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Hey thread, I'm wondering if y'all have any suggestions for "backup careers". I'm in my early 30's, and 100% of my job experience since 2009 has been in entertainment (game dev, comics, PA stuff on set, lifestyle brand editor, etc etc). Almost all of my friends in game dev, animation, and comics are scrambling for work right now, and I'm in a real lovely spot, so I was wondering: 1. What jobs outside of the above industries could I try to look for with my skill set? My big problem is I'm a combo game dev/2D artist/writer and I cannot program for poo poo (I'm a decent scripter though). I'm an agented author/illustrator otherwise and my agent has been working her rear end off trying to find me gigs as normal, but it's gonna be a side gig for the rest of my life. I DO have a number of decent impressive accolades (NYT bestseller, well-reviewed shipped titles, worked on big IP etc) but it's LITERALLY all for cartooning/illustration/etc (not graphic design or anything). I also have a decent amount of QA experience in games. 2. I dropped out of undergrad my junior year to work full-time in game dev, and I'm TECHNICALLY still on a Leave of Absence. I dropped out right before "producer year" where students pitch their games to be funded & work on them for the rest of the year. Right now I'm paying my bills as a solo indie dev with an ongoing episodic indie game. Would it be completely insane to go BACK to school and use that to my advantage to secure funding for my games? Caveat: School is EXTREMELY expensive and I'd be out $60k a year in student loans. 3. I have one year of retail experience working at a print shop/bookbinder where I operated the machines and did pre-production and post-production plus dealing with customers, but that's the only non-entertainment experience I have. I'm also applying to college prof positions since I have an MFA and everything, but I keep making it to the final interview then getting shafted. Basically I need to find a job that's very likely outside of my industries of experience for the next 3-4 years until they bounce back and any and all suggestions are appreciated! I also have some odd job skills (bookbinding etc). I moved out of LA right before the pandemic, so I'm not ruling out that I might just need to save up as much as I can and move back to actually GET a job again.
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Jan 30, 2024 18:18
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| # ¿ May 11, 2024 10:53 |
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leper khan posted:you have a masters and youre contemplating going back for an undergrad in _a game program_? dont do that. It's USC, so I figure if anything that might be worth it. It's way schmancier than my MFA and would be more impressive if I actually graduated, was my line of thinking. I'm a narrative designer who specializes in systems design for single-player story-rich games, especially RPGs, for mobile and AA. I like being a QA analyst for money b/c I legitimately get excited running a Jira triage. Ultimately I'd like to keep doing either of those things until I eventually die, but I'm mostly looking for stuff outside of my actual game dev career plan to make ends meet just in case these next few years are super hard to find gigs for. ultrafilter posted:I have two friends with MFAs. One is a public school teacher and the other runs an analytics team at a bank. I don't think either of them would've expected to end up where they are now, but that's the way the career path works out. Yeah, I figured  I do like teaching but everyone in academia I've asked has given me the thousand-yard-stare, lol.
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Jan 30, 2024 19:53
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Lockback posted:Ok, that's a career. What is your gap between now and that job? You can absolutely switch into that job in your 30s, and your experience and accomplishments would make you stick out in a very good way. So what is that skill gap? That's good to hear - the last time I did QA for a company was 2010, but I've been doing it for my own games/company since 2022, so I'm up to date on everything Jira and could handle everything a 2024 game company can throw at me QA-wise, I'm just worried that giant gap isn't going to look good / doing QA under my own oversight from 2022-onwards isn't gonna hack it. I do run a full-rear end Jira triage and everything, I think I'm just a little concerned I won't be taken seriously.
