In other news, I just got word back that I did not receive the job that I applied for. Which is okay. After that second interview went poorly, I mentally prepared myself for the possibility of not getting it.
And since the process is over, I'll tell you all the story. A starship modeler for Star Trek: Online at Cryptic Studios recommended me to their team as a candidate for an open spot for both an Environment Artist and Starship Modeler. I was very excited at the opportunity, and he assured me that having no industry experience or formal education wouldn't be a problem. I sent in my resume and portfolio, and went through a series of interviews and took an art test. The first interview went great; it was a very friendly, general chat with someone in HR. After this first interview, I was so sure I was going to get the job that my hopes got TOO high, and I started mentally checking out of my current job and my life here in my home town.
The second interview went poorly. It was with two members of the Environment team and their skepticism of my abilities as an outsider of the industry was very apparent to me, and the entire interview was over far too soon. I became nervous and was having difficulty communicating effectively with them. This was probably the most damaging part of the process, and I wish they'd have been a little more focused on my work rather than their skepticism. But I get it. I probably would've done the same (and I do the exact same thing when interviewing people at my restaurant job). I suffered a huge blow to my self-esteem after this interview, and I realized the importance of not getting my hopes up too high in situations like this. I started considering that I may not get the job, and I also started looking at what I needed to do to sharpen my skills as a 3D modeler. I bought new programs and engaged in tutorial-based training in order to be fully prepared for the art test that I was still unsure if I was going to receive.
Despite the poor second interview, I was given an art test where I had to create a hero prop (a highly detailed model) and feature it in an environment built from existing assets included in a set package of assets that they recommended. The only thing I was allowed to build was the prop itself; everything else had to be used from the existing asset package. I performed this test to the best of my abilities and sent it in(I created a sword and displayed it with some medieval assets I was allowed to use; there are a few photos of it on my Flickr page). About 5 days later, I received an e-mail stating that they position has already been filled and that they'd keep my information on file.
Not a big deal. To be honest, I'm not very impressed with the work of Cryptic (especially that featured in Star Trek: Online environments) and some of the things I've read about the company in this quest have really turned me off. However, I was most looking forward to getting some real industry experience so that I could get into the industry.
I want to thank all of you here for your words of encouragement during this process. It meant a lot to me!