Go Social to Find Motion Graphics Jobs

Posted January 24th, 2011 / By Justin Younger in Jobs, Resources, Tips

Things are different now–very different than just a few short years ago. The way in which you find a job is changing so fast, it’s sometimes hard to even keep up or understand where to start. It’s is extremely discouraging for the generations that have not grown up with the internet. It’s even more so for the fresh college students who have no one wiser to turn to for help. I think that in order to look forward in this extremely connected world we need to look backward as it pertains to networking to find work.

I want to say right now, before I go too far into this, I have a job because of social networking, even though I was quite likely pessimistic of its uses before. I have enjoyed using “I got a job because of Twitter” as a rebuttal to “Twitter is useless.” This is not to say that twitter will get anyone a job automagically, but there is a way in which you can use it to find work. I still had to do quite a bit of regular “Real life” connecting.

There are multiple channels with which I would recommend you start with to hear the heartbeat of the motion graphic industry, and let me just say it is quite alive.

Twitter is king when it comes to social networking for motion graphics work, because of its simplistic approach. Twitter is nothing unless you make something of it. It is simply a communication channel, for short bursts of information, sharing, and for networking. Using twitter is extremely awkward to begin with so I suggest you start an account, follow some motion graphic artists, and lurk. Do not post anything quite yet.

There have been a lot of changes to twitter since its creation, and there are features such as similar users which you can follow. Start with a couple of motion artists that inspire you, find their twitter handles, follow them and then follow their followers. Try reading that out loud. Either way, check often and watch how they use twitter. If you plan on using twitter for something other than talking about the industry, I suggest you have multiple accounts and keep a separate name for just motion industry work.

Once you get a hang of twitter begin to share information, tutorials, tips, tricks, even voice complaints or post compliments. This will get the attention of other users who will, in turn, follow you, and whole crazy cycle will continue.

While not my favorite approach, facebook has become even more useful. You should “Like” different motion graphics artist’s pages, companies, and groups, with emphasis on groups, because they will lead to meet-ups. Sometimes it might be difficult to find meet-ups outright, so I want to refer you back to twitter for finding local artists near you. They will often advertise meet-ups and provide the information.

Just remember when using Facebook to set your securities up correctly so your new career buddies don’t see the photos of you laying in a pool of vomit wearing a toga, or anything at all. Well, unless that is the personality you are trying to project.

There are smaller channels, more niche sites to use for social networking such as Flickr’s community, or Behanced. I would run them down for you but honestly twitter will lead you to all of them. Sign up and show off your work on any of them you may stumble upon.

So now you are on the Twitter, and the Facebook, but you still don’t have a job and your mom wants you to quit tweeting and pay back your student loans all while your landlord knocks on your door shouting. What do you do next? The next step is to exactly what your great grandfather and his grandfather did to find their jobs. Meet people.

If there is any industry that has an awesome group of people doing awesome work, it is motion graphics. We all are fun people; we wouldn’t be doing this kind of work if we didn’t thoroughly enjoy our lives. That being said, meet-ups could be the best part about finding a job. They are often hosted in large motion graphic communities as a way to network, share client horror stories, and to drink (at least the branch here in Chicago is…); and  If there aren’t any in your area, you may need to move to where they are.

Get out there and network, and bring your business cards…or don’t. Until next time, post some more tips below, guys!

Hey guys! I like to play with 3 dimensions of space and 1 dimension of time, but unlike Einstein, I only make motion art. So I spend most of my time expressing myself in some abstract, visual way, and I have really latched onto Motion Graphics. I am a newbie here in the field, but I have a passion for the work. Feel free to if you are also a newbie or someone just looking into this awesome form of art, I always enjoy helping people out.