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will you say "work for exposure" next

 

Not "exposure" so much as "compilation" I guess :P

 

I don't know why that would offend me. U:

 

I did my best to make it non-offensive, but there is a possibility for many people to take what I said as meaning "why don't you look for a job harder". Which isn't what I meant, and why I opened with "not to offend". 

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Honestly, game prog grunt work is a small field filled with eager jobwanters, so it's difficult to get in;  I think we've discussed this before, right?   That's why I opted for infosec where there's not as much competition and you get to say "Splunk" a lot. 

 

I feel your pain though, Twig.  If I knew of any openings I'd tell ya.

 

 

What's your main language?

Yes, I'm aware it's competitive and people are willing to work for shit. So am I! Because it's a job I want to do. I... like programming, but as a means to an end, not as a defining characteristic of my personality. I want to program because I know that's a huge part of game development. I also want to do art and music and design, some day. I don't JUST want to solve problems (which is, at its core, what programming is all about). I like that part of it well enough, but what I really want to do is create.

 

(My main language is C++.)

 

Anyway, I know I'm restricting myself. You wouldn't have offended me even if you said that straight up, jmb. I mean, I basically admitted to not looking hard enough. I know if I expanded my search I could probably find a decent job that pays better much more easily than I'll find my dream game job. But until I absolutely have to, I won't. Even when I absolutely have to, I'll be hesitant. I don't want to work a job I don't like.

 

And, when you really boil it down, my biggest problem is I have no personal projects to show off. Or, at least, none that are finished or in a state where they're worth showing off. I know that's hugely important, but I have a hard time staying motivated when I don't have someone to work WITH. If I had just one friend who regularly contributed, their work would motivate me, and vice versa. I know I'm good enough for most jobs I interview for, but hell if I can convince anyone!

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Sure, but it's hard to trust some random internet person to commit to something long-term when I can't even trust my real life years old friends. Hell, I don't even know if I'd trust me. U:

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my biggest problem is I have no personal projects to show off. Or, at least, none that are finished or in a state where they're worth showing off. I know that's hugely important, but I have a hard time staying motivated when I don't have someone to work WITH. If I had just one friend who regularly contributed, their work would motivate me, and vice versa. I know I'm good enough for most jobs I interview for, but hell if I can convince anyone!

 

I agree. Learning something is difficult without exterior motivation (at least for me). I want to learn Unity, but without a friend or a class I keep trailing off. If I had someone to study with it would probably stick but the trouble is finding people you trust with similar ambitions (especially at 19-20, when everyone I know is off starting their lives).

 

I imagine SF has a few game jams you should look out for? is that something you think would help?

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Have you been receiving unemployment, Twig? I got cut off after I went on emergency unemployment last month and cut off for the New Year since Congress decided not to continue that benefit. I'm wondering if you are in the same boat at this point.

 

I've been applying to retail jobs and crappy jobs all week but I'm worried everyone is either going to see me as overqualified, be confused by my resume, or just disqualify me because I was fired from my last job. Also I'm sure they will all suspect I'll quit their companies in a heartbeat should I be offered an artist or animator job again. I have an interview for some sort of position at a life insurance company on Monday but I have no clue what it is because they were super fucking vague on the phone. I'm also trying to go back to Kinko's, which was my job in college, but that's upsetting because it really points ou to me that I'm back to square one.

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I'm still on unemployment, fortunately. I don't know how it is elsewhere, but California seems to be pretty generous with its unemployment. Getting laid off as opposed to fired or even leaving on my own probably contributes to said generosity, but I don't really know all the grisly details. It'll run out in a few months, though! Eek.

 

Game jams are something I always tell myself I should be participating in, but I don't because I'm always worried about not being able to work fast enough. I'm way too self-conscious about most things. U:

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Just going to say it. Programming is great, it's fun, it's often challenging. More people should not do it.

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I'm still on unemployment, fortunately. I don't know how it is elsewhere, but California seems to be pretty generous with its unemployment. Getting laid off as opposed to fired or even leaving on my own probably contributes to said generosity, but I don't really know all the grisly details. It'll run out in a few months, though! Eek.

