how do you improve your career?
- Started
- Last post
- 27 Responses
- randommail0
Start your own business after 10-15 years of professional experience.
Work towards this goal.
- monNom0
This isn't so much about how to advance in your career, as how to not burn out of your career:
If you really hope to advance up the food-chain, you need to stick around a long time. To do that, you need to learn to pace yourself. Nobody wins a marathon by sprinting, and nobody can pull the all-nighter circuit for very long without a break. (either a vacation, or a break down in work quality, and attitude).
Time for reflection and outside inspiration is a big part of being creative. So learn to be selfish with your time-off, and pursue your own interests, whether design related or otherwise. Be careful of taking on too much freelance work outside of your 9-5 --the same rules apply as pulling long days over and over.
Personally, I'd rather a consistent designer that works hard and clocks out every day at 5:00pm than a stressed out designer that works all hours and produces either shit or brilliance depending on where in the sleep deprivation cycle my project begins. And If and when there is an emergency that's going to require some extra hours, the 5:00 designer is going to be much better able to manage that strain, because they haven't been going full-bore the whole time leading up to the emergency. Do this and you'll be noticed for saving the day, rather than for your bad moods after a string of late nights.
- shellie0
Just read this by Julie Greenwald and remembered this thread. She's one of my personal heros. This article is music industry centric, but much of what she's saying here crosses over to any industry.
- BaskerviIle0
Despite some of what's been said already, I don't think it's about being seen to be working all hours of the day and staying late/getting in early.
I think generally what people want is someone with good ideas, the ability to challenge others etc. People that just put in hard graft and don't really think much won't get far, they'll just get taken for granted.
I agree with 'make yourself indispensable' learn new skills that no one else in the studio has, learn 3D software, motion graphics, type design, whatever you need to expand your use. Then you become good value for money.
Also, it sounds silly but a boss of mine once told me that as a designer you have two clients: your actual client, but also your peers. Don't forget that part of your job is to impress your superiors. A bit of self promotion within the company can't ever hurt. Being too quiet about your achievements will never help, despite how awkward 'bigging yourself up' can be.Being know as the guy that always has interesting links and references to share is also a good thing
- monoboy0
Try this...
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obido…And this...
http://www.amazon.com/Making-Ide…And this...
http://www.amazon.com/Rework-Jas…
- animatedgif0
"Always do more than your asked."
Doing less works better in some companies
- Haha, yep I know those types.
Depends on what you do with your time.qTime - I find this mentality to be so backwards. An efficently run operation will ask you to do exactly as much is needed. When you've met that, you should ask for more, not just do more than asked.orrinward2
- , not just do more than asked.orrinward2
- Haha, yep I know those types.
- showpony0
what's been said covers this, but i always tell people that you simply have to become indispensable.
- randommail0
Ask Jessica Walsh.
http://www.qbn.com/topics/674733…- Haha, excellent point.Hombre_Lobo
- The clear answer being perky boobies!Hombre_Lobo
- brandon_phillip0
The three B's:
- Blow jobs
- Blow jobs
- More blow jobs
- 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.
- Haha! Save that bad boy for a rainy day and cash it in!!Hombre_Lobo
- 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.
- d_rek0
Lie. A lot.
- monNom0
save the day. over and over again.
- drgs0
Work in a large organization
- 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.
- i_monk0
Be irreplaceable, but not so much that they won't promote you.
- mg330
You make your value by doing things that others can't do.
- 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.