It's the question I get asked more than any other, so here's the honest answer: your portfolio gets you the job. Not your resume, not your cover letter, not the fancy font on your website. As an art director and hiring manager, I skip everything else in an application and go straight to the pretty pictures. That's where you win or lose. It sounds dramatic, I know, but it's true.
Let's not kid ourselves, though. The market out there is rough. Studios have been cutting jobs, experienced artists are applying for roles they'd have walked past a few years ago, and juniors are up against all of them. Getting the basics right isn't a nice-to-have anymore. It's the difference between getting a call back and getting nothing, and that's exactly why this stuff matters.
The good news? For a junior role, I'm not measuring a junior against a senior artist. My expectations are lower. I just want to be impressed.
What I'm looking for in your portfolio
Lead with your best work. It's old advice, and people still ignore it. If the first image I see is weak, I've already made my judgement, and it won't be a good one. So cut the piece that took you 100 hours but still turned out slightly crappy. Less really is more. Find a group of peers who'll give you honest feedback before anything goes public, because they'll spot what you've stopped seeing.
After that, I'm looking for someone who can take an idea all the way through the pipeline, from modelling and UVs to shaders and a finished asset, and who's trying to make something fresh while they do it. Then there's the spark. Call it what you like, secret sauce, whatever. It's the thing that makes me go "oh, that's cool". A junior piece that's well thought out and shows a bit of unexpected maturity.
I also like seeing the journey: the path you took, the mistakes you made, how your work has improved. Show me a wireframe or a UV layout, because tidy is good. And keep your descriptions short and clear. Let the work do the talking, but always give credit if part of it belongs to someone else.
One more thing, and I'm speaking from experience here. Don't judge your work at 2am after a few beers. I once worked with a super talented artist who'd spend their evenings smashing out renders with a drink in hand and emailing them to us in the small hours. The enthusiasm was amazing. The images, the next morning, not so much.
Show who you are, not just what you make
Your hobbies count more than you'd think. When I interviewed at Framestore CFC, I had a solid digital portfolio, but the interview was heading over a cliff. It wasn't until Alec Knox started flicking through my photography that things turned around. It showed him I understood composition and lighting in the real world, where there's no Ctrl-Z. I got the job as a lighting TD and went to work on Dinotopia.
Put your work somewhere clean and quick, like ArtStation or your own site, and check every link before you hit send. A broken link is the easiest way to get skipped.
Resume and cover letter
Keep your resume to a page or two, and make it about you as an artist. Nobody needs your date of birth, and please, no skill bar charts telling me you're 80% at Photoshop. Use a sensible email address too. Your cover letter should be three short paragraphs at most, written for that studio and that role. Blanket-applying to every job going shows, so pick the roles that fit and tailor what you send.
The art test
Sometimes a portfolio shows promise but not quite enough evidence. That's what the art test is for. At studios with high expectations it can take up to 30 hours, and it's not just modelling and texturing. It covers lighting, mood, colour and composition too. Read the brief properly, and ask if anything's unclear, because good communication gets noticed and so does bad. Watch your time as well. If they say 30 hours and you spend 50, that tells them something. Whatever happens, ask for feedback.
The interview
Research like a boss. Look up the studio's games, its people on LinkedIn, what staff say on Glassdoor and, if you're in the UK, its records on Companies House. Know why you want to work there, and come with your own questions. It's an interview both ways.
When it's a no
My first rejection was from Ocean Software in Manchester, working on Jurassic Park (the 1993 one). They had it all: cool warehouse offices, bars down by the canal, proper city living. I really wanted that job, but my portfolio was woefully light and I was pretty clueless about 3D and game pipelines. I didn't get it. But at the end of the interview I grilled them on hardware and software, because I was so determined to get my own rig and teach myself. That rejection turned out to be a pivotal moment in my career.
You can apply to the same studio again, just give it time and come back with work that shows real progress. The industry's tough to get into, but if you really want it, keep going, keep pushing, keep improving. Go! Go! Go!
I go into all of this in much more depth, including recruiters, salaries and relocating, in Level One of my book, Game Artist: The Ultimate Career Guide.