Why I Turned Down a $200,000 Sound Design Job
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- Опубліковано 30 лип 2024
- Everyone in Game Audio says they want a full-time, in-house job at a big company, but I don't think those jobs are the be-all end-all that people think they are.
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▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬ Table of Contents ▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬
0:00 - Turning Down Dream Jobs
1:18 - Focusing on Health and Freedom
2:13 - Choosing what I Learn
3:15 - How ADHD Affects my Career
4:06 - The Power of Being a Freelancer
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Absolute madlads: Akash edition.
Beautifully excecuted video though m'dude. So much more important to find work that's truly fulfilling than it is the 'top job' for the sake of having it. All things in balance and all that.
Honored to hear that from a video making champion like yourself! 🙏
Definitely something that resonates strongly with me! It took me a decade of working at a 9-5 commercial insurance job (whilst trying to be a record producer at the same time) before I was able to make the jump...and then 2020 happened! BUT I still refused to cave and so have been slowly stepping back into full time Producing (and now sound design, soundtrack composition, game design, online educating and course creation, because let's be real...us creatives sometimes can't stick to just one thing!). And whilst I will say my wife's support has DEFINITELY helped, one of the biggest driving points was that I NEVER wanted to work in an office, doing something for someone else, focusing on their goals and not my own. So yes, you're spot on Akash!
I love this, man. You're such a great source of inspiration.
Thank you so much for sharing this!!! It's so so so inspiring to see pros at the top of their game value their health and happiness over money. And to position themselves in a way to be able to do so.
Awww thanks so much!!
Thank you for this video! I definitely share a lot of your mindset and feelings, so it's good to remind all these elements of why I chose this path and why it's the best for me!
This video make me realize a lot of things about work and productivity, I just start into sound design studies and didn't thought that way at all because of the massive informations i have to learn and the fear of being late. Thanks for making me rethink my way of working
Recently became a senior at a big studio and ohhhh boy do you feel those meetings and Slack messages. Like you, I get derailed and overwhelmed by distracting nonsense like that and am far more efficient in a quiet room where I can focus. I find myself more burnt out on days where I'm mainly responding to messages and not doing any actual work, rather than days where i've been intensely focused on doing a single big task really well. I will say though that I've learned a huge amount about technical audio in the year and a half I've been here that would have been much harder to touch upon in my free time. You don't really get to do the big stuff unless you're deep into a big game. I would encourage anybody to shoot for a studio job and gain experience for a few years, even if it takes some short-term sacrifices I think it grows your abilities exponentially so you're a lot stronger when you leave. Great video btw!
Lovely video. Good to hear you acknowledge your situation is different while still saying how you can get there in our own careers eventually
Thank you so much!
Thanks for sharing this Akash. ❤
Yep 100% back this. Though I'm a programmer, I will never work weekends or after 5pm for anyone. And I'm on $125k. Your health and freedom is far more important than working. In fact, I actually get more done the less I work. Its a weird paradox
This is such a healthy way of thinking! :) I am glad to see more and more people encouraging taking care of yourselves and your career in a healthy manner. Money is not everything in life, and there are far more important aspects, small things, that can make a person feel good about themselves, be happy and satisfied with their life.
You know I love the presentation of the Ahoy-hoy style, just wanted to say I'm really digging the looser, more transparent/one-size-doesnt-always-fit-all conversational tone of these past couple. Inspired me to take some time and articulate my own set of principles. Feels weird having never actually laid it out like this before but man does it also feel like the road to walk is building itself with boundaries in place. Always gold, my man!
Awww thank you! I'm really glad to hear that. These kinds of videos are really fun to make, so I appreciate you letting me know that it resonates!
Great insight Akash! Though I work for a fantastic company and never experienced crush or any type of overwork, I can see the pressure in other places. I might add that, as a freelancer you can get things done faster; I'd say that when working for a big studio/company, about 25% or more of your time is wasted cutting the red tape for every single process (hire an actor, license an asset, etc...). Btw, many years ago when I interviewed for my current job and they asked me about someone that I admired I mentioned you Sir. Thanks for all that you bring to the game audio community.
Awww! Well that makes my day, thank you!
And yes, agreed on doing things faster, especially when you don't need to be in nearly as many meetings.
Thnx akash! For these great stuff you keep providing us. ❤ pls Never stop, i find you as one of the the most growth mindset person
Good for you man. I've never had the balls to go off on my own. I took a high paying job nearly 4 years ago, have been dumping the money into savings, and soon I plan to bite the bullet and do whatever the heck I want.
Corporate culture sucks. It wouldn't be so bad if it didn't tend to be completely disorganized and incompetent. But I've decided to stop fighting against it and just opt out entirely. Maybe we can work together some day.
Just what I needed today Akash, thank you!
Thank YOU for watching
This rules! Your vibe is everything Akash. Really enjoy your advice and tips.
Thank you SO much!
what's the point of a high paycheck when you don't have time to spend it..
You are so inspiring!
As someone who also has ADHD and is just starting out in sound design (can't wait to take your course next year😉), freelancing would be perfect for me. However I live in Hungary (middle of nowhere) so finding clients will probably be hard. Good news is that the cost of living is lower, so if I could make only $15,000 a year I could go full time! Hope I can make it happen one day.
Ahh thanks for signing up for the course!
Definitely doable. Yes, it's trickier when you're not in a "hub", but I see people doing it over and over again. If your cost of living is that low, I think you'll be just fine very quickly!
Just the words I needed to hear!
