[Vgta]

Ok, quick question. What is the average time frame that has taken you guys to find a job?About a hundred or so people (including yours truly) got laid off about 3 months ago and I still have not been able to find a job; thankfully I am doing a contract job but I would like to have some more stability.
Is the market really that shitty?

[Lunatique]

*sigh*

I'm living in somebody's basement, with all of my life's possessions in a storage space, and working a shit job.

A month before this, I was art director at a game company.

*sigh*

[Socar MYLES]

I ended up saying 'Screw the job'--I still don't have one. I decided to work freelance instead, after every single job offer I got--no exceptions--involved moving away from here, which I can't do, being in school and all. It's actually going quite well--with commissions and print sales, I'm keeping well above water.

[Guy]

i graduated in feb. applied at all the game companies in vancouver and surrounding area. then some other parts of canada. most of the places didnt respond. sent resumes to them several times too. it gets really discouraging.

but now im being considered for a job in calgary with canada's largest architectual firm. its not a game company, but id still being doing 3d stuff so its all good. who knows if ill get it or not though :\

anyways. good luck to us all.

[faustgfx]

personally, if i had to try to get a graphics related job, i'd steer clear from "game stuff".. that often means 18 hours a day of work and after 2 years of busting the fuck out of your ass your producer says "hahaa, you die!" and your stuff never leaves the basement, end of story.

/blunt

[marky]

I got laid off three months ago too!

-and still no job. But then I'm in England and the market here is pants at the moment.

[Chris]

graduated in dec 2000 and it took me 2 months to get a job. I did contract work until then, but i hated being unemployed, not really $$ worried, just got really board

[feebsaint]

I totally agree with faustgfx on what he said, but something keeps pulling me back. I've been in the bid'ness (street lingo for business... I'm rather hip) for the same length of time as that hombre, so we know what we're talking about..

However: Games do pay well, and once in a while, you get to do something truly cool... oh, but that's only if you're in the top 5% of the valued artists. Game art consists a great deal of lame work, that carries NONE of the glory you'd think to associate with working on games. Unless you're a really great artist, you won't even go so far as to make textures for walls/pipes/etc. Still... I admit it beats construction, or working in a roller mill (my two main jobs before this).

I worked for one game company for nearly 5 years, and thought I had rid myself of it... going the 'freelance' route. Well, freelance needs to pay better, what with my child support, car payments, insurance, etc. I had to get back into games, because I know them, and am valued here. I just don't want to be doing them the rest of my life... for the reasons faust pointed out, and my own. I'm lucky to be working at a game company that is so creative in nature. I'm doing some cool stuff here, but I've already had to do hundreds of fix-ups on football jerseys (changing colors, adding stripes to pants, changing helmet logos & colors, changing numbers for individual teams/players... this is what games are mostly about... the long, drawn-out technical shit). The coolest things I've done here so far, are making ROCKS for a snowboard game, making an adobe lodge/villiage for the same game, and now I'm making gates & signs for that game. You have to work your way up, in these companies, and as faust & others will tell you... that's no small thing.

I estimate in a month, I'll be doing textures for a cool game, be doing that for a year, and maybe luck out and do some characters. Just so you know, in the 6 years I've been in the industry, I've probably worked a month or 2's worth of characters... and then, they were mostly designed by someone else. If you really want games to be your life, prepare yourself ... because the glory is not what it's made out to be.

[Jabberwocky]

Okay you guys are making me want to finsih off my year and a half in this field knowing there is a less than likely chance of me getting a job... I had to get a job this summer (Senior Summer) and I applied for ever design place in town and they all said they have more than enoughh designers and no "crap jobs". I'm now working for a cleaning company where I clean up after fires, and I got heat stroke last week! The $6.50 an hour isn't worth it. Trust me Sh*t rolled down hill and I hate being the person at the bottom. I think I might go ahead and become a art teacher...

any of you know if Commercial Art field of Jobs is just as bad?

[Jezebel]

I really respect anyone that wants to be an art teacher. What a great job... even though the pay might not always be the best I think it's a wonderful thing to do. Good art teachers kick major ass

[Jabberwocky]

The only reason I even thought about teaching was because the way my classes ended up I was an Adv. 3D student in an Reg 3D class (all my classmates were just reg 3D). And there were over 35 student in a class set up for about 24 at most. So I got to play teacher a lot helping out my art teacher (who was the most coolest teacher in the world) when student had questions or needed help because I had already taken reg 3D art.

Almost all the teacher that teach in this school district live in the "rich" part of town!

[Vgta]

Hey thanks for the replies guys.

Lunatique: What can I say, but to hang in there, pretty much what I am doing.


Socar: How do you figure out how much to charge on a freelance gig?

Guy: Best of luck man, keep us posted.

Faust: How's the market situation on your end of the world?

marky: .... do you guys have anything like welfare or something to help you out while you are unemployed?

Chris: where are you working at?

Feebsaint: Mike, you know I think a lot of people romantacise the whole game/entertainment industry. Thanks for adding a real world perspective to the whole thing. I think the reason you keep on getting pulled back is 'cause you really love what you do. Now how about writing those tutorials


Jabberwocky: Becoming a teacher would be really cool, where do you live? Most art teachers I know do okay but they are not "rich"

well still looking for a job. At least I am working on a contract job but it's more on the technical side of things than actual design; but hey it pays the bills right?
Thanks to all for replying.