Posts Tagged Talent
Posted on February 12, 2010 by Tahlent Team
With James Cameron’s film Avatar breaking box-office records the world over, the 3D animation industry has received a big boost. While 3D animation has been around for two decades, the success of films like Finding Nemo and the Shrek series are proof that the best is only yet to come.
According to NASSCOM, India’s gaming industry (specifically, computer games and mobile games) is expected to generate $424 million by the end of 2010. Not surprisingly, many graphic artists and digital technology buffs alike are turning to 3D animation as a career option.
However, does 3D animation offer avenues for just about anyone? How can one carve a rewarding and exciting career in this field?
To answer these questions, it is important to get a good idea of what 3D animation is all about. Simply put, 3D animation involves creating three-dimensional images for the purpose of entertainment, information or interactive experiences.
While it may sound glamorous, learning and perfecting animation techniques takes hours of hard work, dedication and perseverance. To start off, you must have good artistic skills, excellent visual communication skills and competent general knowledge.
Although 3D rendering tools are extremely advanced today, animation is much more than a mechanical skill. It is an art that relies heavily on the imagination. But then again, artistic skills are not sufficient. To be a competitive 3D animator, you must have a good eye for detail, structure and movement. Some 3D artists are specialists in creating environments and textures, while others are lighting experts.
Within the field of 3D animation, there are a variety of specialized roles and functions. On a 3D film project, for instance, you may work as a modeler, layout artist, clean-up artist, scanner operator, digital ink and paint artist, compositor, key-frame animator or a background artist. However, besides its most obvious applications in the business of movies and television, animation offers employment opportunities in advertising, education, electronic publishing and web design, gaming, architecture and interior design, as well as defense (virtual reality).
In India, a number of animation schools offer diplomas and bachelor’s degrees in animation to candidates who have secured a minimum of 45% marks in Class XII. Some noteworthy institutes are Animaster, Maya Academy of Advanced Cinematics, Arena Multimedia and Zee Institute of Creative Arts.
Premier institutes like Industrial Design Center (IDC), the Indian Institutes of Technology (IIT) and National Institute of Design (NID) offer postgraduate programs in animation, but these have strict eligibility criteria and admit only graduates of architecture, technology and engineering and fine arts.
With the economy just out of recession, the animation industry is opening up with new jobs. If you think you’re cut out for a career in 3D animation, make up your mind and choose the best course now.
Tags: 3-D animation, 3D artist, 3D movies, 3D rendering, 3D software, advertising, animation courses, animation resources, animation software, animation tutorials, architecture, background artist, Careers, clean-up artist, compositor, defense, designing career, digital ink and paint artist, education, electronic publishing, employment, entertainment, films, gaming, graphic design, interior design, Jobs, key-frame animator, layout artist, media, modeler, scanner operator, skills, Talent, video game design, virtual reality, visual communication, web design
Posted on January 28, 2010 by Tahlent Team
Location: Mumbai
Vacancy: Business Analyst (Mechanical)
Experience: 7 years
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Location: Hyderabad
Vacancy: Managers – Environmental/Process Engineering
Experience: 15-20 years
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Location: Bangalore
Vacancy: Marketing Communication Executive
Experience: 2-6 years
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Location: Delhi/NCR
Vacancy: Online Marketing Manager / Internet Marketing Manager
Experience: 11-16 years
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Location: Kolkata
Vacancy: Quality Assurance Executive
Experience: 2-4 years
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Location: Gurgaon/ Delhi
Vacancy: Professional Sales Closer, BPO operations
Experience: 1-10 years
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Location: Chennai
Vacancy: Customer Support Advisor
Experience: 0-1 years
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Location: Pune
Vacancy: Online Content Writer
Experience: 0-2 years
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IMPORTANT NOTE: These listings are compiled from third-party sources. Tahlent does not accept responsibility for the validity, reliability or accuracy of the openings posted, or of the employers named here. Job-seekers are advised to be cautious and verify the information thoroughly before applying.
Tags: Bangalore, Chennai, Delhi, Gurgaon, Hyderabad, India, india jobs, job openings, Jobs, kolkata, Mumbai, NCR, positions, Pune, Secunderabad, Talent, talent search, vacancies
Posted on January 4, 2010 by Tahlent Team
With the ill-effects of the recession fading away, employers are creating new job opportunities and looking for talent to fill positions. While finding new recruits should not be difficult, employers must focus on finding the right people for the job. More importantly, they must put in place strategies to ensure that they can retain their new recruits.
Here are few tips:
Hire right talent
Start on the right foot. Rather than make the mistake of hiring the wrong candidate to meet a target, focus on hiring the the right people. If you outsource your hiring requirements to an external agency, be clear and uncompromising about job descriptions and eligibility criteria. It’s better to delay hiring than hire the wrong person for the job.
Strong team player
While interviewing candidates for the job, look beyond the CV. Study attitude in addition to aptitude. Do background checks with the aim of finding out if the person you are looking to hire is a good fit with your work culture and ethos. Carefully consider if he or she will get along with the current team. During recruitment interviews, ask probing questions to learn more about his or her outlook and orientation with regard to teamwork and collaboration.
