Interview etiquette - technical Do's and Don'ts

A memory stick. And a minefield

Here at Bucks we love seeing plenty of evidence of digital artwork at interview. Even more than a traditional hand-drawn portfolio or sketchbook, digital artwork shows that an applicant is comfortable with computers and, even more important - knows what they're getting into. Our course focuses mainly on digital skills, reflecting the increasingly digital demands of the job market.


That said, digital files can be a minefield. What format are they on? Will they open on a PC or a Mac? Are they huge files? Whenever I see a memory stick I wonder, can we open its contents?

Here's a list of technical do's and don'ts, which applies not just to interviews here at Bucks but also to job interviews out there in the Real World.

DO

• Use standard images files, such as JPEGs, or TIFFs
• Use standard movie files such as AVIs or MOVs.
• Compress your files. Movie files should be no more than 100MB at most.
• Name your files clearly.
• Make sure your memory stick only contains files that you want to show, and nothing else.
• Decide what order you want to show things in.

DON'T

• Include software specific files like Photoshop, Maya, Premiere or Final Cut Pro Files. We may not be able to open them. Never assume that the person interviewing you will have specialist software on their laptop.
• Use a memory stick that is full of other, irrelevant personal files. There is nothing more embarrassing than wading through someone's party pictures to get to the artwork.
• Include huge files. Movie files over 100MB may not play at the correct speed, or at all.

Most important of all, do a quick tech check before you come in. Make sure everything on your memory stick actually works.

---Alex