Gralats and anything else is basically a thank you bonus, from what I've hesrd its not as strict as it used to be in terms of you need to do x amount in x time otherwise you're out but I wouldn't really know as I wasn't staff years ago

If you want experience in this sort of field or simply love the game then don't let anything else stop you, volunteering to create graphics for iClassic and other servers were the best years of my life I spent on the game when I was passionate for it