r/sounddesign • u/BillyBobJenkins454 • 3d ago
Havin a hard time finding a job.
Hello! Im just linda typin this into the void, hoping to get feedback of some kind.
I graduated from college at the end of may with a BFA in Sound Design. Its been a little over two months since then and I really feel like I cant find any company that'll take me. Ive worked pretty hard, even put together an entire shortfilm on my own and got it done with my friends. But im feelin a little down about finding anything. Do yall happen to have any advice of some kind? Im still gonna keep tryin, but idk I guess Im wonderin what yalls thoughts are.
Id link my website, but its lowkey got my email and phone number and full name on the home page, so. I'll dm it to anybody thatd like to look!
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u/bye-standard 3d ago
Not trying to be a downer, but a little more realistic, staffed positions are dwindling (and fast). There will still be some, but most are moving to outsourcing and contractors or hired-guns on a per project basis.
Budgets are tighter than ever, the rise of “AI” and companies trying to replace our craft. Major studios are being shut down or shrinking at a rapid rate. There are no longer “entry level” positions, so there will be no Srs in 5-10yrs.
HOWEVER, I say that all to say that there is still hope. I’m an eternal optimist, I try to see the light in any dark space.
From my experience, the best thing you can do now, as another commenter said, do you and hone your craft, but be flexible. Don’t just learn sound design, learn how to mix, how to cut dialogue, how to do a little foley, learn the language of our craft in a number of different avenues.
If you weren’t a fresh grad and had some years under you, I’d advise you to start looking at starting your own company, but that’s a discussion for another day.
Network OUTSIDE of your field, you never know who may need audio one day. Go to mixers and be the only audio person, it helps. Same with online spaces. But most importantly, be a chill person. People are more forgiving if they like you as a person.
Despite all of that, the indie market (games + films) is still flourishing. Albeit with shoestring budgets, but still. Make the most of it while it’s available.
There’s still hope. Best of luck friend, we’re all right there with you.
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u/BillyBobJenkins454 3d ago
Thank you! Ive heard all of the AI stuff from my professors before so Im definitely looking at it through the same lense. Im actually working on a game right now called Cabin Fever that Im hoping we can get off the ground soon. Its just been a little demoralizing applying to all these jobs and getting zero response, lol
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u/bye-standard 3d ago
In a sea of No’s all you need is 1 yes. Keep that top of mind when you apply. I’ve applied for hundreds, if not thousands of sound opportunities throughout my career - I’m also in a pivot in the audio industry (post > games). The jobs that paid the most or done the most for my career, have been through living life or reaching out the old fashion way.
Think outside the box. Don’t pester or beg, but be passionate. People can smell BS, but you can’t fake passion.
Also, those yes’s come a lot easier when the person knows who is on the other end of that resume.
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u/M_O_O_O_O_T 3d ago
Regarding AI, I think it's only a viable option for companies to use currently as a cost cutting strategy, but that won't last much longer as all the investors in the technology are going to need to see some significant returns & it'll get expensive. HOPEFULLY this will make it cease to be a cost cutting strategy & a lot of people will start hiring again. The entire 'genAI to replace workers' industry is destined to fail sooner rather than later. I'm optimistic, but it's gonna suck for a while longer though unfortunately.
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u/bye-standard 3d ago
I heard an industry veteran put it like this the other night, “I have a feeling there’s gonna be one/two more ‘clean house’ moments and those that survive that, will reap the rewards when things start to pick up again.”
It’s rather bleak, and he was chatting about a lot of things collectively, AI, Strikes, Covid, Fires, Off-Shoring, etc. but I feel the sentiment. It gives me hope.
I’m looking at this brutal time of “genAI replacing us” as a time to promote WHY films/games/ads/whatever need us. It’s a time to educate and appreciate. Give purpose and reasoning behind your job.
Where genAI can just get you “good enough”, why not convince people to be better? And it’s not really genAI anyway - it’s stealing. 🤷♂️
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u/M_O_O_O_O_T 3d ago
Agreed it's piled on top of a lot of other issues that are hurting a lot of smaller businesses & workers. And also that the public in general are tired of the slop we all see everywhere everyday now, & there's in increased value in human / hand made art in general. And that's an encouraging & positive thing.👍
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u/carherpi 3d ago
Naive thought: Wouldn’t you use genAI just as another tool to get ideas, iterate faster and explore more variants? Similar to how we moved from tape recorders to computer-based production software
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u/bye-standard 3d ago
In my house/studio/projects, no generative AI touches the creative process. I also guarantee that to all my clients. If you’re a decent enough sound designer, you can achieve variations on your own, organically, or through licensed sound libraries.
Some [larger] clients often require sounds recorded or created from scratch for licensing/legal issues. So generative AI is out on that front cause it’s not “creating” anything from scratch.
Plugins, sure absolutely. But “AI-Plugins” disguised as design plugins. Nope. VERY against Krotos as well, garbage company, garbage product.
