We sat down with recent Vertex School Animation Program graduate, Keren Mendez to discuss her journey from electrical engineering to Junior 3D Animator!

Vertex School

What was your background prior to starting the Animation Program at Vertex School?

Keren Mendez

I was looking to switch careers because I’d been studying electrical engineering for a few years. When the pandemic happened, I realized that electrical engineering wasn’t for me.

So I decided I needed to switch it up. During Covid I saw an advertisement for art tech school and thought to myself I like art and character design – so I decided to look further into it.

I found an overview video made by Dan Perry on what animation takes. I got surprisingly into it and signed up for term 1 of the Animation Program at Vertex School just to try it out and it’s the best thing that I’ve ever done. I quickly got hooked on animating and continued with term two and now I’m here. I recently got my first job working in animation!

Vertex School

You mentioned that you studied electrical engineering. Did you ever graduate? Or did you ever get a job in electrical engineering?

Keren Mendez

So I currently live in Florida and how I ended up here was that I got accepted to a professional electrical engineering internship at Disney that started in 2020. Then Covid happened and I lost the internship.

I liked electrical engineering but I’d been pursuing it for such a long time. I was feeling very burnt out and tired of that feeling that I wasn’t going anywhere.

Finally something woke me up and I said to myself, “Yeah, this is not for me. I cannot keep on doing this.” So I decided to switch careers.

Vertex School

Did you look at many other programs or schools for animation?

Keren Mendez

Yeah, there are a lot of schools for animation online, which made it hard to decide what to do and which one to take. I tried to look into every option that looked promising. What I loved about Vertex is that the animation program is only 9 months long. Other online schools were very slow, not as slow as an actual college, but compared to Vertex School they took a lot longer to complete.

So that’s one big reason I went with Vertex School, also because I could start with just taking term 1 which was about 14 weeks long. After taking term 1 I would know the basics and I’d also know if animation was right for me or not.

Vertex School

How was the learning on your own time aspect for you? Was it hard for you or did it work out well?

Keren Mendez

I was very motivated to get out of my current career and to become an animator. My desire to become an animator drove me to put maximum effort into doing the work on my own time and practicing really hard to do the best I could do.

Vertex School

Was it hard to believe in yourself that you could make animation work?

Keren Mendez

Yes, so hard. To be honest with you, I was trying my best. I was trying my hardest to just keep believing in myself. Although it felt like a far off dream, I knew that if I just kept at it, I would eventually make it work.

Vertex School

What was the process like applying for jobs after graduating from Vertex School?

Keren Mendez

After I graduated from Vertex School and had my demo reel I started immediately applying everywhere. The first day I started applying, I applied to over 20 companies. I found a webpage that lists out all the animation positions available from all the different studios called “Animation/VFX/Game Industry Job Postings”. Everyday I went through every single one that said it was a junior position and just applied, applied, applied. Then every day after that I would wake up and refresh the website and see if there was a new one that I could apply to. I also had help from peers who would send me job postings they found, I appreciate them a lot for all the help.

It started getting really harsh when after two months I was still just getting decline letters. At that point I thought, okay, maybe it’s not gonna happen anytime soon. But I kept trying because I wouldn’t know if I didn’t try.

I also kept thinking about making my demo reel better. So I got a private mentor just to point out things that I could improve on, things I could tackle, and just to give me assignments.

Vertex School

How did you push through the thought that maybe it’s not going to happen anytime soon?

Keren Mendez

Right as I was at the point where I was feeling ready to give up, I received a call from a studio. They called and told me I got an interview. I really tried really hard for the interview. I’m like, this is it. This is it. I need to… I need to get this. So I did full research on the company. And, you know, I got really interested in the company.

I was so excited that I got an interview with them. And after a while, I got a call saying that it was a good call, and that I got the job. I was like, Oh. My. Goodness. I started crying. I just got shivers. Yeah, that’s how I got my job.

Vertex School

Well congratulations! That’s such a great story.

Keren Mendez

Thank you. I’m already tearing up just thinking about that day. And, the saddest part is that I almost gave up. I’m glad I didn’t.

Vertex School

“The darkest hour is just before the dawn.”

Many people get to that very low point where they’re ready to throw in the towel but if they just keep pushing, they may find it didn’t take much more to start seeing the results they were hoping for.

Keren Mendez

I didn’t always think that was true, but after my experience, I think it’s true.

I mean, you need to also like what you’re putting your effort into. I think that’s also a key, having passion for it.

I don’t think I was ever going to give up on animation per se, but I was about to give up on sending a letter to someone everyday. This is because I wanted to work on getting better. Like take a break and focus on getting better. But I’m glad that you know, it worked out in the end. I feel very lucky and happy to be where I am right now.

Vertex School

Do you have any advice for others that are either applying for jobs in the animation industry or who want to get into animation in general?

Keren Mendez

So I think it’s important to have a really good demo reel, because that’s your ticket in.

For a good demo reel, there is a lot of advice online. On YouTube you can search demo reel 3D animation, and you’ll probably find a lot.

I’d also say it’s good to have a little bit of everything because you want to demonstrate that you can be flexible when you are a junior and starting out.

I had MoCap on my demo reel, which not a lot of juniors have.

I had realistic animation, more semi realistic animation, and I had cartoony animation. So I had three different types of vibes in my animation. I think that helped me get into the studio I am at right now, because we’re doing a lot of MoCap and cartoony.

Things I wish I would have added to my demo reel were lip sync, quadrupeds animation and mechanical animation.

 

Are you ready to take the leap and pursue your passion? Learn more about our 9 month career ready animation program today!