i'm starting to feel like GD isn't for me.....

[Tyger]

perhaps it's my emotions or my frustration talking but i'm starting to feel like graphic design isn't for me.
I've tried many times for the last 3 years to convince my present employer to hire me full time for their marketing dept to no avail. I no longer have to prove myself to them as i have done many big projects for them, so they know what i am capable of...they keep saying that they can't justify hiring me full time.

so knowing that i've sent many resumes out to find work in my field but because i've only been freelancing for about a year the only jobs i get offered are entry level jobs. That would mean i would have to take a huge paycut just to work in my field. it doesn't seem like i'll be able to find what I want.

So i feel trapped.....i feel as though i want to leave my present job but can't get a decent paying graphic design job. I'm seriously thinking of going back to school part time and learn a different career, perhaps in marketing or sales...it seems the demand in these areas are better with more opportunity.

thanx for hearing me out!

The Tyger is on the prowl...

<img border="0" src= "http://www3.sympatico.ca/ermin.monzon/Tyger_signature.jpg">

[snypa]

hey, i know what you're saying. at this point i'm thinking about just getting some full-time mindless job for money and benefits. do a little freelance design and odd-jobs for people i know, to keep my brain active. who knows... right?
good luck and stay positive, it'll work out for you

Well, it's one louder, isn't it? It's not ten. You see, most blokes, you know, will be playing at ten. You're on ten here, all the way up, all the way up, all the way up, you're on ten on your guitar. Where can you go from there? Where?

[Big Perm-dizzle]

you dont need college for sales so send some resumes out for that...if you not happy then your wasting your time

do something that makes you happy

---- Sheriff of Boobie Island --------

GOD I LOVE OVERTIME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

http://www.conceptprint.com - my company's new site

[DivineDesign]

Seventh I know how you feel. And I'm not even in the field yet. I'm in school. But I feel that it might not be for me only b/c my grades are dropping and I took the summer off. But, I plan and making a fresh new start when I go back for fall. Keep your head high, everything works out for the best.

http://www.stu.aii.edu/~rfe031/personal/banner.gif
I wanna be like Case when I grow up!


Today I begin to understand what love must be, if it exists.... When we are parted, we each feel the lack of the other half of ourselves. We are incomplete like a book in two volumes of which the first has been lost. That is what I imagine love to be: incompleteness in absence.

[Tyger]

thanx for the support guys....really it boils down to if i'm happy and at this point i'm not. I would like to do something creative but i feel like you can be creative in any job you have. i love the freedom of graphic design when given but it's not satisfying me the way i thought it would. I know in my heart though it is time for a change, whether it it is in my field or not, it's just hard to leave something you are comfortable with.

I'm sure that my design skills will come in habdy one day!

The Tyger is on the prowl...

<img border="0" src= "http://www3.sympatico.ca/ermin.monzon/Tyger_signature.jpg">

18 long months I had 2 1/2 years of experience but some idiots knocked down the towers and now nobody was hiring a Graphic Artist. I doubted myself but I needed to feed my daughter and my wife was looking for jobs as well as me. So I kept looking and got so fustrated I was taking anything that was sent my way. 18 Months that I'll never forget but eventually I moved up and now tada! I've been working here for 2 years straight and it's looking like I might be moving up to another postion soon I have two interviews lined up for tomarrow. Lets see how everything goes!

Seventh_Tyger don't think it's never going to happen you have to think how can I make it happen. So Seventh_Tyger the question is how can you get a stable job? How? You might have to move out of state or you might have to make a few uncomfortable phone calls. I'm shore you'll figure it out. Best Wishes!

[Tyger]

i guess i'm at a point in my life where the decisions i make are crucial for me and i want to be at a certain place. i guess it's one of those inward struggles where i need to find where i will be most satisfied. Like i said i'm contimplating within my own thoughts if graphic design is the way to go for me, i enjoy it but i'm not sure if this would be a career move, however i would like to find something where i could express my creativity.

Your right though benjo.....i'll have to do uncomfortable things to move on, and that's where i know i have to start. I guess in a way i have to make that leap of faith.

The Tyger is on the prowl...

