Job Security Question
polycounter lvl 6
I plan on owning a multifamily home in the near future (after I get hired), but I'm worried of the possibility that at some point I might be let go, and would have to potentially move to another state. If this is the case, then I don't see how owning a multifamily home would be feasible.
Do you have to have the mindset that you might never have a permanent home in this industry? I'm worried that I won't be able to settle down in any one location for more than a few years. (I'm also worried that having to move would be very difficult if I meet a significant other) Is this an illogical fear? Thank you.
Do you have to have the mindset that you might never have a permanent home in this industry? I'm worried that I won't be able to settle down in any one location for more than a few years. (I'm also worried that having to move would be very difficult if I meet a significant other) Is this an illogical fear? Thank you.
Replies
That said, the best thing you can do, if you want to own a home, is pick a game development hub. A city where there are lots of studios that if you do lose your job at one, you can get a job at another. Some cities only have 1 or 2 studios, so you tend to have to move. But there are cities like san fran, or austin. Montreal, Vancouver. Places like that that have multiple job opportunities.
1 thing is for sure. Never buy a home until you are off contract and considered full time. Ive seen people go and buy a house when they got their first job in a new city, just to be let go cause they werent working out a couple months later and have to sell their place and move.
I lost money by buying 2 different houses in the past, thinking that I'd be able to stay in the house long term. Nope. Of course, you might have a quite different outcome. I certainly know people who have been working for the same employer in the industry for a long time, and a few people who have managed to stay in the same city by finding new employers (not always staying in the game industry).
It's not been easy. We've stuck it out through some slow times. Having some savings in the bank has saved us. I've branched out from game art into additional industries that need 3d artist skills: military, medical, architectural, VR. I've taken on freelance work in addition to the more dependable full-time work.
It definitely ebbs and flows. I have to be on top of my career. I never just sit back and relax in my day job, because I know that steady work is ultimately an illusion. And going 100% freelance as a career is pretty difficult actually, at least at the beginning. But even after a couple years there are still some slow times.
It can be done. Just make sure you have a cushion saved up, because you'll use it!
The junior people, in comparison, were as a whole much more eager to dive into learning something new.
Having to spend your own time is just something you have to do in most IT and art related positions. We're often at the forefront of entertainment technology - VR, PBR, 4k, Procedural workflows - just think of the stuff that became really common in the last 24 months. Other than art principles and management principles there is very little we can learn that will stay with us with little change for decades.
Nailed it!
so say a company fires a senior artist with a salary of about 80k and hires 2 juniors at 35-40k a year. I would say that senior would out perform both of those newer artists and require far less hand holding, re-doing work and training to get ramped up to a level where the value to output ratio is far exceeding 2 new artists. Time is often the thing productions need to maximize and I really pity a team whos management has the idea that 2 juniors = 1 senior artist will save them time and money.
On the other hand there are some senior artists who just coast after a few years and really provide no additional value to back up their seniority, but it is always a case by case basis. If you are providing real value then a high salary is just a minor detail to most successful companies.
Back on topic of job stability:
I watched a video of advice from a multi-millionare buisnessman where he breaks down the difference of how most poor/average people think and view money and jobs vs how wealthy people view it. its super long but ill sumarize his main points:
To him, being an employee is one of the riskiest things you can do. Most people think having a "good job" at a company is safer than building something for yourself, but at any moment that company could collapse and you could be made irrelevant because instead of constantly learning new skills, you have stuck doing the same thing for 20 years and can no longer find a job.
also, what is the potential downsides. Say you make 50k a year salary. Your downside is 50k. thats the most you can lose if you get laid off. whats the upside? usually around a 2-5% raise a year. Now say the same person quits to create a business on their own. their downside is literally the same, losing 50k a year salary, while their potential upside for growth and expansion is unlimited in todays world. the potential upside rewards vs the similar low risk is insane. But most people are to afraid to do that because society told them doing anything on their own is scary and risky.
On the subject of buying a house, he talks about how its one of the dumbest things the average person can do, because a mortgage is such a huge liability. not only that but over the 30 years or so of paying your mortgage, you literally pay double for the property thanks to interest. So you have lost your freedom because you are tied to one place, you have a huge financial liability and banks leeching your cashflow and on top of that, the market could crash at any time and you could lose a shit ton of money. The main argument here is wealthy people simply don't put their money into liabilites, and thats usually how they became wealthy in the first place. But once again, the social narrative most people are bombarded with is the standard 2 cars, house and 2 kids.
He argues that it is better to rent and just save cash on the side until you can buy a house flat out, even if it takes 30 years. You will have the freedom of movement, you can give your notice and go travel, move to another city, do whatever the hell you want in a short period of time, and you avoid giving the banks double whatever you were going to pay in the first place. His argument is mainly for freedom and that having the most value of all.
Some food for thought anyways.