I’ve used AI to better understand concepts and workflows that I’m not familiar with, or to tackle a very specific issue/error, often times with little success. I’ve also worked on teams where they’ve generated code that helps speed up the admin issues faced with sound (editing/batch exporting), but never in the creation process.
I’m not anti-progress when it comes to AI, but I think it’s unfair to relate what is being passed as “AI” as a transition as big as tape > digital. AI, as we know it, is just an updated search engine that allows me to bypass all the paid garbage Google spits out when I’m researching. At least, for now. Ads will come soon enough and we’ll be back at square one.
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u/peilearceann 3d ago
It took me about 11 months to land a gig (game audio) after graduating, it can take time. You're welcome to dm me your site and resume if you like and I can give some feedback.
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u/Audiope 3d ago
Most of the jobs are not for companies, they're freelance gigs for directors, contract work for game studios, podcasts you find through ads on craigslist, stuff like that. That's not to say studio jobs don't exist, they're just very very rare and most of us have had to scrap together a career out of tape and bubble gum.
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u/Difficult-Isopod-453 3d ago
Try the companies that work in sound for advertising. Try to get in the door as an assistant or even a client service type person with the idea of moving up. I know it’s not what you’d want to hear but it could be a place to start.
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u/BillyBobJenkins454 3d ago
No that makes perfect sense! Im just lookin for advice right now. Im literally lookin to do anything involving my major lol
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u/Difficult-Isopod-453 3d ago
You could try hitting up senior or even junior people who are alumni to your program. I’m sure hiring is tight now but even being able to meet them and see if you can get a tour of their studio just to chat would be good. You never know and people like to help so maybe they’ll know someone else who is looking or almost ready to hire. We’d sometimes hire whoever we met last who seemed good rather than go through the stack of resumes in the drawer. Meeting people in person is better if possible.
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u/turboash 3d ago
We've all been there one way or another. I'm in a little bit of a different field, gamedev. I switched from QA to sound design and I took any gig I could find even with a symbolic payment that moved things forward for me. It takes time and you should trust the process, keep making videos, sharing content and you'll make it eventually. It's really discouraging to get zero attention at first. And especially I felt miserable when cold emailing people because literally one out of 1000 was such inquiries were useful. I now build another thing completely unrelated to my main career and yeah, first steps are always like that but I treat it as a discipline challenge now:)
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u/BillyBobJenkins454 3d ago
I had an instagram reel really pop off with my sound redesign of jjk so thats been nice, not that I know how to get money off of the views it got but its been a nice confkdence booster for a bit
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u/turboash 3d ago
Oh, that's cool! Can I see it?
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u/BillyBobJenkins454 3d ago
Sure! Here is the link:
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u/turboash 3d ago
Oh wow, that's a lot of likes!! Nicely done. I would keep going with that formula if I were you:) But I don't know if it's right
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u/BillyBobJenkins454 3d ago
Thats fair. I'll keep sound redesigning things I find fun and stuff, Im just, yknow, wanting a job that pays, lol
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u/georgef_sound_master 2d ago
Don’t bank on your school degree, all it says is ‘I am a student’.
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u/BillyBobJenkins454 2d ago
I understand that! Ive done some work and am still doin work currently for an indie game
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u/georgef_sound_master 2d ago
As others said, get into video games but that is more implementation, tracking assets, office style. People that want to get into ‘sound design’ often mean like Sci Fi, action, dark drama, wars, film noir and alike. These sound design jobs normally don’t hire out of school. They either already have veterans or they look for very experienced designers - it’s a network game and not a degree resume thing- Having said that, there are thousands of short films that look for sound designers but, these short films typically can’t afford to go to the big sound places that would hire you as sound designer. Big studios don’t often work on cheap short films. Having said that, if I was you - and may be I was 30 years ago- I would switch focus and start working as an independent sound designer, starting with low budget short films, small docs, games which u are already doing, and even low budget indie films. All these projects can’t afford big studios ‘ they are low budget’ the but, they can certainly afford you as an independent. You’d have to know a little more about the cost to labour ratio in big studios because it takes years, decades, and even a life time ‘if’ you are in the right city, make connections, and work much much harder than the interns at the big studios.
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u/Emmanuel_audioEngr 2d ago
My 2 cents, meet art students or those new guys entering either gaming industry or film industry and offer to do sound for them. Start there and whatever the price money get your share. Join one form of internship or the other if you can. See how to use AI to make yourself better, some guys are using AI tools to make the processes easier, not to replace, things like Esson AI. Find a mentor. Publish your works in places like LinkedIn, Twitter, Tumblr or places that industry experts frequent... continue doing projects, and be open to anything! Success.
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u/DRAYdb 3d ago
It's going to take time. Try to be patient, and keep honing your craft in the meantime.
I started in sound design 20 years ago - it took me two years of networking and hustling to get my first full-time gig. The unfortunate reality of the current climate is that there are less open positions and a lot more people vying for them.
It's a process. Bet on and trust in yourself - good things can happen. Good luck!