Overseas? To go or not
So I did quite a bit of research into going abroad to teach English.
This was supposed to be a backup to my backup plan, but now seeming like it's my only plan. I thought I would be able to patch some holes in my ability and start applying for jobs. Well I hit that deadline a month and a half ago, and had to force myself to start applying. I've lived the last few years on the pretty extreme end of frugal, getting by on day jobs and random seasonal work so I could stay focused on improving. But now I have debt that I need to start paying.
But so far the only 2 offers for overseas have been 2 year contracts. And all the advice I've been getting has been voting that as a negative. Removing myself from any opportunities that may arise for 2 years etc...and in a lot of ways I agree.
An alternative would be to stay state-side and somehow find a full time job that isn't minimum wage so that if a paid internship comes up or a few images added to the folio land me a job, I'm a 2-week notice away from diving for it.
I've been in a bubble, and the only advice has been mostly from random family members. I've been overwhelmed trying to decide what's best or the right direction. And when you are too close to something, it's hard to be objective. So I wanted to ask other artists for their thoughts/advice/suggestions alternatives that I'm missing maybe.
The Folio
This was supposed to be a backup to my backup plan, but now seeming like it's my only plan. I thought I would be able to patch some holes in my ability and start applying for jobs. Well I hit that deadline a month and a half ago, and had to force myself to start applying. I've lived the last few years on the pretty extreme end of frugal, getting by on day jobs and random seasonal work so I could stay focused on improving. But now I have debt that I need to start paying.
But so far the only 2 offers for overseas have been 2 year contracts. And all the advice I've been getting has been voting that as a negative. Removing myself from any opportunities that may arise for 2 years etc...and in a lot of ways I agree.
An alternative would be to stay state-side and somehow find a full time job that isn't minimum wage so that if a paid internship comes up or a few images added to the folio land me a job, I'm a 2-week notice away from diving for it.
I've been in a bubble, and the only advice has been mostly from random family members. I've been overwhelmed trying to decide what's best or the right direction. And when you are too close to something, it's hard to be objective. So I wanted to ask other artists for their thoughts/advice/suggestions alternatives that I'm missing maybe.
The Folio
Replies
You won't believe the low the entry barrier for these places. And since they're busy with big contracts from the game corps you'll ramp up shipped games folio fast. Don't believe me go to gamasutra's contractor page. Research the busy outsourcing companies, trackback artists who works/worked for them. Those guys didn't even need to go to some shit expensive gameart college and yet they already have Ubi, EA games on their credit lists!
One guy I know (but not personally) just self-thought himself photoshopping. Joined online art contests like those by ImagineFX. Got small gigs from those "exposure". 2-5 yrs. later, dude's got Iron Man matte painting credits and some other big fx movies by working for ILM Singapore. Dude's not even gnomon instructor caliber, know what I mean?
You won't get rich though, but so is teaching English. But you can get your credits fast and you can use those to leverage a higher paying Sr. or lead role back in the States. Doable in 2 yrs, in my opinion.
that's exactly the problem. Given that VN is much cheaper than China that won't be a lot. You'll return home poor. Maybe you make 400 usd a month, but I heard of people who make less. As a teacher, if you hire on with a university, you'll get a room and food for free though and a legit work permit and you get some cash which you can spend for sightseeing. If you bring a laptop or PC you might even get some folio work done.
And I wouldn't get my hopes up for outsourcing. If there's anything here that's cheap then it's raw talent. Bring experience if you really want a good chance of getting a job, or special skills (tech art, unreal, cryengine, mobile development, directing, console development). Unless you work illegally or for some of the really shitty outsourcers that give outsourcing a bad name. Many of the cheap shops won't sponsor you the expensive visa or health insurance. And trust me, you don't want to be in a local hospital when serious stuff happens. I'm here in Shanghai and the non western hospitals here scare the sweet bejeebus outta me. I don't even want to think how it is in some more backwater places.
So what's your choice if you don't have experience? You can be the showcase westerner some more remote companies have here to impress business partners - "look, we have one of 'em too!". Or you can compete with local junior artists who're probably driving a harder bargain than you. Who won't complain about sharing a small room with 4 other of their mates who just graduated from college, or that they have a 2 hour commute every day to work. Who come from country side homes where they have outdoor toilets and the entire family pitched in so the guy can study (ok, a bit drastic, but it's not unheard of). And who don't need the biggest expense a foreigner has attached: visa + health insurance. Most other westerners here seem to bring some skills with them that cannot be found locally - i.e. they're usually not juniors.
I think you have to be pretty adventurous (or desperate? or naive?) to do this. Unless that's what you're looking for, break into the industry first, work on the folio, then make the move on your own terms. Much better and more fun. Or stay within the US and do what Magic Sugar suggested - that seems like a workable strategy.
But there are lots of other options for the OP, like...
Getting into the fracking/ oil drilling business. You won't believe how fast you'll hit a six figure income even when you're just in your early 20s. Fuck drinkable water and payoff your loans dudes!
Seriously, oil drilling. Youtube to preview working conditions. Hard work but in the West you acually get paid serious money for slavish work. Quit after paying off your debts, work on your folio in some resort town ('cuz you save instead of blowing your dough on strippers, booze and meth, right???) or start your contracting studio.