Communicate policies clearly
The recession has made employees more and more suspicious of company policies. More often than not, they will make plans to leave you sooner if they suspect that you are not being clear in communicating your policies. Ensure that official communication reaches all employees through an official channel. If necessary, have these policies reiterated to them through a special point of contact.
Work-life balance is critical
Employees have realized that a healthy work-life balance is their right. If your company does not already take measures to encourage this, it’s time to review your policies. Provide that your work environment and policies are accommodating of the needs of your employees’ family time and needs. At the same time, ensure that employees are made accountable for the time they spend away from the office by putting in place efficient time management and reporting measures.
Give recognition and share positive feedback
Happy employees are more productive. Put in place measures to encourage and reward performance at various levels. Commend exceptional performance widely across the organization. Groom leadership by inviting top-performing employees to contribute to important, high-visibility initiatives.
Tags: advice, Career advice, communication, Employee retention, employee satisfaction, feedback, happy employees, official communication, recession, recognition, retention strategies, rewards, Talent, tips
Posted on November 27, 2009 by Tahlent Team
Working with creative people is challenging as it is rewarding. While it can be stimulating to be surrounded by talented people and ideas in the midst of a creative environment, learning how to manage creative teams or co-workers is an art. And it needs to be pursued with care and attention.
The term “creative people” immediately brings to mind artists and writers. However, this definition includes musicians, RJs, application architects, architects, graphic designers, advertising professionals, filmmakers, landscape artists, photographers, sound engineers, nutritionists, clothing designers, etc.
Often, creative people are known for being eccentric, working flexibly and not following a set routine. They may sometimes be asocial and withdrawn and at other times flamboyant and articulate. They are often frustrated by regimented working hours and work conditions. However, creative teams may sometimes be a part of a larger corporate outfit and the rules that apply to the rest of the firm apply to them too.
To manage a creative team effectively it is important to understand the way creative people work, and ensure that productivity does not get sacrificed in the process.
Lack of inspiration is often cited as a reason for turning in poor quality work. Remember that while you can do everything to keep your creative team’s energies charged up, it’s just another day at work. You can’t produce creativity on demand by turning on a faucet, so there has to be an established code of work that is fair, stimulating, and result-oriented.
- Communicate briefs clearly and provide context while doing so
- Ensure that your team-members are aligned to a goal
- Drive home the point that your emphasis is on the outcome of the work rather than the hours spent on creating it
- Watch out for burnout and prevent it before it happens. If people are working overtime, ensure that they take necessary time off to recover and recharge their batteries
- Innovation is necessary but deadlines are sacrosanct. Build a framework that allows for timely reviews and interventions prior to submission or presentation of a project
- Foster a culture of openness and collaboration within the team. Do not encourage cliques within a team.
- If two creative people in a team do not get along, drive home the point that the odds shall favor the team player
- Be public with praise and discreet with criticism. While rejecting ideas, be sensitive to the person who generated them. However, take care not to undermine your own authority. Be frank and diplomatic, but also forthright
- Create a culture of mentoring – allow team-members to contribute to each others’ growth and learning
- Within the boundaries of company policy, enable access to learning tools, resources and activities
- Always celebrate accomplishments and dissect failures together and as a team
Tags: advertising professionals, application architects, architects, clothing designers, collaboration, creative people, creative team, creativity, deadlines, filmmakers, graphic designers, Innovation, landscape artists, managing creative teams, mentoring, musicians, nutritionists, openness, photographers, productivity, RJs, sound engineers, Talent, teamwork
Posted on November 4, 2009 by Tahlent Team
In November 2008, Harish met the same fate as many software engineers. His employer, a technology giant based in Bangalore, handed him the pink slip.
For two weeks Harish stayed at home, unable to come to terms with his misfortune. He had no back-up plans and little in terms of savings. The outlook seemed bleak, as calls to job consultants didn’t get past the receptionist. To shore up for the uncertainty looming ahead, Harish sold his three-month-old Zen Estilo and moved to a smaller home. He sold his LCD TV and his iPhone on eBay.
One afternoon he picked up his digital SLR camera, which he had hardly used, and sat down to compose another ‘for sale’ classified ad. It was painful to write it, because Harish had been extremely attached to this camera.
And then, suddenly, an idea struck him.
Harish slapped his laptop shut, picked up his camera, hurriedly packed a rucksack and caught an overnight bus to Hampi. Arriving in Hampi in the morning, he checked into a cheap hotel and freshened up. After breakfast, he stepped out for a stroll through the town and towards the temples and monuments. It was an overcast day, and the light was perfect. He spent the day photographing the monuments and the breathtaking rocky landscapes as well as some market scenes. He took a night bus back to Bangalore the same evening.
He downloaded his photographs to his laptop the next morning and uploaded them to his Flickr account. For the next few days, he continued his job search and forgot all about his photos.
Three days later, he received a comment on one of his pictures. It was from the editor of a travel magazine who wanted to buy the picture for use on his magazine cover.