If you know what you're doing with investment properties, you and your family could be living in a cheaper country while getting income from your renters in expensive cities in your home country. You could hire property managers to maintain and take care of billings.
And when local home market rebounds then you have an option to sell.
I may be departing from the topic at hand, but true wealth is knowing you could buy that car, you could buy that house, you could leave your full-time job if you really wanted or needed to without driving yourself into debt.
Think of when you're at the checkout line in a drug store, you've picked out your items and you're ready to pay - but then you see that pack of gum that you'd like to have! Most people don't consciously think about whether or not they can afford that pack of gum, they know they can take the $1.99 hit to their finances without losing sleep over it. That is wealth. Multi-millionaires have the same state of mind only on a greater financial scale. Most millionaires don't need to worry about the $3,000 metallic paint surcharge on their new Porsche, they get what they want and remain wealthy.
To touch on the original topic: if you really want to work in the industry and own a house, have children, big commitments, then you're almost certainly going to want to work in a city that is a hub for game development. Developers pop up and shut down all the time, you don't want to be in a situation where you're forced to move all over the country to hold down employment. Also, as a 3D artist, you must be aware that the industry is highly competitive and you'll need to put a fairly substantial amount of time into portfolio development if you want to keep current with the constantly evolving technologies and community.
This also assumes people have common sense, which given what happened in the US housing market back in 2007/8 shows that a lot of people don't. people had 3,4,5 houses etc and when it all imploded as every market tends to eventually do....there is no option to simply hold the property and wait for the rebound. This is exactly what is primed to happen in vancouver and toronto on an even more epic scale.
you can do this is many different ways. Have an insanely good portfolio, a unique/specialized skill set in a niche set of software (houdini destruction and vfx artists are always in demand). Boost up your social and networking skills. Go out of your way to work with new members joining the team and become the unofficial "knowledge base guy". All these will help 10x your value and in turn up your job security as much as possible within a company. Keep in mind even huge game companies have crazy layoffs or can implode at any time and blindside anyone. But doing stuff like what I mentioned above can increase your matrix bullet dodging skills and keep you off the chopping block.
By being a linchpin in your studio by having a ton of tools knowledge, having a strong voice in the team (in a good way) and contributing value whenever you can, you are already miles ahead of those who simply come to work and coast. Its like out running the lion, just don't be the slowest and you should be ok. Like almost anything in life the more you put in, the more you should get out of it. Constantly learning and improving yourself has many benefits, not just job security. Thats where the real treasure lies....(CHEEEEZY)
But in the end, unless you are working for yourself, job security is mostly an illusion. Just do whatever you can do stay relevant. McDonalds workers must be sweating right now with the rise of robot workers.
People always say, the hardest part is breaking into the industry but I'm pretty sure, staying consistently good as competition progresses is very important, it's not much talked about...
Those who can't keep up, don't update themselves end up as teachers hahah
Being real, I'm not sure trying to become "indispensible" as an artist at a company is particularly viable. It's just not the nature of the work. Tons of people want to be artists, from what I've observed the people generally considered to be "indispensible" are the ones with enough general, or technical knowledge of how things are built and run. The character artist, no matter how good, probably isn't going to be as indispensible as the guy who knows the engine inside and out, or the person who's been managing the client code base for the past 10 years, or the producer who overlooked the flagship title for god knows how long. ...granted, nobody's saying you can't be a phenomenal artist...who also has familiarity with some of those other things, to increase your value.
You also have to keep in mind - your job and how good you do at it can have absolutely no impact on how secure your job is! Even if you work for a company that makes boat loads of revenue, one that could sail into the future at its current pace without a care in the world... you know what happens to companies that are successful, that make a bunch of money? A lot of times, they get bought. And getting bought can change everything. Suddenly you, who were an indispensible senior artist are now no longer needed as your new parent company has talent they're familiar with, who they prefer. Suddenly your company, which kicked all kinds of ass and never missed a beat - well your new owners have decided to move the studio to a bigger city, where they can acquire even more talent and unless you plan on moving - that means that's where you get off the train.
At the end of the day, I'm not sure job security exists. The key is to ensure your life, and the things in it that are important to you, remain secure regardless.
Then the studio closed. Turns out there is no another job available where I can apply my skills. Literally, zero jobs. Means 3 years of experience are not really helping in finding new job. So, long story short, don't try to be "indispensible", just be really good. If you will be laid off, you can easily find new job. One must always be prepared for this, keeping his or her portfolio up-to-date, gathering references from people they worked with, networking, etc.
I think the ideal thing you can do is just work hard on what you do, you don't have to think too much about being indispensable to one company, just be great at what you do, live in a hub city or close to one. If you have the skills but still lose your job for various reason you will get a new one, and if you are good at what you do you won't have a problem finding well paying freelance jobs during the wait that might occur.