 

Game jams are something I always tell myself I should be participating in, but I don't because I'm always worried about not being able to work fast enough. I'm way too self-conscious about most things. U:

 

Are you kidding, it's some of the most fun I've ever had in my life! Staying up way late with other motivated people, high as shit on caffeine and adrenaline. Tweaking out on the last day because ohmygod it's the last day and what were we wasting all that time for oh shit oh shit why is it not working now fix it fix it! Then again I think imminent deadlines of doom are a just a great motivator for me. I've actually purposefully delayed papers in school until the last minute (or even after the deadline, like finishing it when class is starting) just to motivate myself and as an extra challenge.

 

But maybe that's just me. Still, everyone else I've worked with had a lot of fun on it too. Don't worry about "working fast enough" because honestly the entire point is that there's not enough time to do anything at all, if you have a quarter finished tech demo that can even run at the end of it you should be proud, because that's all anyone else has.

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I've done a 48 hour one, it wasn't so bad, but our game was pretty dumb. We did get together a few times after that to flesh it out, but it's been over six months since last we did that. Sucks because I would like to finish it.

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I always though I wanted to become a game developer as well, but there just weren't any in Estonia (besides some crap mobile game development, but it's probably better now) and I wasn't motivated enough to look for opportunities abroad. But anyway I've found that programming something else works for me as well, and pays well. I wasn't really happy with my previous jobs, though, until I found a company where I could work on products rather than information systems. It's funny that dev times can be even longer (well, infinite) than in the case of games (constantly improving a product) and sometimes you might have an idea you had 2 years ago finally implemented by someone else since you moved on to working on some other part. Occasionally it's very exciting stuff and there are also times when it's totally boring, but I'm happy so far (3 years).

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Taking jobs from a temp-agency can sometimes allow you to get your foot in the door.

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Maybe I should pick up Unity again. The problem is that most of my prior programming experience is from before object oriented programming, so I have a really hard time figuring out which variables are on what object, how to set access permissions, etc. Unfortunately, most tutorials just skip over that part because they figure that you'll just understand it.

 

Family sucks because they all think I'm like super smart just because I'm a programmer and don't realize that I'm competing against other programmers in this highly competitive job market and even if I was super smart (I'm not) I'm not super smarter than these other super smart people. I hate when my mom brings up my lack of a job and is like, "You'll be fine", and then acts all shocked and surprised when I'm pessimistic after months of not having a job.

DANG.

Visiting family sucks.

 

You should probably consider the possibility that you are in fact super smart and you're just applying in the same limited job pool as a lot of other super smart people.

 

Having the e-cig, plus my apartment complex's ban on smoking anywhere on the premises (even outside) helps.  I know realistically I've just swapped addictions from analogues to e-cigarette, but I feel like this gives me more flexibility to step down the nicotine until it's 100% psychological/behavioral addiction and 0 physical dependence.

 

I'm not a smoker (far from, I have asthma and I can't really tollerate the stuff) but it's really starting to piss me off how many anti-smoker rules are getting created these days. It doesn't seem to me that it's anyone's business as long as I'm not being forced to sit in a small room with it.

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I'm not a smoker (far from, I have asthma and I can't really tollerate the stuff) but it's really starting to piss me off how many anti-smoker rules are getting created these days. It doesn't seem to me that it's anyone's business as long as I'm not being forced to sit in a small room with it.

 

I am a smoker, and use to feel this way as well.  But I'm actually coming around to thinking all the rules are a good thing.  My sister-in-law is psychologist who specializes in treating addiction.  She's said that it is often harder to get someone to stop smoking, and stay quit, than it is to get someone off of much harder drugs.  Increasing the costs, both financial and social, of smoking means that it becomes easier and easier for people to quit.  And its hard to find a smoker who wants to be a smoker.  Most of us want to quit.

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You should probably consider the possibility that you are in fact super smart and you're just applying in the same limited job pool as a lot of other super smart people.

That doesn't make sense.

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I have been a substitute teacher for 6 hours. I have been on the "available" list for about 45 minutes, due to dealing with bureaucracy. I just got a call for a full-time job interview in a grade three class. Holy crap. If I get this job tomorrow, I will have gone my first full year of teaching only subbing for one day. This is crazy.