400 USD is a good sum of money when you can eat out reasonably well for 2 USD per day. If you're paying around 2mil VND to rent a fairly reasonable place and living non-extravagantly, you'll end up with more than half your pay still left over at the end of the month. After two years, you're not going home poor, you'll have something like 5k USD in the bank.
For the record, the kind of salary you can get in Vietnam to teach English is around $1700 per month. You will have a lot of money when you return after a two year stint ($30k USD+).
Comparison: mid management Chinese office worker earns around $1700 in Shanghai, China's richest city. English teachers usually make less (the sort that has no degree or anything beside being native speaker). It would be strange if VN english teacher jobs are on average so much better paid. While I don't doubt that there are English teaching jobs which can pay well, the OP shouldn't make the mistake and think that's the norm. While I'm no VN expert, I doubt that's the norm there either. Also what's included? housing? health insurance? visa sponsoring (official work permit vs. tourist visa that gets extended over and over and over?) are you working for a legit uni or just some scam 'we teech engrish' school? If you do this, do your research carefully!
Just to emphasise this point: I know a few people who worked in the mining industry (mostly iron ore mining) when they were young and 'retired' when they were 30. It's not such a bad idea. It's a hard life though. It's a similar career path to joining the military and getting them to pay for your education.
Merchant marine is another career secretely reputed to fast track you to six figures....at least in Canada. But you have to enroll at this one specialized college in Ontario.
I'm no longer in my 20s...sadly. But serious advice, you don't want to be servicing you crazy high student loans with soul sucking minimum wage jobs in your thirties.
Kwramm: yeah from US. My main reason for doing it is monetary, Japan and Korea had the best pay. But for some reason Korea had a ridiculous overflow of people so I was shooting for Japan.I talked to quite a few people doing it and it was such a mixed bag of reviews... I found a place in Tianjin China paying around 1200USD a month. They said living frugal I could save 800-1000 a month, which has my interest.
MagicSugar: I've read something like this before. Saying look out for small startup studios in US or apply for outsourcing studios overseas. Where are the majority of the outsourcing studios, I would be all for trying something like that but I wouldn't know how to start looking.
And yeah I looked into doing something with oil/mining as well, I guess my only hold up was.... I've been told it's pretty consuming work. And the likelihood of me going home to work on a portfolio after getting destroyed all day would be near 0. I think I need to stop looking for best case scenarios of, keeping the debt out of my face and still grinding a portfolio together. I'll look into this again.
Just realized, I meant to put my folio in the original post I'll fix that.
sprunghunt: That sounds amazing hah. Does it start you at entry level working for peanuts, or do you get paid reasonably well from the beginning?
You seem to have the right attitude. I'll give you another advice since I'm hoping karma would allow me to close a prospective freelance gig (art related, fit body not required :poly124:).
Get a shift schedule job like being a waiter at a busy restaurant (tips!), your off time make DOTA2 or TF2 models to sell. Valve evaluates each submission prior release, so it kinda counts as work experience for your resume if they sell your model (and validation or not you've got the chops to work at a studio).
And tweet network like crazy (but follow pros not the hos...at least on your pro account).
Good luck!
Keep in mind these aren't just any mining jobs. They're mining jobs in Australia. It has to do with the demand from china for resources. It's a similar situation to fracking in the USA which is why I mentioned it. There's probably equivalent jobs in Canada on the Alberta oil sands. Same thing goes for working on oil rigs in the Caribbean. Here's an article:
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970204517204577046222233016362.html
Darth Tomi, yeah... I feel like its because I'm behind the curve moreso than anything at the moment. I think I'm going to post a portfolio review thread, try to get some real feedback rather than mindlessly working towards what I 'THINK' the industry is looking for.
I did quite a bit of research into things, I found 2 companies that just finished a hiring cycle in middle of no where North Dakota. Apparently the money is pretty good and they work with 3 month contracts. I found out I have a contact working there already who may be able to put in a good word for me the next hiring cycle. So at least that is one additional alternative.
If you are passionate about teaching then go for it, if not find something more interesting.
I thoroughly enjoyed South Korea, but realistically you won't get much 3D done unless you stay home every night and weekend, but that would suck because Seoul is so much fun. If you're dead serious about getting in the game industry, skip teaching English, just find a 9-5 job and work on your folio when not at work. My 2 cents.
Also, the chance to live and work in another country is a good experience. Living close to Japan (summer special round trip is like $90) and other countries, it can be worth it just for that. Weekend to another country (I think I am going to Korea in a couple of weeks).
Network with other artist in the country, grow your style, eat, drink, sleep... enjoy.
As an artist, I'll also add that wherever you go - take full advantage of it and see as much as you can. Your mental reference library will be all the better for it.
Joe Gracey, Hahah! That is also one of my fears as well. I've been living like a monk, grinding away trying to improve to suddenly have money to burn and a new environment, may corrupt me.
Lamont, that's the ideal setup for sure. I'm going to be sending out my resume and what not to some of the teaching jobs in all the Asian countries that are paying. And see what kind of response I get.
Thanks WarrenM, I'm going to put myself out there and see what bites.