Interview by Janet Scarborough
with Jacob Metcalf, Graphic Designer / Multimedia Developer, Military
Contractor, Local Navy Base
What do you do?
I work for a military subcontractor to the U.S. Navy. My
primary job is to develop interactive learning CDs for U.S. Navy instructional
programs. I also do graphic design, development of Flash exercises
for instructors, and translation of technical manuals to make them more
understandable.
How did you find your
job?
After being laid off from my dot com job, I was
unemployed for two months. I was starting to think I would
join the Navy for three years and then go back to school. Fifteen
minutes before my scheduled meeting with a Navy recruiter, I got
a call from a hiring manager about this job. The manager
had heard about me from a student I taught at a Flashgrrls class. All
my students knew I was job hunting and one of them met a hiring
manager who told her that his company was looking for someone with
my exact qualifications. They called me on a Wednesday, interviewed
me on Thursday, asked me to sign paperwork on Friday, and I started
on Monday.
What do you like best
about your job?
They really need my skills, which feels
good. There is much more stability than with my previous
dot com job, and I'm paid better. I also have had the opportunity
to learn new things. I was hired as a Flash expert but then
I was given three weeks to learn Director and now I am the in-house
expert. I'm adaptable, which is important for this position.
Also, designing for a CD
rom is fun. The fastest DSL line is slower than the slowest CD
rom. You can show a lot of graphics quickly. It is like
going from a tricycle to a Harley.
What is most challenging
about your job?
There is a lot of paperwork. For
instance, four different managers have to sign off on overtime. Yet
the deadlines don't change just because you can't work overtime. Learning
the subject matter can be difficult, as can working on something
where the technical documentation is not finished yet. Transitioning
from a dot com to a highly structured environment was a bit of
a culture shock. My father was an engineer at Hanford for
35 years, though, and my step-father is an ex-Navy man, so I did
have some familiarity with this environment.
What are important
skills to have to do well in your job?
Ability to do
information design is important. You also have to love the
work and be extremely detail-oriented. A traditional art
school education enriches your professional experience, because
knowing AutoCAD doesn't make you an architect, and knowing PhotoShop
and HTML doesn't make you a graphic designer. Other essential
abilities are abstract thinking and the capacity to focus on something
for eight hours at a time and then think about it even when you
aren't at work.
Work ethic is probably more
important than skills set, though.
What things should
people know who are considering this career?
I am no
longer doing design for the Web, but for those graphic designers
who are interested in taking the Web-based career route, people
should know that Web design is not the same when it is how you
make your living as it is when it is just your hobby. Being
able to make a Web page is akin to using a typewriter, which isn't
much. You have to know how to work within a professional
environment and you have to be able to meet deadlines. You
also have to be able to deal with criticism. It is a total
misperception that this work is easy and that anyone can do it. It
requires constant learning because everything changes constantly. Two
good sources of information are
Print
and
AIGA
(American Institute for Graphic Arts).
I believe that the demand
for graphic designers will increase, but the demand will come from
traditional companies rather than dot coms.
What is the income
potential in your field?
Speaking in pre-crash numbers,
at the entry level, you can earn $18-25/hr temping and $25-35K/yr
+ benefits if permanent. After 2-5 years, you will probably
earn $35-50K/yr. After 5 years, you will probably earn $50-80K
if you are an Art Director. If you work for a graphic design
firm, you can make 20% more. Post-crash, employers are probably
paying 20% less than these figures because supply of candidates
exceeds demand.
What was your background
before starting at this job?
In the second grade, I
was using MacPaint and MacDraw. I graduated from the School
of Visual Design at the Art Institute of Seattle. My major
was computer animation. I was originally interested in making
video games, but trying to do that right out of school is like
saying you want to be a rock star when you are a beginner musician. I
worked at LPD Laser making multimedia laser shows, and I learned
Flash, which is why I got my previous job at the dot com. Total,
I've been in computer graphics for 16 years.
Since you successfully
found new employment after being laid off from a dot com, do you
have any career advice for other laid off dot commers?
Reduce
your spending as it might take some time to find a new job. Pursue
positions in print production or more traditional fields. It
may take until 2003 for the high tech industry to recover, but
I think it will come back stronger than ever. The only people
who will be marketable are those with very solid skills.
What are your long-term
career goals?
I would love to stay on my current team
until I retire and I am given a gold watch. In the meantime,
I am going to keep my skills current and focus on learning more
about usability and interface design.
Other
In
addition to working full time, Jacob occasionally lectures on Web design
and animation at a local community college.
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