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Just now I had downloaded a PDF file in Chrome, and you know how that appears in a bar at the bottom of the browser? On its far right is the little X button that you use to click it away. Just as I wanted to remove it from my sight, Steam threw up a message that Toblix was playing Grand Theft Auto 4, covering the very spot. I was powerless against it. Steam, and by relation Toblix, had a complete stranglehold over my ability to click away the download bar. It felt like a procedural random event in a game, like FarCry 2, except so much worse because it was affecting me in real life and in the worst way. I'm so furious at Toblix right now.

 

He has again ruined my evening, as he has done many times before.

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That doesn't make sense.

 

There are a lot of morons out there. Just watch Honey Booboo or Duck Dynasty.

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I'm smarter than most people (he says in the most humble fashion imaginable), but I'm not smarter than most smart people. I've learned with them and worked with them, and I know I'm not as good as most of them. And my job prospects seem to back that up!

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Oh man, it seems that life insurance job I interviewed for was a total scam. I never actually applied to the place and they called me, but I figured I should go to the first "career meeting" just to see what's going on, and returned again to interview today. Such a waste of my time. This time when I got in, there were like 5 different recruiters in the next room reading the same script read to me on the phone, cold calling unqualified individuals. I had to wait 40 minutes for the guy to even let me in the office to interview and in the mean time the receptionist got a call asking if the company was a scam.

 

Interview didn't go much better. Instead of clearly answering what position I would be eligeable for since I was told so far that they "were hiring for a wide range of positions" and "managerial, not sales," I was told sales. Then the guy went in to some schpiel about how he made $118k a year and has never financed anything except for his mortgage. He then showed me his truck out the window and how it was paid for already. After that the guy went over how the job had no base pay and was on commission and then went over how last week he only made $400, but the week before he made $5000, as the branch's top salesman. Great, I guess. Then he started spouting about Dave Ramsey, which is an AM Right Wing radio host that my dad listens to. Yet another red flag.

 

I continuously asked what the job entails and how it pays and I was instead questioned back with things like, "Are you determined?" "Are you ready to work outside the box?" "You haven't been employed for a while, are you desperate yet?" He then asked me if this is how I usually spoke to people (I was just being polite and kind of chuckly), and he said I was too scared and had no fire lit under me. Then he said I wasn't right for the job, but I could prove him wrong because so many people have turned around selling insurance. This guy was nuts, I wanted out of there so bad. He then detailed some stupid plan where I pay $200 to get licensed and then take some kind of training courses online in the evenings and all weekends for four weeks while I go in to their office 8-5 on Monday through Friday to learn the ropes, also with no pay. I guess those weekly numbers he threw out earlier were so you'd think every week after your training you were going to hit it big or something. Also I was asked if I was married pretty soon in to it, which is not legal.

 

But then I got out of it with the fiancee excuse, because he wanted me to say yes to this job that instant, even after I told the guy I needed to think about it. Told him I'd discuss it with her after she got out of work at 6pm. And he was like, "well can you call her now?" "No, because she works at a vet and is constantly helping animals all day and can't answer phones." "Well is she on her lunch break, it's around 12 right now, call her now." Told him she went in early today so she was finished with her lunch break by now (which was true). Then he said he needed an answer today because he was going to be out the rest of the week. Still no, and then he said the training course wasn't going to happen again for two weeks so he needed to know now. I told him I could wait if needed, then the guy abruptly shook my hand and thanked me for my time. Sheesh.

 

I did a bit more research on the company and then found out they pretty much run a low wage employment scheme to screw over know nothings in the insurance industry to do cold calling. I personally get hesitant over any industry where your pay is dependent on commission, since you can sometimes end up making less than minimum wage, and it seems that's pretty much what was going on here. http://www.ripoffreport.com/r/Liberty-National-Life-Insurance-Company/Birmingham-Alabama/Liberty-National-Life-Insurance-Company-REVIEW-Customer-Satisfaction-Commitment-Liberty-219217#comment_5

 

What a bizarre thing.

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Holy shit I do not want to leave the house tomorrow. Holy shit its cold out, it's supposed to STAY cold out, and its snowing a fuckton.

Damn weather.

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