Motion Graphics Designer Job Search Tips & Best Practices

Once you’ve assembled your job-search materials—a customizable resume and cover letter, and your digital portfolio—your next step is to locate jobs for which you can apply. That’s probably going to begin with a search on Indeed, but there’s more to finding work than just that one site. The goal of this article is to acquaint you with a number of rocks you should look under when seeking work in motion graphics design.

Indeed

Just as they used to lead to Rome, all roads today lead to Indeed, at least as far as job searches are concerned. People with work to offer and people in search of work generally first think of turning to this platform, which, as a result, has more postings on it than on its rival sites. It gets 15 new jobs posted every second and has 350 million monthly users. Because Indeed has so many users, its job postings get an inordinate amount of applicants, which greatly lowers your chances of getting seen or even getting past the applicant tracking system (ATS), whence the feeling you’ll get if you apply to a lot of jobs on Indeed that you’re haplessly shooting resumes out into the soul-sucking darkness of the internet.

Here are a few tips that should help you with the platform:

• One effective way of combatting the sense of futility that goes with Indeed is to avoid the Easily Apply button and prepare a carefully tailored resume and cover letter that incorporate all the keywords from the job description for each and every position for which you apply. 
• You’ll at least have a chance of standing out from the crowd that way. 
• While you should always be wary of scams on any job search site, you ought to be especially wary of them on Indeed. 
• Unlike most job-search sites, Indeed doesn’t offer a paid tier with additional features. The platform makes its money from employers who elect to pay for sponsored job listings.

LinkedIn

Although people often dismiss LinkedIn as Facebook for professionals, it is also a source of job leads that it will deliver to your email box, just like Indeed. Sometimes, these will reach you before the employers have stopped accepting applications. You need to act quickly on LinkedIn leads, but, because the field of applicants is frequently capped at a relatively small number, you may stand a better chance of getting noticed than you do on Indeed. That said, LinkedIn probably isn’t the best source for Motion Graphics Designer positions. You should still have a LinkedIn profile, so you might as well let their bots deliver job possibilities to you. LinkedIn is free to use, although it offers a pricey paid tier, LinkedIn Premium, that offers a premium profile, a full list of profile views and access to LinkedIn Learning, LinkedIn’s library of video tutorials on a very wide range of business subjects.

Dribbble

Dribbble (that’s with three Bs; you’re going to be extremely puzzled by dribble.com) is an international site that allows artists to exhibit their portfolios so that people seeking to hire creative personnel can see them. Useful for both beginners and seasoned professionals, Dribbble has been around since 2009 and has proven itself a valued resource among designers of all types. Dribbble caters to freelancers and those seeking full-time positions alike. It offers users the option of a modestly priced paid tier, Dribbble Pro, which offers enhanced profile and portfolio features and functionality.

Motionographer Jobs

Motionographer is a site devoted to the advancement of motion graphics. It showcases projects and news from motion graphics designers, and oversees the Motion Awards for excellence in the field. It also offers an industry-leading job board. You can sign up for job alerts, and search openings by location as well as by type of position. It is highly recommendable, and there is no optional paid tier. Note that the site only accepts listings for paid jobs, so if you’re starting out and looking for an internship, you’ll have to seek elsewhere.

Behance

Behance is Adobe’s platform for sharing your portfolio and selling your work. The platform also includes a job board that can pair freelancers with clients. Posting a portfolio to Behance is free, although there is a reasonably priced Behance Pro tier that includes such features as advanced analytics and 0% platform fees. If you have Adobe Portfolio with your Creative Cloud plan, your Adobe and Behance portfolios will automatically sync (unless you don’t want them to.) You’ll also not have to pay for the Behance Pro features.

Motion Graphics Designer Salary and Job Outlook

According to the Department of Labor’s Bureau of Labor Statistics:

• Salaries for the macro category of Special Effects Artists and Animators (which includes Motion Graphics Designers) attained a median wage of slightly over $100,000 a year. 
• That being the median, 50% of all people employed in the category made less than that figure. 
• A more illustrative number is that the range from the bottom 10% of salaries to the top 10% comes out between $57,000 and $170,000, thus 80% of all Special Effects Artists and Animators make something between those two extremes. 
• The other encouraging number is that for projected job growth: the BLS estimates that, for the period 2022-32, it will be at 8%, which is ahead of expected job growth overall. 
• As a result, you can view motion graphics design as a well-paid growth industry.

Learn the Skills to Become a Motion Graphics Designer at Noble Desktop

If you’ve decided that you want to make a career designing motion graphics, you’re going to need training, most particularly in the program that’s going to sit at the heart of your professional labors, Adobe After Effects. Noble Desktop, a well-known design and IT school based in New York City, can help you to become a motion graphics designer without a degree. Noble can teach you what you need to know with its Motion Graphics Certificate program, which includes instruction in After Effects, its sister video editing program Premiere Pro, and the 3D modeling program Cinema 4D. You’ll also have ample time and support to devote to the development of your professional portfolio. There is an even more thorough option, the Video Editing and Motion Graphics Certificate program, which includes everything in the Motion Graphics Certificate program, but is augmented by classroom modules in Adobe Audition, Adobe Photoshop, and state-of-the-art instruction in AI for Video & Motion Graphics. (The AI class is available separately, too.)

Both certificate programs include a number of 1-to-1 sessions with an experienced mentor who can assist you with everything from classroom matters to laying down a battle plan for the job market. You’ll also get a free retake option, be able to consult recordings of every classroom session, and receive fully live and fully hands-on instruction that will have you learning by doing rather than just sitting there like a lump trying to make sense out of video tutorials. You’ll be the recipient of Noble Desktop’s proprietary classroom materials and workbooks, which will be yours to keep for future reference. You’ll also earn a New York State-licensed certificate for your labors at the end of the course, which you can exhibit on your all-important LinkedIn profile.