Potential Conflict Of Interest - Need Advice
So, I have recently found myself approaching a rather hairy situation.
I currently am employed with a Game Developer/Publisher as a low level Customer Support/Phone Rep. I went to school for 3D Art and Animation and my passion for Games and Game Development have led me more or less here.
When my free time permits, I work on my portfolio and personal pieces, and before I began work as said Developer/Publisher - I actually did do some character work on an Indie Game.
I have recently been contacted by a semi-well-known studio that would be interested in my producing some characters for them, and this is a pretty huge opportunity for me as an artist.
My problem is - While I am not Hired at my current company as an artist at my Current Company, Current Company and Unsaid Studio are in the same line of work.
It's a very hard call to make. My current job provides me with income and the means to live, but the freelance opportunity could potentially be that first step for a real career.
To Add Insult (or Irony) to Injury, I have applied to work as an Artist at my current company/or studio within the publisher, and my feedback was that I more or less needed more professional examples of work.
I'm pretty conflicted, any advice would be amazing.
I currently am employed with a Game Developer/Publisher as a low level Customer Support/Phone Rep. I went to school for 3D Art and Animation and my passion for Games and Game Development have led me more or less here.
When my free time permits, I work on my portfolio and personal pieces, and before I began work as said Developer/Publisher - I actually did do some character work on an Indie Game.
I have recently been contacted by a semi-well-known studio that would be interested in my producing some characters for them, and this is a pretty huge opportunity for me as an artist.
My problem is - While I am not Hired at my current company as an artist at my Current Company, Current Company and Unsaid Studio are in the same line of work.
It's a very hard call to make. My current job provides me with income and the means to live, but the freelance opportunity could potentially be that first step for a real career.
To Add Insult (or Irony) to Injury, I have applied to work as an Artist at my current company/or studio within the publisher, and my feedback was that I more or less needed more professional examples of work.
I'm pretty conflicted, any advice would be amazing.
Replies
and what would you guess their response to it would be? reprimand, or a firing offence? you could claim in defence that since you're not employed as a character artist you didn't think any rules applied to you.
it sounds like you're more or less stuck if you do nothing.. weigh up both the chance of getting caught and what you think they'd do if you were, versus the potential benefits of the gig
it sounds like it'd be pretty harsh of them to fire you over it
Can you do both gigs? Do the characters freelance on the side, and keep the day job? That would be a safe route (apart from legal issues, such as if you signed a non-compete form).
In any case, quitting a stable job for some freelance work sounds very risky, particularly in this nasty recession.
You are a CS rep... pretty much entry level there at your day job. Sounds like they know you are even trying to make more of yourself too. They have told you that you need more professional examples before they could consider you. Now that does not translate into a "go get a contract gig". I suspect they mean, "go build some more characters that are comparable to what we are doing in house" They want to see that you can produce more than one or two tricks. They want to know that you can sit and produce for them. Which is fair, this is a business. I think that's great encouragement to keep working.
As for the contract? I think that's great. Take it. But... Do not let it be known at your day job about it while you are doing it. No hints, no working a bit while waiting for a new build, nada. This also means you can't let the contract work affect your day job at all. I suspect that won't be a problem for you, but when you are further up the ladder in a dev studio, that's even more important to consider. You cannot short change your current employer. But as long as that's covered, then go knock some characters out. When you have that done and maybe a couple more contracts done, approach the people internally and show them off. If they ask the where and whys of the characters, tell them. Be honest, tell them you did some small contract gig on the side and that you made sure to take care of the day-job first. I guarantee that anyone in a lead position there will appreciate that.
One last thing tho.. you can't work for a competitor. So like if you were a Blizzard GM and you got a contract gig from Sony Online... that would really start to stretch the situation. It's hard to apply the word never when it comes to jobs and money, but working for a competitor is pretty close.
you gotta take care of yourself. your day job loves yah as far as you sit in your seat. take care of all sides of it, that's what being a professional is about, and make yourself better.
I have had a lot of thought over this topic and this site over the years. This site was what earned me a chance at the game dev career I'm currently embarking on. I've always remembered this and always made sure that the day job got my attention first. That's THE reason that my own efforts on the site had gotten pulled back to more of a maintenance and advisory role. I've always been here, just the day job was all consuming. It still is, but perhaps I've gotten better at juggling..
I've also just had a conversation with my own Studio Head at my own day-job. As you might notice, this site can easily be considered a job outside of work. I have in the past made some money from the site. It might happen in the future. So I'm a professional, I spoke to my art director and then the big boss. They are both 100% OK with what we are doing here on the site. They fully support me supporting this community... as long as I take care of my responsibilities for them. They even realize that we might even have some competitor's work on display or maybe a contest. For my entire career at Sony, I have not let the site interfere with my day job. I have been a professional about it and that has earned me their trust. I realize some of that is in conflict with what I'm saying above. Which is what I had in mind when i said it's hard to say never. there's always exceptions, this site is fairly unique and provides a great exception in my particular situation.
In the end, take care of your responsibilities, be a professional and the rest should come easy.
End of My Opinion
I've seen a mix of "Go For Its!" and a mix of "Oooo... tough call, I would for more info ..." - As far as I know, when I mentioned my freelance, there had been mention awhile back about something they were going to do for the upper level peeps in regards to allowing them to work on more independent side projects because their had been a demand for it.
When I informed them about the indie game, (which since has found a publisher) - I filled out the paperwork but never heard back about whether or not it was an issue, while no news is good news, it was kind of surprising I got NO word back on it (Which may mean that this is an issue of low importance and I'm making a LOT out of it, or time just really doesn't permit it), I guess, it may be time to poke and pry like some of you suggest.
Thank you r13 for taking the time to give me a well rounded and insightful opinion.
really I can see any studio prosecuting an entry level employee, who isnt even making art for them currently for doing freelance work. its always the high up execs/producers who get in shit for double dealing because usually it involves hundreds of thousands of dollars. any cost to go after an artist would far outweigh the gains in almost every case.
in this case the side work is for an indie project, not even a huge compeditor, im pretty sure you have nothing to worry about.
I don't know all the particulars, or whether it's against company policy, but I say go for it.
Keep in mind that if you ask someone what the policy is on freelancing, they are going to reason that you are doing freelance work. My personal opinion is that what you do outside of work is none of their business, pick up the freelance work, if anyone at your current job has a problem (which they shouldn't because they don't know about it) you tell them you were trying to get more professional examples of work so you could move up in their company.
You might want to look over any contracts or paperwork you signed and see if there is anything in there about "moonlighting" basically holding down two jobs (day/night) at the same time, or a "no compete" clause. Depending on the local laws they may or may not be legal. Which means you "can probably sue" after they fire you... considering they probably have more money to spend on lawyer fees then you do 2 guesses who wins that one.
Oh good god no!
Yeah I do all of my stuff at home, I just mostly mean when Real Life isn't rearing its ugly head, moving, errands, distractions ect. ect. ect.
You make a good point looking into local law, I'll definitely see what I can scrounge up on that, and re-read my companies rules on competing, moonlighting, ect. ect.
I say take it. It's in your best interests. Just don't let it affect your day job.