Jr. Horror Stories!!!
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- Stir
Hi all!! So... ive been out in the big wide world of design as a Jr. for about 8 months now and i have to say it has had its ups and downs more mentally than any thing else!! Im intreagud to hear if anyone else has horror stories of their stint as a Jr.
- mogwai0
i'm interested in hearing your stories!
- tank0
eh.junior smnior,it doesn't exciist here anymore.i graduated in june and i got all the responsibility as a senior and ah...the pay of junior ;)
- Stir0
Well... i figured the worst i could get was T juty. When in the company i work for it seams to mean "a place to lay blame". Ok so ive made a few boo boo's, but its expected of you when you get paid nout-ish!! basically... here comes a vent... the girl i work with makes mistakes and lets the boss shout at me assuming i did it, in front of the whole office!! and she says nothing to defend me!!
Which kinda gives you a bit of a mental knocking!! So i just figured before i hit her if its gonna get better and if anyone else had as much Crap when they started out???
- bk_shankz0
It's good for you.
- fullerc0
I witnessed my Art Director get cussed out and she quit on site and went home crying.
The owner then asked me if I wanted to be the AD and I said "no thanks" and found a new job a few weeks later.
- taragee0
at my 1st job i had this crazy AD drag me into her office and said something liek "youre lucky i dont have you doing my BOARDS " she was mad cuz she didnt know quark and so i ha to sit with this crazy one all day while she was liek moveit over one click - back 1/2 a click blabla - PAINFUL - but i did learn alot this way
- spendogg0
I have worked in quite a few agencies and been beaten down and witness many beat downs.
this one agency i worked at in cali was pretty bad, but the stuff i got to work on was great. I was really green and was working with this other green fellow that was there only a couple months more that I, but he somehow got to be the lead on this project and i was the jr. as we were working the creative direction was pretty lame, after going back and forth for a week or so we had a big meeting with everyone to present our ideas. the creative director was not happy with the direction and asked me what i thought - i proceeded to voice my concerns and offer solutions - the dude i was working with blew a gasket and started screaming at me, calling me a hack and accused me of not heliping with the process (which is soooo untrue) - then tried to throw me under the bus saying that all of it was my idea (a big contradiction). So i proceeded to blow a gasket, so we were screaming at eachother. the creative director stopped us (he was lauging), then he go serious, looked at us both, said to me you are doing good work - go back to your cube. 15 min later the dude came out of the conference room, packed up his shit and left. they fired his ass.
ouch
- Point50
Basically, fuck being a "Jr.". I got out of college and landed a job on my 2nd interview, out here in Vegas no less (the design scene was pretty horrible out here back in '98). I started out getting paid $19K/yr. at the hottest studio in Vegas at the time, complete with brand new Addy awards in the front reception area. I found out quickly that I was a production artist, for the principals (there were 3 of them in a 7 person shop... too many cooks in the kitchen maybe?), let's call them Larryy, Moe & Curly, always shot down my ideas in creative sessions, then would end up utilizing my ideas as their own weeks later after the client rejected their "genius comps". In week #3, my business cards arrived and I was so excited, but when I opened them and read that my title said "Jr. Designer", I walked right up to Moe and said "Why do my business cards say Jr. Designer; why can't I just be Designer or Graphic Degisner or something" and Moe says "Hey! You gotta pay your dues bro!" and chuckled as I walked away... That night I threw all 1,000 of those cards into the trash can.
Then it only got worse. I was at work until 5am on several occasions as the Principals went home at 10pm, I didn't get any type of raise after my 3 month review, etc. etc. etc.
Curly ended up leaving and getting "bought out" of his share of the company, I quit at the 11 month mark, and the company went tits up a year later. Larry and Moe deserved that shit. They were some staright up assholes. Every day I held myself back from wanting to throw those fuckers out the front window, and I am fully capable of said feat.
But I walked with 2 good things:
1. Experience. I got to work on some decent casion pieces (that phrase in itself is an oxymoron most of the time), and I walked away from there knowing what type of company I would not ever work for again.
2. A fantastic relationship with a gentleman by the name of Scotty Wizell. This man was my mentor for the my first 5 months at "said company" before he quit to move on, and an inspiration to me well after he left. His work was just amazing; I idolized so much of what he did. Scott moved to Seattle two years ago and passed away last year due to a heart attack while skiing. RIP Scott Wizell.
So basically, fuck a Jr. title. You had better be getting treated really well if you're getting tagged with that bullshit, degrading name. Being young and overly creative, you are an important asset to that company. If your cards say "Jr." on them and it's not part of your birth name, enjoy recycling that shit so that they can be put to better use.