how do you improve your career?
- Started 13 years ago
- Last post 13 years ago
- 27 Responses
- ephix
I'm not talking about your technical skills or ability. those are no brainers. how do you become more valuable to your company or your clients and more valuable to yourself (career progression).
reason i ask is because i often think of ways to do this, and sometimes I'm at a stumbling block.
for example, do you take steps to really improve yourself to become the CD from being an AD? or becoming an AD from something else? was it lucky? or something you were purposefully aiming at?
I sometimes think I'm missing something, but then again maybe it's just the fact I've been changing ship every year.
- qTime0
Always do more than your asked.
Make sure you take responsibility for anything you touch (sounds a bit rude I know!)
Don't be scared to give your opinion.
- Maaku0
- Don't be afraid of sharing your ideas, let them know how you think.
- Be humble.
- After 2 years in the same company you can tell if you need to move on.
- There's always room for improvement <<<
- ephix0
"Always do more than your asked." great advice and I always do.
"Make sure you take responsibility for anything you touch (sounds a bit rude I know!)" great point. I often think I should leave the responsibility to those higher up, but then ponder why i don't give my input.
"Don't be scared to give your opinion." have been learning this, and have been learning that it separates the good CDs and ADs from the bad (that take take your advice on board).
"- Don't be afraid of sharing your ideas, let them know how you think.
- Be humble." yeah thats a given, though takes time to get used to.- Also, become a lynchpin. If you leave, shit crumbles, this can be used as leverage later.brandon_phillip
- attentionspan0
"Always do more than your asked." In some cases this can be a good idea in others not so much. Doing too much to impress someone can lead to frustration if the person/client is not as ambiguous as you.
"Don't be scared to give your opinion." If you are qualified then yes, if not dont. Imagine someone below you spouting something just to be heard.
- Define clear goals on what you want to achieve in x years
- GeorgesII0
I know it's kinda redundant,
but
the three H,- Hard Work
- Honesty
- Hinnovation
- ********0
Find some 'dirt' on your boss.
- wagshaft0
Win RFPs
- fate0
You become more valuable by bringing in money.
Simple as that. Whether you're out there getting new clients, or doing work that can be sold to new clients, it's all about cash flow.
The "hard work, honesty" thing is nice and all, but that's not how you have a great career. That's how you get stuck as a designer 20 years down the road.
- mg330
You make your value by doing things that others can't do.
- i_monk0
Be irreplaceable, but not so much that they won't promote you.
- shellie0
I don't believe there's any real traditional track to the progression of your career these days. It's a free style, free for all, most creative hustler wins. I don't think something that worked for one person would necessarily work for another in the same way. If you can actualize your worth to a company in dollars and cents, your value on paper to a company, you will rise to the top very quickly. On a project, are you falling well below the number of hours they're quoting to the client. Are you carrying more workload than others with the same job title? Can you prove it down to the penny? If you took on a large portion of an art director or creative director's duties to help out their workflow on a project, you're saving an agency a lot of money. Your billable hours vs their billable hours. Being able to break down why you're valuable makes a strong case for big moves.
I can't really tell you how to get yourself in a position to get that kind of transparency of sensitive information. You I suppose it's different for everyone. But, I started by throwing myself into every pitch I could, getting very close to producers, and eventually becoming a producer myself (on top of my other duties as a designer and developer). Curiosity and willingness to train and take on extra hours under other roles in the company (new business, production, etc) really helps. You will eventually get on the "need to know" side of the business at your company. All also very valuable information if you ever want to leave that company anyway. Rarely will you hear a no by offering your help on those big pitches upper management toils away on late at night and weekends. Being able to write, win, and budget pitches and then execute the physical labor launched me upward in every company I've worked for. When those same projects also have a giant profit margin, you'll be pretty much untouchable.
- drgs0
Work in a large organization
- monNom0
save the day. over and over again.
- d_rek0
Lie. A lot.
- Knuckleberry0
Speaking of doing more than you need to and improving your career...
My boss just handed me an extra $40 for putting away paint fan decks that I didn't get out.
- bjladams0
when i was fresh out of school, i worked in a production house. there was a smart mark data graph plotter that nobody could get working correctly. i started playing with it on a lunch break one day, and the boss saw me - tole me if i could get it working on my own time, he'd make it worth my while.
over the next 7 weeks i came in early, used my lunch breaks, stayed after... this thing was 10+ years old, and there was no manuals available online - but would be worth quite a bit to the company if it was working correctly - as, at the time they were outsourcing all their large-format printed diecuts.
anyway, i finally got it going and calibrated. boss was pleased, called me into his office and handed me an envelope. i didn't check it till i was on my way home.
inside was $40 in cash and a $20 coupon for a sushi bar if i spent $30 or more.
i probably put 50+ hours into it and had a kid on the way... "worth your while" was a little under what i was expecting.
a few months later the boss was carrying a steel pole thru the office and knocked the computer off the desk that the plotter was calibrated to. blew a circuit and shut it down.
he told me that when i got it going again, he'd give me another bonus. i turned in my resignation shortly after that second offer.
i happened by there a few weeks ago, visiting an old workmate. it's still lying there in pieces, but the boss stuck his head out and said that his offer is still good.
- brandon_phillip0
The three B's:
- Blow jobs
- Blow jobs
- More blow jobs
- randommail0
Ask Jessica Walsh.
http://www.qbn.com/topics/674733…- Haha, excellent point.Hombre_Lobo
- The clear answer being perky boobies!Hombre_Lobo
- showpony0
what's been said covers this, but i always tell people that you simply have to become indispensable.