Thoughts on freelancing while being full-time employee?
What's your opinion on freelancing in your free time for another game company while being a full time employee? Is that considered unethical and may somehow do more harm than good to your image in the long run? Or is this the kind of stuff people keep to themselves and refrain from posting in blogs/portfolios/forums?
I'm not talking about small assets or marketplace stuff here but large parts of a game.
I'm not talking about small assets or marketplace stuff here but large parts of a game.
Replies
And if it starts to impact your work, and they find out, they will do something about it. Warnings or dismissal. Some places do understand that people need to make more $$, and may be more understanding and tell you "Don't let it impact your work here.".
Just dig up that paperwork you signed when you took the job and see what it says.
on a side note....if you are able to take it and all is clear....make sure you have the time to comfortably succeed in the outside goal.
Yes there is a great amount of experience and money to be made but....
Life is about making money to live, not living to work.
I use to live to work, it can leave you unfulfilled and life can pass you by quickly.
... to each there own though... If its fun work, then I would get the okay from the company your working for. There's a good chance they'll be okay with it.
Think about it you would be waking up, going to work for 8-10hrs, getting home then working for another 4-8hrs. That leaves you what 12-6hrs not working? The body wants equal parts work as sleep. So working 18hrs would mean your body would want 18hrs sleep but you would only be able to give it 6hrs max. After a few weeks of less than 6hrs of sleep your work would majorly suffer.
I would also say:
The places I've been were ok with outside work as long as they knew in advance, and it wasn't for a competitor.
I'm married and have 5 kids, so the money really helps around the house.
As long as it doesn't effect your full time work and there are no conflicts, then if you can do it - Go for it. Watch the deadlines and schedule the work when your home.
Just my 2 cents.
I am sure your lead will say "Sure, do whatever... just don't let it affect work.". If you think the don't ask don't tell system will work for you (99.99% chance you will be fine), do it. Then down the line after everything is said and done and the product is released, put the work on your website and update the resume.
lol
I've done it. A lot. It's called keeping it on the down low. If I ever felt I was being fairly compensated in comparison to the money the final product will make, I'd keep my abilities focused solely on the product at hand, but as long as I'm getting a set salary that's an insignificant portion of the game's final sales numbers, if a posh freelance gig comes along, and I can handle it without affecting my work, my home is my business, contract or no.
It doesn't really matter unless you talk about it too much. Working for your direct competitor is probably a bad idea too. Like if I had done contract work for The Darkness or Infamous while working on Prototype.
Yep!
When I was laid off I was offered freelance work, but then ended up getting a full time job in military simulation. I wanted to continue with the freelance because I enjoyed the work and appreciated the opportunity. It was great, but when they needed me for overtime at my military sim job, I noticed the quality of what I was making freelancewise drop. My job kept asking for more hours and ultimately, even though at first things were fine, I couldn't handle both.
So I would say to just review the situation. Either make sure your company allows it or keep it on the down-low, and make sure you can prevent having to drop out on someone. When I started, we were already behind on the project at the military sim job, so that should have been a red flag for me, but I was too excited with what I was doing freelancewise.
and be sure your not going to burn yourself out before committing to the freelance.
Beyond that, don't see what's wrong with it. I'm going to school, doing an internship, and more or less doing freelance fulltime, so if you feel you can handle the time requirements and stay motivated for your responsibilities, go for it!