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Jan 30, 2024 20:14
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Chewbecca posted:Does every game that is pitched get funded, just with different amounts? As you more, you are certainly at an advantage when it comes to pitching and experience Just the ones that get picked get funded (my year 14 people pitched and 8 got picked iirc?), but anyone whose game doesn't get picked gets staffed on one of the OTHER games, so no matter what you're working on something that gets funded, which is really nice. It'd be my 2nd-to-final year (I have gen eds to catch up on, so it'd be 1.5 to 2 years by my math, less if I crank the gen eds out elsewhere and get them transferred). I'd honestly love a shot at doing it, I think one of my dumbest regrets is getting cut off from the resources/VC rolodex/access to recruiting & working with people who are safety netted to produce games when I dropped out. edit: for math wrong Lieutenant Dan fucked around with this message at 20:35 on Jan 30, 2024 |
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Jan 30, 2024 20:26
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Ham Equity posted:If you want a job that is personally fulfilling in an industry you feel passionate about, stick with games and academia. If you want a job that is going to pay you enough to live and allow you time to pursue your passions outside of work, get a job as a Jira monkey in government or at a company that does boring poo poo (manufacturing, finance, defense work if you must). As was recommended, go to the resume thread, they will show you how to bullshit up your resume to properly express your Jira bona fides. I promise you you're far more competent than you think you are. I think you hit the nail on the head. I'm seeing people at the tip-top of their game in my field (like, undisputed Steven Spielberg levels of creative success) and they're barely making it work. The Spiders Georg success outlier in my field is doing well but they still make less money than like, your average middle class office worker. I'd love to keep doing this but I think I'm realizing that even aiming for The Best means you're never gonna make, like, Normal People Money You're all making me super hopeful with this Jira stuff though, I'm definitely thinking getting my resume spiffed up in that direction while the games/publishing industry Titanics for the next 3-4 years is an excellent idea. (And that way I can build up a safety net when I inevitably lose it and go back to working in entertainment). My passion outside of work is pretty much making games and traveling, so in a dream world I'd just get paid more to do my job, but I definitely wouldn't mind being a Jira monkey to pay bills so I can go back to working my dream job eventually  Chewbecca posted:By funded, do you get a salary? Or is it all the other costs of the game? edit: realized I never answered this! No salary, but it spans your senior/half your junior year, so the idea is by graduation your game's got a solid company structure and you can continue work (salaried/paid) after graduation on the same title or future titles, or you'll get snapped up by a company based on that final project (I think 1/3rd of my graduating class ended up running their own game studio afterwards, which is nuts).
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Feb 1, 2024 16:49
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leper khan posted:generic office work. game designer. barrista. I'm 99% sure you're joking but on the off-chance you're not, a degree in history isn't going to be super helpful in being a game designer in any game design role, unless you've actually got some shipped games or playables under your belt
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Feb 21, 2024 06:00
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Fragrag posted:VR freelancing stuff Sup fellow entertainment (unless you pick up that R&D job) goon! I've been freelancing full-time for my specific skillset in entertainment for about 8 years now and my freelancer words of caution are as follows: Picking up contracts right now is WAY harder than normal, having 2 starter clients is great but you should start stacking some more clients for when those windows close, like, NOW, with overlap. You probably know this but everything in entertainment has like a 33% chance of getting canned midway through or before the production starts. Freelancing also takes up WAY MORE money in taxes, so you're looking at a bare minimum of 20% of your income, plus state tax and anything else. Plus, don't forget about health insurance, depending on your state & income level you might be on the hook for either $0 or upwards of $400 per month. Good news is, you PROBABLY know all this already! Ngl, if you could swing having a full-time job WHILE building a freelance client base, you'll be in the best possible position to switch over in case you end up hating your full-time job.
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Mar 17, 2024 15:41
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| # ¿ May 11, 2024 10:53 |
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Fragrag posted:Thanks! I know the caveats wrt to insurance and taxes. I had a freelancing stint before I stopped it during Covid and I managed to close that off without any nasty surprises. I'd say as long as you're not poaching clients from the project before it's over & not violating a non-com, you're good! E.g., if your stage tech has a second project not related to your current employer they're staffing up for, it's totally cool to ask if they need a VR person for Project XYZ and that you're open! (Assuming you're in a position where Project XYZ isn't deciding between you and your employer for contracting/staffing up). If there's downtime on set and they bring it up, it's totally okay to throw in a "VR work? I do that!"
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Mar 19, 2024 15:53
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