Quote: Original post by zyrolasting
On a relevant note from that... What would you qualify as a doubly-impressive portfolio?

Since Tom is not inclined, I will give you a brief rundown of what I see. Please don't take my criticism too harshly - it is intended only as a guide.

Currently your portfolio seems to contain a handful of (good) photoshop jobs, and a C++ crypto application.

If you are applying for a position as a technical artist, then the crypto app has zero bearing. Equally, you are going to need to demonstrate a working knowledge of 3D modelling, rigging and animation, familiarity with at least one scripting language, some practice in shader development, and a thorough understanding of the content and graphics pipelines for at least one game engine.


As for your site, I feel that you are pulling way too much of your personal life into the blog - spin that stuff off into a personal blog hosted elsewhere, as it doesn't apply in any way to your professional career. Also consider axing the last paragraph of your Bio (mostly fluff), and remove every reference to the word 'seclusion' (employers want team players, and technical artist is a highly communication-oriented job).


I am afraid that your resume needs to be scrapped in its entirety. The education section has no content as is, so consider mentioning high-school, or removing the section entirely. Previous work experience here has no bearing on your intended career except as character references. Each skill you list as 'proficient' needs to be backed up with a reference to the project(s) you developed/used the skills in, each of which also needs to be added to your portfolio.


Re the college issue, to quote a thoroughly clichéd phrase, 'where there is a will, there is a way'. There is always community college, which is pretty affordable, can be taken as night classes, and provides a good spring board onto a 4-year degree if you remain inclined to. You could also consider moving to Canada (or anywhere else with free/cheap education), as you need to get out of Mississippi anyway [smile]

If you don't go to college (and to a lesser extent, even if you do), you need to get experience, and get your name out there. Join a team developing a mod, or even an indie game. Build a few small python/flash/processing games to add to your portfolio. Grab the free version of unity, and see what you can build...

That was beautiful! I'm glad you caught what you did, as I did not understand what was generally acceptable or sought. I'm glad I put off SEO for a bit so I can get a change to strengthen what I can.

I took advice from other developers and looked at what other people did. This guy was mentioned every now and then, and his site isn't too horribly different than mine when it comes to layout. I know I can keep some material that might not be impressive professionally since when I made the site I wanted casual surfers to have more to look at. [smile]

If I get the funds for another domain, I can have a site dedicated only to professional work and another to total crap. But overall, a better portfolio is really my highest priority.

Kudos to you!

Get a degree. $62k is not exactly a whole lot of money for college these days.

I do programming now without a degree, but have easily lost more than $62k while spending 6 years doing less interesting/fun/profitable jobs working my way into it. And of course, that means less relevant professional experience which means less pay now that I do have the programming job.

I can't believe how many people come through these forums bemoaning the cost of higher education when it's the most profitable, least risk investment you'll make in your entire life.

Quote: Get a degree. $62k is not exactly a whole lot of money for college these days.

Absolutely!... If you have it. I talked to an admissions counselor at Westwood (Rather, I listened for 92 minutes to the torturous program overview) and I will try to get as much financial aid as I can, but I can't be taking loans or doing anything to risk putting me in the hole. I'm close enough to the edge to make loose rocks fall as it is.

I understand that a degree is a great investment. Anything I can do to help my chances for a successful career, I'll do it. Just realize I don't have as many options as the rest of you guys. My entire time in Westwood may be online as a result. I'm only 18 so I may have a few years before I can get in anyway. Thank god for parental support, even though I share the bills. [smile]

Are there any good scholarships or grants aspiring game developers normally go to I can apply for digitally? Scholarships.com did not allow Westwood on registration for whatever reason.

Westwood -- and "game schools" aren't the only option, mind.

Why can't you take loans out to pay for school? Are you just afraid of being in debt? As far as I know, going in to debt to pay for school is pretty common practice. At least among my acquaintances, extremely few of them were able to pay for school out-of-pocket as they went. Those that did were actually supported entirely by wealthy relatives, as of course they were in school and not in a position to making money.

Educational loan debt is relative safe.

I agree with the general "get a degree" sentiment. You will meet a lot of people who work in the industry now who didn't get degrees, but you also need to keep in mind how long they've been there and when that means they started -- things were very different years ago. In most hiring experiences I've been through (on the "interviewer" side, not the interviewee side) I've seen enough enough incoming applicants that lack of a degree was often a very easy thing to use to cull down the volume -- regardless of whether or not you believe that an education and degree have any real bearing on your capabilities, you can't escape the reality that it does get used commonly as a way to thin the herd.