<img border="0" src= "http://www3.sympatico.ca/ermin.monzon/Tyger_signature.jpg">

[D-Zine]

Yeah sometimes you kinda have to literally shove your foot into that door to get it open, but it does happen. I had 3 months where I wasn't working at all - I had left the place I was at to move to South Carolina (I have NO IDEA what possessed me to leave Savannah) but I only had one year experience under my belt - 3 months with no job..finally I just got out the phone book and called places. I got a job that way. I called them up and asked were they looking for a GDer and they said that they were, asked me in for an interview and I walked out with the job! It was for a printing company...best experience I ever got! But sending off resumes just is NOT enough sometimes! Send a resume, call them, go in and see them - whatever it takes - IF you WANT to stay in the field that is.

If you just want to get out and the passion isn't there, then its probobly time for a change for you. Good luck in whatever you decide Tyger..and keep us posted! :o)

Boobie Island or Bust!

[Magnus]

Everyone here is correct Tyger. You just have to do a bit of soul searching and find what's best for you. My advice is not to allow your mind to project 'where you should be' in a given point in your life. Just let things happen and progress as they should. Otherwise you'll just be putting undue stress on yourself.

"It's not cheating if you win."

- A VERY wise person.

[YellowDart]

I agree... try to do whatever makes you the happiest. If you're just not happy w/ a job as a designer any more, then maybe it's time for something else. *shrug* That's the great thing about an art-based career. You can do it just to make yourself happy, even if it's not your bread and butter. /emoticons/wink.gif

If you do end up going another direction, like sales, don't go back to school for that. People who hire for sales don't care about school... it's all based on experience in that field. You don't 'learn' sales, it's just something that you do well. Sure, it can be refined to a point, but it's not an exact science, and therefore, IMO, can't be effectively taught. If you need further proof that salesmen don't need school, I can attest that damn near all of the sales reps that I work with are complete numb-skulls... and I'm sure most of the other designers here will tell you the same. /emoticons/tongue.gif

[Tyger]

Magnus said...
Everyone here is correct Tyger. You just have to do a bit of soul searching and find what's best for you. My advice is not to allow your mind to project 'where you should be' in a given point in your life. Just let things happen and progress as they should. Otherwise you'll just be putting undue stress on yourself.


Magnus, you pretty much nailed it on the head here with this post. I tend to think i should be somewhere else than i am presently, instead i should focus on the now.....i'm too much of a dreamer at times, but i know this projecting of the future i do can frustrate me!

thanx again all for your support, i'm still deciding what to do here, i probably won't know for awhile yet.

The Tyger is on the prowl...

<img border="0" src= "http://www3.sympatico.ca/ermin.monzon/Tyger_signature.jpg">

[defjoe]

I think it would be a good idea to get a back up though. I'm thinking of taking some fitness classes to get a certificate in PT just in case something happens. I can have something to fall back on.

'I will become the most powerful Jedi ever!'

[REDeye]

All good points above.

However, there are always exceptions to any rule, and circumstances are always different. In my case, finding a decent job in this area is nearly impossible. Seriously.

I was stuck for so long—doing odd jobs and doing things beneath my morals and principles. But I had to do what I had to do.

Then I heard a quote: "If there is no room for you in the industry, you make your own industry."

I've always freelanced. But I soon realized that I had to hit a niche market. I decided to market to people who normally couldn't afford professional graphic design. Rock bands, hip hop groups, bars, venues, restaurants...Eventually I hit them all. And they all come to me now.

Now I have my own industry. So there! Nyah! Nyah!

[gives the finger to corporate america]

[HAK]

I hate my job... but it is not the creative, it is the work environment. I am being used because I just got out of school and need the 'experience' so essentially I am running the production department for a tiney print shop and getting monitarily skrewed. But I know I need to get to this point to move on in my career.... I think it is very easy for a creative person to feel used. First because there are so many of us it is a major struggle to keep in the game, second people do not understand how difficult being creative can be especially in a 'time sensitive' environment.

You have to get to this point to move to the next level. Good Luck

[BuckarooB]

Okay, Seventh T...

You've had some time to think things over. You've gotten a lot of free advice. If you still feel like getting out of GD, If you still feel that it's not for you - I've drawn up the papers for you to sign that will release you from the blood oath you swore to gain admission to the society.

Once these forms are processed you will be free to begin a new life free of the fetters imposed by the Mundane Public and their Minions.

