What does the future hold? And how do i get there?

   What do i want to be? What do i need to get there? What do i already have that gets me closer to my dream job? These are the questions i need to keep asking myself to help me acquire that oh so sweet job that I will be in, in those two and a half short years to come.

   Well, to be perfectly honest, I'm still not sure. Do I want to be a character artist, a job that I've recently been told is the second hardest job to achieve in the industry. Do I want to be a concept artist? The hardest job to achieve in the industry? Or do I feel I could be an environment artist?

   I think I should have some idea of what I want to be by now, surely. At this present time I would love to be a concept artist, but then again who wouldn't? As I'm still only in my first year I should be aiming for everything and nothing all at once. I don't want to be tied to one specific job role just yet. My options are open. But as the task at the minute is to analyse a job, I'm going to aim high, as my secondary school put it "We don't do mediocre".

   After looking into concept art jobs I've realized they all want a lot of experience, some of which want you to have worked on at least 2 AAA titles, or a few years in the industry. In this case its "creating mobile and/or social games" so before I'm expecting to become a concept artist I will probably aim for something slightly more realistic before I go for anything concept related.

   This is a job vacancy for King.com, the makers of Candy Crush Saga. The first thing i noticed about this vacancy is, It's in London. Which is fine, i'm happy to travel around the country or even abroad to heighten my chances of finding the job I want. The same goes for no matter what kind of games company it is I could potentially work for. I dont mind if its a casual games company, indie or if my first job somehow becomes working on a AAA title.

The skills I've realized I could need for a concept job are as follows:
- Concepting for characters, environments, vehicles, props, whatever they need.
- Teamwork is a must for a job like this. (Communication, friendliness, openness for criticism etc.)
- My presentation skills need to be up to scratch.
- Organization skills (Punctuality, Time keeping etc.)
- A range of software skills (Max, Maya, Flash, Photoshop)
- Understanding of Composition, colour theory, lighting and perspective.
- And finally a "Relevant degree and/or work experence".

   This has been a huge help in realizing my goals and helping me to understand what it takes to make it in the industry. I will defiantly be looking at other available jobs to give me a better insight into other roles and what would suit me best for the future.
   Like I said further up, I'm not making my search too narrow at the moment. After all I am still in my first year, I'm keeping my options open.