Claire Julia Hicks, a graduate in animation and visual effects, in her bedroom in Calgary where she has built a small home studio for creating animations.Amir Salehi/The Globe and Mail
Name, age: Claire (C.J.) Hicks, 24
Education: Bachelor of Applied Arts in Animation and Visual Effects from Red Deer Polytechnic (2023)
Where she lives: Calgary
Her dream job: Lead character rigger
The job search so far: Ms. Hicks has applied to 43 jobs in the animation industry since graduating in 2023. She specialized in character rigging, the process of creating a digital skeleton that allows characters to move in an animated way.
Her instructors were impressed with her work; last winter, she was asked to fill in to lead a class when the teacher became unavailable. “I really love it because it feels like I’m bringing life into something,” Ms. Hicks said.
However, the job hunt has been difficult. Of 43 applications, she’s gotten nine responses. Mostly she receives boilerplate replies thanking her for her submission.
“It feels like they haven’t even looked at it,” she said. “It is disheartening to apply to studios and not hear anything back.”
Her main challenge: Creative burnout. After graduation, Ms. Hicks took a job in a grocery store bakery to earn some money. “The animation programs I use are quite expensive,” she said. “So I need to keep working in customer service to keep my job search going.” However, she says it’s been difficult to find time to work on her portfolio.
Recently, she’s been doing small animation projects to keep up morale, flex her creative muscle, and have new material to show potential employers.
Leah Carr, a career coach and human resources professional, has some ideas for how Ms. Hicks can overcome creative burnout and stay engaged with the animation community online, both of which can help with the job hunt.
Handmade character figurines from Star Gazer, an independent project Ms. Hicks has been building since high school, sit on a table as she continues developing the story and designs.Amir Salehi/The Globe and Mail
Work in focused chunks
Ms. Carr suggests that Ms. Hicks take a lighter approach to portfolio work to help reignite her artistic spark. Short, focused time blocks – maybe three hours, twice a week – can actually be more productive than days-long marathon work sessions, she said. Ms. Hicks should start by setting small goals each week, such as finishing one rig or updating one reel. Eventually, she could compile these onto a new website to host her portfolio items.
Restructure her portfolio
Currently, Ms. Hicks’ resume does not include a link to her portfolio or an Instagram account with demo reels. This should be front and centre in every application, Ms. Carr said: “It’s a creative role, so recruiters need to see the work you’ve done.”
Recruiters scan a resume for only a few seconds, so applicants have to grab their interest right away. All the essential components should be in one spot, whether it’s a resume, LinkedIn, or website – don’t make a recruiter search around. “The minute we have to do that, we might move on to the next person,” Ms. Carr said. “Make your application as seamless as possible.”
For Ms. Hicks, this could be a website with her best work at the top, plus a section that showcases her teaching stint. “Not a lot of new grads can say they’ve taught college-level animation. That should definitely be highlighted,” Ms. Carr said.
Resumes, portfolios, websites and LinkedIn accounts should all be cohesive and link to each other. Ms. Carr said many recruiters will look up an applicant on LinkedIn and expect to see their body of work. “What they find could bring her to the forefront of the hiring pool,” she said.
A 3D character model from Star Gazer on Ms. Hicks’s laptop as she works from her bedroom studio.Amir Salehi/The Globe and Mail
Online networking
When it comes to landing her first animation job, Ms. Carr says networking is paramount. She should follow animators who currently work for dream companies and research their career trajectories. (Chances are, they didn’t start out at Pixar.) Identify the smaller and mid-sized studios they started at, follow those companies, and research whether they’re hiring. Even if they’re not, Ms. Carr says it pays to be ahead of the curve, as recruitment is constantly happening on LinkedIn.
“It’s not about luck, it’s about consistently positioning yourself for that next opportunity,” Ms. Carr said. This can be as simple as connecting with creators and dropping a nice comment about their work. “Reach out for coffee chats to learn more about how they got there, and what can she do as an upcoming creative to get into similar roles,” she said.
Later, when a hiring manager eventually posts a new job listing, it won’t be the first time they’re hearing from Ms. Hicks.
Should she upskill?
Ms. Hicks wants to learn how to code using Python. Ms. Carr agrees this skill will make her more employable, especially if studios are explicitly looking for candidates who can code. However: “Education is not what’s missing here, it’s her exposure and her portfolio,” Ms. Carr said.
Overall, this career coach believes Ms. Hick has the creative acumen to land a job in her field – it might just take longer than expected. “Don’t give up on this dream. It will happen as long as she stays focused.”
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