Animator : Employers and vacancy sources

According to Skillset: The Sector Skills Council for Creative Media , most animators (nearly 40%) work as freelancers or on short-term contracts.

There are 250 businesses working in some kind of animation and the UK workforce is around 4,700. Generally, companies work in several areas of animation (television, advertising, feature film, etc.) but computer games studios tend to specialise in the one area.

The UK also leads the world in the production of pre-school storytelling and design, and this area continues to attract investors, ensuring the availability of work.

Other areas of work include:

• feature films;
• children's programmes;
• games;
• music promos;
• titles and idents;
• CD-ROMS;
• adult comedy and drama.

Many animators work as independent film makers, producing their own short films and trying to win commissions from animation commissioners at Channel 4 , the BBC  (in particular BBC2), the web or other related media. Getting a short film broadcast could lead to a commission for a short series, a longer film or interest from music company advertising agencies (for music videos) or commercial and business ventures.

Sources of vacancies

• Search graduate jobs on this site.
• Design Week  
• Mad  
• Datascope  
• OPM Jobs  
• Animation Magazine   
• Animated People    
• Association of Illustrators (AOI)  
• Chinwag Jobs   
• Media Bugs   

Other useful directories and sources of agents include:

• Creative Handbook  
• The Knowledge  
• Design & Art Direction (D&AD)  
• Animation Industry Database  

Get tips on job hunting, CVs and covering letters and interviews.