Harish was pleasantly surprised. Though he had received praise for his photographs earlier, he had never considered the possibility that anyone would have a commercial interest in them. His heart in his mouth, Harish wrote back to the editor, asking him what he would pay.
There was no reply. Harish thought he had offended the editor by asking to be paid for his amateurish photos. Two days later, the editor wrote back apologizing for the delay in responding. He expressed interest in buying three more photographs and offered Rs 3,000 apiece.
Harish couldn’t believe his luck – a trip to Hampi that cost him no more than a thousand rupees had fetched him Rs 12,000! On a friend’s advice, he enrolled for a photography workshop to polish his skills. It was a therapeutic way to spend six harrowing weeks that would have otherwise been spent in a fruitless chase after headhunters.
By the end of the course, Harish’s confidence had grown immeasurably. He set up a website and mustered the courage to offer his photographs to publishers. At first, eight out of ten turned him away, but he soldiered on. Within six months, he was selling about ten pictures a month for anything ranging from Rs 1000 to Rs 5000 apiece.
If he had not lost his job, Harish reflected, he would never have found his true calling!
Harish is not alone in being a “lucky victim” of the recession.
MySunnyBalcony, an innovative business engaged in designing and creating innovative garden themes in small enclosed spaces such as apartment balconies, was started by four Bangaloreans in the midst of the recession. They followed their hobby – gardening – with passion and zeal when the economy was looking down.
Similarly, many risk-takers have taken advantage of the recession to exit the boredom of corporate life and focus on their hobbies and interests, eventually turning them into successful careers. Not surprisingly, the recession has engendered unusual careers such as bartending, DJing, floristry, jewelry designing, sports coaching, teaching swimming or music, coffee/wine/tea tasting, freelance writing and web designing.
Smart, determined people see an opportunity in anything – even a recession. For them, crisis is just another avenue to chase their dreams. Making the shift takes guts, drive and an extra helping of self-belief but it is possible to make the most of your recession if you look within to find your calling. Your hobby can be your passport to an unusual, satisfying and rewarding career. When the economy springs back, you will find yourself happier and wealthier in more ways than one.
Do you have a similar success story to relate? Share it with us by posting it as a comment.
Tags: bartending, Careers, coffee tasting, designing, DJing, economy, entrepreneur, Entrepreneurship, floristry, freelance writing, hobbies, Indian Professionals, music, recession, Talent, Talent Community, Talent Network, tea tasting, unusual careers, wine tasting
Posted on October 31, 2009 by Tahlent Team
Finally, the curtain of the recession seems to have lifted. While the market slump has drawn blood in the form of lost jobs and made the market more cautious, it has not stopped some gritty entrepreneurs from seeking and finding their pot of gold.
In fact, when everyone else was worrying about what the recession would do to the future, some people just rolled up their sleeves, dug their heels in and created their own future.
It is perhaps ironic that the announcement of the TATA NEN Hottest Startups Awards 2008 came just after the recession had taken hold of the economy. About a hundred startups were identified in the fray and five were named for the top position.
Rajesh Varier’s activecubes solutions, founded in 2007 and offering business analytics services, placed first among the TATA NEN Hottest Startups. Close behind was Vamsi Krishna’s Lakshya, which helps students prepare for engineering and medical entrance examinations. From India’s booming agribusiness sector was Amith Agarwal’s Star Agri, which provides comprehensive warehousing, procurement and collateral management services for agri-commodities. Also on the list was Pavan Kumar Vijay’s takeovercode.com, which provides IT-enabled legal, financial and management consultancy to companies. From the consumer retail sector, the judges picked Jay Gupta’s The Loot, a multi-brand discount store that helps shoppers buy their desired brands at half the price.
Several hundred companies applied for a place among the Hottest Startups. The wealth of ideas that came to the fore was a clear indication that entrepreneurs were looking for opportunity in hitherto untapped sectors.
Among the most vibrant and unusual business ideas were in the underserved sector of sports. GoSports, for example, works with promising athletes “to groom the next generation of world-beating Indian sporting champions” and aspires to “invigorate the country’s sporting ecosystem.” On the other hand, there are companies whose work borders on social activism. DailyDump provides products that enable us to manage household waste and convert it to useful high-quality compost.
That, however, is only the tip of the iceberg.
In a May 2009 story about India’s successful young entrepreneurs, The Washington Post reported that the economic slump did not halt the dreams of India’s budding entrepreneurs. The Post article outlined the success stories of Rajesh Razdan’s mCarbon, which provides sophisticated call-management services to cell phone users, and Zibika.com, an online personal finance portal focused on the insurance market, started by 25-year-old entrepreneur Arun Balakrishnan.
According to the Post, “Analysts say that although the amount invested in start-ups dipped in the first quarter of 2009, the number of deals did not.”
Does that mean that the best is yet to come?
Tags: activecubes solutions, DailyDump, entrepreneurs, Entrepreneurship, GoSports, India, Indian Professionals, Lakshya, mCarbon, Star Agri, takeovercode.com, Talent, Talent Community, Talent Network, TATA NEN, TATA NEN Hottest Startups, The Loot, Washington Post, Zibika.com