Funnily I spent most of my day today reading your articles on your site. They are super fun to read and are packed with life changing wisdom. Couldn't stop reading until I saw the notification for your response. It's hard to believe you were cleaning toilets back in the day haha! (Yup, you wrote that in 2017). It made me realize I shouldn't complain about having to work at soul-sucking factories. 🙂
This is great.
Thank you!
I would agree to this one special thing that learning things that aint audio related is super important and dont forget health, cuz making music is ofcourse heavily addictive
It seems that audio companies are somethibg growing at the moment, and could be really cool to work on!
I hear what you're saying and I think it can be true depending on the company and what it truly values. Flashing a big paycheck in your face to me is a bit of a red flag to be honest and makes me wary for sure. It may just be my own personal experience is rare but my company is very respectful of the fact we have lives outside of work, OT has to be approved and is hardly ever required unless it's very necessary, and really encourage everyone to unleash their full creative potential. I think as time goes on and the public becomes more aware of certain negative things happening in game development, more and more companies will make working there an enjoyable experience besides just being able to say you worked on "x" AAA title and the opportunity to work on it justifies any suffering. There's no wrong path to take to success and it's always good to hear other perspectives.
I look up to you
Hi Akash, as a freelancer, are you using FMOD/Wwise much? or is it more about creating the SFX and sending them to the client?
Yup! I'm using both every single day across various projects.
Hey, Akash, this comment is a little late, but its still relevant. You mentioned in the video having ADHD and how a office environment doesn't work for you for that reason (among others). I was just recently diagnosed with ADHD, and know that for the future I want and for my family, a pseudo-freelance work from home career path would work best too. I was just wondering how you managed your schedule so you didn't just get distracted or carried off on some tangent. If you think this question could make a good video, I'd love to see it.
This is a great idea for a video! I'll put that on my list and film it this week!
I'm just now seeing this... I haven't looked yet... But if you have made one, I'll find it, if not... I second the request...lol
Holy shit the ADHD thing hit hard. I struggle so hard with it at full time gigs. I was only diagnosed a couple years ago, but am still in the "oooooh, that explains everything!!" phase. So I'm kinda in a weird place right now and unfortunately was just laid off from a pretty good gig, but don't have much of anything to show from it. I would be VERY interested in learning how you deal with your ADHD. I'm still trying to find solutions for myself as I'm feeling like a half functional human lately. Also I'm actively trying to find work in interactive audio but my ADHD struggles with sticking to any personal project long enough to make it a demo reel chunk. (or I don't think it's good enough to post, so it just sits...)
Anyways... I'm so happy to hear someone with ADHD in audio being successful! It gives me hope. And a little motivation to keep pushing.
Anyways... Just want to say thanks for sharing. Just that tiny bit actually helped a random recently laid off Seattle sound designer quite a bit. :). That was probably TMI... Lol... Oh well.
It's TOUGH to deal with, and there's no perfect way, but I'm happy to share what worked for me! I'll be filming a video shortly on that.
Your video has been posted at an interesting time, as I have recently enquired about a PHD titled - Effect of Contextual Sound Perception on Metaverse User Experience. Although, the stipend is a measly £17,688. I for the life of me cannot see how undertaking work clearly as valuable as this, with an industry partner like EA can be less financially rewarding as a position at Mc Donald’s. The supervisor has put it down to the cost of living but I don’t accept that it is not simply a desire for cheap labour.
I understand that you are also a professor, correct me if I’m wrong. What are your thoughts about this? Does this sound like a worthwhile or lucrative endeavour down the line?
Kind regards,
William
OOF that's low. Alas, the world of academia and research is so so underpaid.
I am indeed a professor, but it pays so low that I forget that it even pays at all. I just do it for funsies (it's also excellent public speaking practice). If you're looking for a solid income, professor is not the job I would personally recommend (unless it's at a very prestigious school).
If you're not absolutely in LOVE with the idea of doing that research/diving more into academia, then don't do it. It's definitely not a long-term lucrative career for 99% of people.
Hi Akash! Great video and insight. Thank you
I just wanted to ask you, on which platforms do you do freelancing?
Thank you!
When you say platforms, do you mean like Upwork, Fiverr, etc? If so, the answer is none of them! They're not where the highest quality clients are.
@@AkashThakkarAudio that is what I meant! I have been struggling to get gigs on Fiverr and Upwork and many other platforms but I have had no success thus far so I just wanted to know where you go to do freelancing as I am obviously looking in the wrong place. Thanks for the reply!
I tried for many years to break into the games industry but could never get a foot in the door. I was even contacting companies before I was old enough to be employed. Now I'm a lot older & working for myself as a game dev doing multiple things like: SFX, coding, voice acting, games design etc etc - I realise that if I had been successful getting work at a company it may have turned me off of working in game development altogether after some of the horror stories I've heard.
Funny how that works, isn't it? Sometimes the rejections we get earlier on are actually huge blessings.
omg !
Just what I needed to hear! Such a pleasant surprise to hear you're a BJJ practitioner. How are your joints? :P
Haha! Thankfully great! I do a LOT of mobility/stretching (about an hour each morning) and my diet is very on point. Before I did that stuff though, I was always swollen and my hands would constantly hurt 😂
Which studios offer 200k$ per year?
Meta, some new well-funded startups, and any of the giant tech companies (Google, Apple, etc.) for more senior/director positions.
Akash is a jiu jitsu guy?? Hell yeaaaahh
also love captain sinbad, his videos are awesome
At first, I thought you were eating a cracker at 2:49