• Winning a Job at Lego - Aspiring Designers Build Sets Under Pressure
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[video=youtube;uTgWnY_ZM3c]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uTgWnY_ZM3c[/video] [QUOTE]He was applying for a job.Mr. Colmer was one of 21 men and women who came from around the globe to the small town of Billund last month to compete for a job as a Lego designer. The Danish company has an unusual method of filling this position. Rather than conducting formal interviews, Lego invites the most promising applicants to its headquarters to sketch and build Lego sets in front of a panel of senior designers. Lego is the world's No. 2 toy maker by revenue, behind Mattel. It has built its success in recent years on a string of product lines based on hit movies, such as "Harry Potter," "The Hobbit" and "The Avengers." Vital to its fortunes is a steady flow of new play sets—themed kits of Lego bricks meant to build specific, sometimes ambitious, designs, step by step, such as a 996-piece "King's Castle" released earlier this year. That means the company needs to continually build its design staff. Its 200 designers include people who sketch characters and people "who literally just sit and build Lego models," Lego Design Director Will Thorogood says. By asking recruits to design, "we get to see people in a much more relaxed way than they would be in a standard interview process," he says. Lego has run these two-day recruit workshops for seven years, but until now, they have been kept under wraps. Aspiring designers apply online to take part in the recruiting workshop, which Lego says takes place at least once a year, depending on the company's needs. Legitimate candidates are identified via Skype conversations and tests. Participants who are selected are sent a bag of Legos and told to show up in Billund with a creation that represents a direction that Lego should go. When the candidates entered a conference room at Hotel Legoland on a rainy October day, the first order of business was to show off the homework. Among their ideas: remote-controlled scorpion models, magical tree houses and a high-tech music player. "It's an icebreaker, a way to introduce the recruits to each other and to us, and to see what they would make out of the bricks," said Caroline Hansen, director of the recruiting program. Many of the hopefuls, flocking to Billund from countries including New Zealand, Brazil, Taiwan, Indonesia and Germany, were seasoned designers. Mr. Colmer, a 46-year-old Englishman living in Australia, has worked in the entertainment industry since 1988, designing the look of sets and other elements for movies such as "Superman Returns." He says, "My son suggested to me that he wanted to be a Lego designer when he grows up and I thought, "Hey, that would be a great idea.' "[/QUOTE] [URL]http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424052702303460004579193901642418812?mod=WS J_hps_MIDDLE_Video_second[/URL] Very Interesting. Although the process is hard, but it'll be pretty cool to have a title of 'LEGO designer'
Having a job that is literally playing with plastic toys for a living What I wouldn't give for that
Probably easier just to launch your own collectible toy line. Obviously that requires different skills, but most of these guys are designers, and it'd still probably be easier than competing with 21 other hopefuls for a limited number of pretty niche jobs.
[QUOTE=Dr.Critic;42862835]Having a job that is literally playing with plastic toys for a living What I wouldn't give for that[/QUOTE] It's not exactly "playing"
[QUOTE=Dr.Critic;42862835]Having a job that is literally playing with plastic toys for a living What I wouldn't give for that[/QUOTE] Eh, being forced to do anything kinda sucks the joy out of it. I used to love editing photos, then I got a job editing photos and after the 500th photo of the day my eyes start to bleed.
[QUOTE=Dr.Critic;42862835]Having a job that is literally playing with plastic toys for a living What I wouldn't give for that[/QUOTE] Personally having a job where you have to be constantly creative scares me.
If having fun was my job, i wouldnt be able to have fun.
From what I know, Lego Technic designers are free lancers.
[QUOTE=Desuh;42863105]Personally having a job where you have to be constantly creative scares me.[/QUOTE] This. I mean yeah you would be motivated and forced into making use of your full potential and making some awesome shit... but imagine how much terrible shit you would also inevitably produce :v:
If I tried to apply, they'd probably kick me out and tell me to never come back. A playset line titled "Napalm Sticks to Kids" probably wouldn't go over too well in Denmark.
This sounds way too crazy for me, creativity flows at it's own pace, it can't be forced or it suffers.
I hope footwear's required :v:
[QUOTE=Desuh;42863105]Personally having a job where you have to be constantly creative scares me.[/QUOTE] You eventually get old...
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