Disappointing as it may be, after half a year of job hunting, I am still unemployed, so it is time to move back to The Netherlands. Right after graduation, I was quite optimistic, as a fistful of studios had shown interest in my work, but during summer, I realised once more that a Canadian 'Wow' means just as little as a Dutch 'leuk'. That is, most of the studios that had asked me to contact them, did not even respond to my email or phone calls. One the major studios had already told me they were not going to eat through the red tape of supporting me getting a work permit. I appreciate their honesty in this, but in general, the bigger studios have no problem in hiring people, while the smaller studios shy away from the necessary formalities. On top of that, I learnt that it is not always an advantage to be a Max the Mutt graduate, as the reputation of the school seems to be less than stellar.During the school's Industry Night, I learnt that two of the four 2011 graduates were still unemployed, while one of them seems to be freelancing in his home country; I do not now about number four. So, I was already a little prepared that it would not be so easy to find a job but, of course, I had hoped to do better. Of the seven 2012 graduates, I know that one is working, one is fighting the evil Turks in his homeland Greece and I can only hope he will survive, as he still owes me $2. I spent some time practicing google-fu, but I have not been able to secure a definite status for the others. I wish them good luck.
For now, I will need to find a home in The Netherlands, and hope to start freelancing there, although the emphasis will be more on illustrating than on animating, as the Dutch do not really have an animation tradition. In the meantime, I will keep looking for jobs abroad, preferably out of the euro zone. I am a firm disbeliever in Europe, and am afraid the single Greek who still owes me $2 will be the least of my problems.
