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“You need to do art because you love it. You need to do art because there’s something inside you that wants to tell that particular part of you, visually.”
~ Mike Clarida
What are the 3 key steps for your creative career?
In our previous podcast with artist Mike Clarida, he spoke about his 16-year career and how adapting and learning new skills led him to work with big clients such as Disney and Footlocker.
In this latest interview, he goes even deeper on this subject and explores the 3 key areas you need to concentrate on to get the creative job of your dreams.
So, if you’ve ever been unsure of which steps to take to push your career forward, read on.
Because the advice Mike shares in this podcast might just give you the lightbulb moment you’ve been looking for…
Create a Great Portfolio To Get Your Dream Creative Job
The first of the 3 key steps for your creative career is to create a great portfolio – one that not only features your best work, but also contains work that’s relevant to the company you’re applying for (such as animation, concept art, character design etc).
Always be Looking for Opportunities
Most artists understand the importance of promoting your work on your website and social media channels, but what else do you need to do to get your name out there?
Basically, you need to start building connections with people who can help get you to where you want to be. Whether it’s reaching out to other artists, or researching areas of art in greater detail, you often need to go the extra mile to make an impression.
As Mike says: “You need to do art because you love it. You need to do art because there’s something inside you that wants to tell that particular part of you, visually.”
You might also want to consider joining a local artists’ guild – these often have lists of companies to apply to for creative roles. Alternatively, just search for local art jobs in your chosen field online.
Be Prepared for Interviews
So you’ve got an interview? Awesome! But what do you do next? Being prepared for an interview is the last of the 3 key steps for your creative career.
Be genuine, be honest, don’t pretend to have skills you don’t possess, and above all, listen to what the people interviewing you are saying.
Good luck! We hope these 3 key steps for your creative career help you find a job where you can let your talent shine 🙂
Listen to this week’s show and learn:
- How to tailor your portfolio for the job you’re applying for
- How to network with other artists and promote your work
- How to prepare for interviews and make a great first impression
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Thanks for listening to our show! We’ll be back next Wednesday morning 8AM EST.
Cheers,
Mitch
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Great discussion guys. One of the things that strikes me about this interview is how darn articulate Mike is! How did he get that kind of confidence? Does he have his own podcast? I worked at Disney animation for years and you could just spend all day at your desk and talk to noone. This did not make for developing confidence in expressing my own ideas and opinions.
Anyway, I like the idea of expressing yourself and your passions on a blog. (Is your old blog still live, Mitch?) I’ve started that process over on my site, but I’d like to be able to talk about personal experience and lessons I’ve learned. How do you do that without over-sharing? Thanks for another great interview!
Hi Rene – thanks for writing in. I don’t think Mike has his own podcast (that I know of) and from my experience some people are born with it (which I may guess is the case with Mike) – but it’s a skill that you can learn for sure – though in my experience it can be helpful to get some assistance with this one because for all the books I read on the topic it wasn’t until I actually signed up for an in person class that I could immediately see the results. There’s something about ‘knowing what to do’ and actually doing it.
My old blog isn’t live anymore unfortunately. As for over sharing… I’ve started to see that there’s really no limit, because people will connect with the honesty that comes through with that. I’ve struggled with this before because I’ve been attacked online and while it shouldn’t hurt – it really stings the first few times… but the important thing to remember is that when you are putting your message out with the intent of helping people – you shouldn’t be afraid of those nay-sayers because there are literally hundreds of people you are helping for each negative person, and if you let one person get under your skin and you stop – you are depriving 100’s for the comments of one. Once I started realizing that was the way of the web it got a bit easier to have thicker skin – the world needs people to share and help!