In case you couldn’t tell by our post about Apple’s entry-level jobs, we’re really big Steve Jobs fans. That’s why we’re going to look at another one of the Steve’s projects (one that you probably didn’t even know was his) for exciting career opportunities for new grads. Steve Jobs started Apple, but left in 1985 after some disagreement with the board of directors. That left him with a lot of money and a lot of free time, so he did what any creative genius would do and purchased Lucasfilms’ computer graphics division from George Lucas for $10 million in 1986. It eventually turned into Pixar, which has put out computer generated classics such as Toy Story, A Bug’s Life, Monsters Inc., Finding Nemo, and The Incredibles. Pixar was bought by Disney in 2006, which made Steve Jobs Disney’s largest individual shareholder. Now that you know that Steve is even more of a genius than you previously thought he was, let’s look at what kind of entry-level opportunities Pixar offers.

Mike Wants You to Work for Pixar

This icon has to be one of our favorite ways a company has influenced visitors to it’s home page to check out the Careers section of their site. If you do end up clicking through, you’ll be given two options – Career Opportunities and University Programs. This is where Pixar stumbles a bit, the University Programs section looks like it’s just for internships, but it actually is for new grad too (although they don’t have any jobs listed for the new grads in this section). If you dig a little deeper, you’ll find that they offer information on their Technical Director Residency Program, which is somewhere between an internship and an entry-level hiring program (the jobs aren’t guaranteed to be permanent). Here’s more:

We have a new program titled Technical Director Resident. This position is similar to a Technical Director position, but specifically designed for recent graduates. To be eligible for a Technical Director Residency at Pixar, you must be a new graduate from a Bachelor’s, Master’s or PhD Program at the start of the residency. The goals of the program are to provide new graduates the opportunity to apply their academic training and knowledge to a real job at Pixar. Residents will work on Pixar’s films and will have the opportunity to build their skills and learn from our creative and talented workforce. All technical “Residents” will receive ongoing mentorship and training throughout their time at Pixar. The residency is a twelve-month program. Residents will be evaluated during their term and may be considered for ongoing employment, dependent on overall performance and Studio needs. Recent graduates interested in being a Technical Director are also welcome to apply for a regular full time position with Pixar. The Technical Director Resident position is just a great way to start off your career.

Here are some profiles of new grads who are now working at Pixar as well as some of Pixar’s Interns (this includes some pictures of the Pixar office). Positions that these new grads are currently working in besides the Technical Director Resident job include Animator, Software Engineer, Lighting Technical Director, and Layout. Since it appears that Technical Director Resident jobs aren’t available right now, we took a look at Pixar’s general job listings and found some recent listings that require little or no prior work experience. These include Story Production Assistant, Animator, and Creative Services Assistant. All jobs at Pixar are located in Emeryville, CA, and to apply, make sure that you follow their submission guidelines since a demo reel or portfolio is necessary for almost all of the jobs.

Also, if you want to learn more about working at Pixar, you can check out this interview with a Pixar Animator, or you can look at Pixar’s profile on Yelp (don’t forget to check out Yelp’s entry-level jobs too).

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

• Pixar.com
• Jobs at Pixar
• Pixar Company Info
• About Pixar
• Pixar’s History
• Pixar’s Technical Director Resident Program
• Pixar’s Career Submission Guide
• Profiles of New Grads Working at Pixar
• Search Pixar’s Jobs
• Pixar’s Career FAQ
• Pixar’s New Grad / Intern FAQ

What’s your favorite Pixar movie? Leave a comment.

We've identified Pixar as having career opportunities in the following categories:

• all employers
• animation
• California
• design
• movies
• post production
• production
• writing

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One response to “Pixar”

1. Willy Franzen says:

   July 23, 2008 at 11:42 pm

   I just found this photo tour of Pixar’s offices. It looks pretty cool.

   http://uk.rottentomatoes.com/m/wall_e/news/1741321/exclusive_inside_pixar_a_photo_tour

   Reply