Hello Everyone!

My name is Austin and I have had a mid-life career change into the game field. I am working on becoming a technical artist, but I am running into the same issue most new people run into. How do I get experience when beginner jobs require 3-5 years of experience? I know if I got my foot in the door I would do great, but does anyone have any ideas on how to open this gate?

Any advice is welcome and thank you all in advance!

AustinCieslak said:
How do I get experience when beginner jobs require 3-5 years of experience?

First let's dispel the terminology misunderstandings in your question.

Beginner jobs do not require experience. Beginner jobs are for beginners, usually people who just got a degree or who have student/amateur/hobby/indie games in their portfolio.

If you're applying for jobs that require 3-5 years experience, you're not applying for beginner jobs.

"Experience" to an employer's hiring department means professional paid work experience. For a beginner job, nobody expects professional paid work experience. It's expected that those applying for beginner jobs are in their early-mid twenties. It's expected that those with 3-5 years of experience are in their late twenties or early thirties. If you're in your forties (mid-life), you have to prove your credentials with a solid portfolio.

Has any of your work appeared in any released games? If not, you can offer your services to some amateur/hobby/indie projects. It'll take time to build a portfolio.

What's your location? Your profile says North Carolina, so you may be within daily/weekly commuting distance from some of the Research Triangle companies. A quick search of North Carolina on gamedevmap.com shows 33 companies near you. There may be local networking opportunities. Maybe there's a way you can show off your mad skillz - usually in a portfolio.

I wrote about “The Experience Experience” and many other articles on overcoming those entry barriers in my articles at https://sloperama.com/advice/index.html​ - just scan down through the article titles and click on any that may be apropos to your situation.

@Tom Sloper

Thank you for pointing me in the right direction. I have already found some useful stuff in your link and will be giving it a detailed read.