Advice Needed: Salary Help needed for 3D Modeling Job Interview

# 1 20-08-2004 , 11:55 PM

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Join Date: Nov 2003

Posts: 9

Advice Needed: Salary Help needed for 3D Modeling Job Interview

Hi,

I have an interview coming up with a company that does previsualizations for new buildings and structures. They mostly do 3D walkthroughs and constructions of buildings from architects. The job that is as follows:

1. Entry level 3D artist (mostly 3D architectural environments) - 0-1 year experience
(Note: we are not looking for character animators or character modelers at this time although it would be a plus)

Requirements for 3D modelers:
A. Good 3D modeling skills - must know 3DS Max and some ACAD
B. Artistic background - ability to generate illustrations in 2D as well as 3D (able to produce in Adobe Creative Suite)
C. Willingness to learn new techniques, procedures and applications
D. Good communication skills
E. Interactive and editing skills a plus

These are all of the things they are looking for and what my job would entail. My question is on salary. What sort of salary would I expect to receive for this line of work? If they ask me what kind of salary I would accept what would I say? I havent really found much online about salaries for 3d modelers, but what I have found for entry level designers is around 40k a year. Would this sound about right?

Any answers or help you could give me would be appreciated. Also if anyone knows some good sites besides salary.com to look up salaries let me know.

Thanks again,
Edmond

PS. If anyone is interested to see what skills I have and what work I have done you can visit my website at www.edmondbina.com

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# 2 21-08-2004 , 12:03 AM

The Maya Mountain
Join Date: Aug 2002

Location: Seattle, WA

Posts: 8,245

Hard for me to say, really. 40k for a no-experience position seems kinda high, in my opinion. 'Course, it depends on location and such. My entry level position salary was about $26k a year.

-Mike
The Maya Toolbelt

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# 3 21-08-2004 , 12:09 AM

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Join Date: Nov 2003

Posts: 9

The company is located in Southern California, more specifically, Irvine.

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# 4 21-08-2004 , 12:40 AM

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Join Date: May 2004

Posts: 233

They shouldnt ask you for a salary, its not very ethical. For exemple, what would happen if you ask let say 30k then after a month you realize that all your coworker are getting 55k ?

I think you should return them the question by asking them about their salary grid and progression. You should never have to give a number. If they dont have any, ask them about how they evaluate how much people should get. They will feel the trap and will switch subject. If they say that they pay according to number of years of experience then you just tell them that since you are just starting its going to be easy to know how much thry are willing to pay you.

Also, we need more infos: do you want that job much? Do you HAVE to get a job or you have something right now and you can look for other openings? Your negociation power depends of a lot of things, but one thing that I learned is that salary is the least concern when hiring someone, unless the company has some financial problem but in that case you dont really want to work there anyways.

Actually, salary should be only talked about once you have passed the first few rounds of interview and you are almost sure to have the job, its supposed to be a formality, not a problematic subject.

The best salary sources are schools. Give them a call and ask them the average wage of the last graduates. The 40k$ figure seems a little high to me but I am living in Montréal were life is cheap...

Anyways, all this to say that salary wont be the reason that they refuse to hire you, at least not if your skill justify it and of course, that you are not asking for a ridiculous amount. Just make sure to show them what you can do for them and how creative/productive you can be!

Good luck!

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# 5 21-08-2004 , 04:05 AM

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Join Date: Nov 2003

Posts: 9

So far this is the only interview that I have lined up. Because of the experience I have, I dont know how many more people would be interested in hiring me for 3D modeling work. But then again, I only started sending out my resume and demo reel to places about 2 weeks ago.

From the decription this job sounds perfect for me. Its entry level, involving 3D modeling as well as some other computer art related skills that I have some experience with. They are also willing to train me. So at this point this is my only and best option for the start of my career.

As far as the salary goes, things are more expensive in Southern California, so I dont know how much inflation there would be. I could probably expect to pay at least 700-800 a month for a studio apartment in the area, just to give you an idea.

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# 6 21-08-2004 , 09:58 AM

Subscriber
Join Date: May 2004

Posts: 233

Well, that job sound great for you and you seem very interested in it so just forget about the money and get it. Dont try to negociate too hard, just ask about the salary progression because after all, this is the most important thing!

If you need a base number for salary do as I said: call some university/art school and ask how much their graduate get. They will be willing to supply this number and you can start from that point.

Good luck!

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Advice Needed: Salary Help needed for 3D Modeling Job Interview

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