I agree with most of swiftcoder's points vis-a-vis your page. For me especially the implication of seclusion and isolationism is a huge negative, because I care very much about my ability to interact and socialize with my co-workers in addition to their technical prowess.

I also dislike the color scheme, but that's just me.

What is "Microsoft Native C++?" I've never heard of such a product and Google doesn't find me anything useful in the first page of results either. I am similarly turned off by your capitalization of "Graphics Programming, Artificial Intelligence," et cetera. They aren't proper nouns and read to me either as sloppy copyediting on your part or sleazy attempts to hit case-sensitive buzzword searchs (depending on how cynical a mood I'm in at the time).

I appreciate that you're trying to convey your passion for the field in your description here as well, but when you say things like that you have a "contempt for bureaucracy" that is a negative. Some amount of that is going to be present anyway, and it sets you up as arrogant and a loner, which feeds back into the isolationist drawback.

You spelled "oppurtunity" incorrectly (opportunity).

Quote: Why can't you take loans out to pay for school? Are you just afraid of being in debt?

That question knocked me out of my seat. I'm terrified! The mannerism in which you delivered that query is all too new to me, as I have a background with a bad foretelling of loans. I've been raised to be a penny pincher. Even if I took out the loans, no promise is made that I can have the money when the loan is called. I may have to spend money due to an emergency, to pay for the bills when there is no work, (We do contract work) etc.

However, I am interested in your reasoning on why educational loans are "relatively safe" as you seem very confident in that statement. Could you please elaborate?

EDITS:
*Snip*: I should really watch my impulsive arguments...

...Tell you what, I accept your points as they are. You're more experienced. Just whoa, all I will say is: lighten up!


[Edited by - zyrolasting on November 2, 2009 6:11:58 PM]

I think you missed (or just didn't respond to) what I thought was the most important point, which is that Westwood is not the only option. Even the traditional four-year university isn't the only option. A quick search reveals Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College offers the first two years of a BS in Computer Science (after which you can transfer to the University of Southern Mississippi - Gulf Coast). That should run you less than $20,000, all told. That sounds like a lot, but when you break it down into $1,800 a year for MGCCC and $5,100 a year for USM-GC for tuition, then add books and other expenses, it doesn't seem like too bad a stretch.

If you take out the usual government-subsized loan for half of that amount, it'll run you just over $100/month for 10 years. And that's with today's unfortunately high interest rates. Many people spend more than that for their cell phones. So yeah, the risk is very low, unless you have absolutely no confidence that you'll finish.

Quote: Original post by lmelior
Westwood is not the only option. Even the traditional four-year university isn't the only option. A quick search reveals Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College offers the first two years of a BS in Computer Science (after which you can transfer to the University of Southern Mississippi - Gulf Coast).

I second this endorsement of community colleges.
An excellent way to get that education started for a lot less money.

Quote: I think you missed (or just didn't respond to) what I thought was the most important point, which is that Westwood is not the only option. Even the traditional four-year university isn't the only option. A quick search reveals Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College offers the first two years of a BS in Computer Science (after which you can transfer to the University of Southern Mississippi - Gulf Coast). That should run you less than $20,000, all told. That sounds like a lot, but when you break it down into $1,800 a year for MGCCC and $5,100 a year for USM-GC for tuition, then add books and other expenses, it doesn't seem like too bad a stretch.

If you take out the usual government-subsized loan for half of that amount, it'll run you just over $100/month for 10 years. And that's with today's unfortunately high interest rates. Many people spend more than that for their cell phones. So yeah, the risk is very low, unless you have absolutely no confidence that you'll finish.

THERRRE's a nice tid-bit. Thank you.

...I'm ignorant of way too much information to appear professional on my site for now. I am pretty clueless to what my place even is. Seriously, I know almost nothing. I know there is no finish line, but I sure wish a (non-biased!) starting line was more clearly marked.

I have some work to do. Thank you guys so much for the needed advice, and wish me luck!

Quote: Original post by zyrolasting
Thank you guys so much for the needed advice, and wish me luck!

YW. GL.