seem like a daunting task. But there is someone whose sole purpose is to create these opportunities and guide their flock to the promised land. That angel is the career counselor.

Most art, animation or film schools have career services centers to help their students with placement in the industry of their choice. Whether through an internship, full-time job or just an interview, these counselors can be the best cheerleader and resource for a graduating student. But what exactly does it take to be one of these guardian angels, and how do they connect with the industry, especially when the industry is in perhaps a slower period.

As a former animation studio recruiter myself, I dealt with many of these counselors, so I went on the trek to learn more about these guides and find out just exactly what it is like to be one of them.

Art Institute of Seattle, devotes six months to each graduate, helping to craft résumés, reels and cover letters.

You Make it Happen
Career counselors take on the enormous task of placing their students into the workforce. The Art Institute system, for example, graduates students every three months so there is a constant influx of students that come through the career center throughout the year. The counselor will begin the process by meeting each student, discussing their goals and learning more about their background. Art Institute advisors begin working with the student in their last quarter before graduation. Scott MacIntire, career counselor at the Art Institute of Seattle says, “We advise them on résumé preparation, creating ‘wish lists,’ cover letters, and interviews. Once a class has graduated, we work diligently with them for six months doing everything we can to help them find work.”

Tim Leborgne of The Animation Workshop in Denmark exposes his students’ work to professionals at the annual Annecy festival.

Other schools, such as the School of Visual Arts in New York City, have their counselors partner with several instructors and, during the first week of classes, they will go to the classroom to give workshops covering topics such as résumé and portfolio preparation. Leslie Hammond of the School of Visual Arts said they also offer a series of career development programs every semester that include studio visits, alumni panels and job searching tools.

Rose Duignan, director of industry relations & career development at Ex’pression College in Oakland, California, sees students as early as six months before graduation. She will work with them over this period getting to know their talent and skill set, assess what makes them unique and what will help their résumé or reel leap to the top of the stack.

They advise on issues as simple as how to dress for an interview and even calling them the day before to remind them of the interview or to the more delicate and strategic such as guiding a less skilled animator dreaming of Hollywood to pursue other alternatives more suited to his or her talents.

All in a day’s work say most. Many career services advisors usually have some sort of counseling, headhunting or recruiting background. Strong customer service and sales related experience can be very useful as well. An art background is helpful particularly one appropriate to the major area of study of the students (such as Duignan, who has more than 20 years experience in the visual effects industry), but it is not always required.