Repeat after me; I - insert name - do now renounce the oath and the blood spilled on - insert date - on my behalf for admittance into the professional inner-circle of the Graphic Design Brother and Sisterhood.

Now be certain to use Over-Night shipping on the return of the ring and the finger on which it has been worn while practicing as a bona-fide Graphic Designer. Processing should take seven to ten days once your check has cleared and the print on the finger is confirmed.

Thank You

http://www.whispercreek.us/ImageServe/ximinez.gif

Post Edited (BuckarooB) : 8/27/2004 8:51:25 PM GMT

[REDeye]

LOL

[subdriverswife]

I just wanted to say I'm right there with ya. I have a dual degree in animal science and in ag business mgmt/marketing. After leaving livestock nutrition fulltime I opened my own design firm. 3 1/2 years and its only grown maybe 20%...I'm only making about $300 every couple months. No one likes my work so I feel like a failure. :( Do what you think will make you happy.

Knowledge speaks but wisdom listens....Jimi Hendrix

[Big Perm-dizzle]

yeah but you looking pretty dang cute according to your avatar...

does that make you feel better

thats one lucky subdriver

---- Sheriff-Elect of Boobie Island --------

www.conceptprint.com (http://www.conceptprint.com) - my company's new site

[REDeye]

^^what he said

[plantationfarmer]

^^what redeye said^^

:heaven is a coconut away: :i have one-pack abs:
:sexy:groovy:babey:i am:yur loove:kamikaze:

[Stickwood1]

I'll fourth that
Mine looks kinda like me


Yikes Scoob, it's behind you!

[axoi]

Subdriverswife,

subdriverswife said...
No one likes my work so I feel like a failure.

What??!??! So you give up? Mistakes are one thing but failure is only not getting back on the horse.
You only fail if you don't try again. Everyone sucks at something, but those who continue to strive will succeed.

Maybe you should post some of your work here and perhaps we could help you out.

Don't give up. How long did you have this business for?

( I personally think he's a VERY lucky subdriver...what with a wife who has her own business, that takes guts most people don't have.)

- Bill

[Tyger]

hey all,

i'm still hangin' in there 'cause i know what i'm capable of....sometimes though it just doesn't seem worth it...However after some bitching and complaining i had good conversation with one of our sales reps. He himself admitted that if he had my design skills his work would be more effective especially when giving presentations. I've seen their presentations and for a medical company they are far from looking professional. So we got talking about how i could help them....and as i said time and time again there were so many areas for me to step in. So i'm going to make one more push to convince this company to hire me full time in their marketing deptartment (right now i'm in operations). What i'm going to do is get one of their presentations, re do it....make it kick-ass! if they still say no, then i know that my skills will have to be used elsewhere.

The reason why i keep trying is because the truth is, this company is one of the best i've worked for. They do care about us here to a point, the people are great, the pay is good and i've got great benefits....why would i leave for anything less, so if i could stay doing what i love even if it was only 50% of my job, i would be happy here.

anyway i'll keep y'all posted, again thanx for the words and support.

The Tyger is on the prowl...

<img border="0" src= "http://www3.sympatico.ca/ermin.monzon/Tyger_signature.jpg">

[BuckarooB]

Oh, yeah... Tyger! That's right. This is your post. You were having some kind of probbie, right?

Glad it's all better. Right. Yeah. Glad. Uh, yeah, just remember what Will Shakespeare said when he was up against it and felt that he may not be cut out for greatness.

'Men at some time are masters of their fate'

And, of course, from Caddy Shack - 'Be the Ball'

http://www.whispercreek.us/ImageServe/ximinez.gif

[jenpetosa]

Subdriverwife,
Seems around here like people sign off on a work that they think is great, then when it is printed for a couple weeks, they start complaining about it.
I like the saying 'Opinions are like *******s, everyone's got one.'
It just seems like even if you do a bang-up job on something, someone is out there to bash it just to see if they can rattle you.

I think about getting out of the field all the time. But it is easier to stay in this rut. Try to open my own business sounds fun, but it sounds risky. It's all risky.

Loving what you do and making money at it is a dream of all of ours. If you are living that dream, you're either an optimist or very lucky. /emoticons/icon_biggrin.gif

Jennifer