posted
So, TMO, the British Film Industry is dying - it's really on it's last legs at the moment - the model that has existed for some time of high budget films serving the few, mid budget serving for a living, and low budget for cutting ones technical teeth has been replaced by the rather fun model of high budget films serving the very very few or hiring from over seas, or shooting over seas, and the micro-budget, serving as an extension of film school in terms of organisation and little better than signing on (minimum wage is a godsend on these jobs!).
It was fun while it lasted, but I simply cannot afford to go on like this - I haven't done a job of note since last July, and I'm in the process of starting to start a family. I'm lucky that I have some transferrable skills, and now need to find a new job.
My options are, make do for a year or so in some new job, and then move over to the states and try film again. Start a teaching GTP for a year, add another string to my bow, and see where that leads, or just get a job and start making the most of it.
Anyway, TMO - what, if any, is the big change that's facing you at the moment? What would you want to alter? Is compromise quitting, or being grown up.
And so on....
-------------------- If Chuck Norris is late, time better slow the fuck down Posts: 2740
| IP: Logged
posted
I wouldn't say that compromise is quitting at all. It's what the very best people do, don't you know. I think they call it "diversifying" or something.
When I swapped from telecom engineer to web developer I was lucky enough to do it with the same employer and with an element of morphing between the two, by developing a couple of web sites while I was still officially fixing phone lines. So I didn't have to take a pay cut or anything. You might not have that luxury by the sound of it.
Posts: 8467
| IP: Logged
posted
If anything, I'd be getting a pay rise - it's great fun to do a job where nine out of ten phone calls either say "there's not much money in it" or "can you work for nothing on this one?" - just the other day I got a call from someone asking if I could do 5 days for free, and when I pointed out that I still had an outstanding invoice from a year ago with them, they made it sound very much like I might expect to have that paid if I did these 5 days.
It's not good for one's self esteem/spirit/feelings etc etc etc
-------------------- If Chuck Norris is late, time better slow the fuck down Posts: 2740
| IP: Logged
posted
I guess its all down to what you love doing, and realising what is truly important - something I have been faced with just recentley. A couple of weeks ago I went to Norway to see some friends of mine who are in a band (the rather excellent Electric Eel Shock) - three days, three gigs - I went up there to do some photography - the fun of the pit. But I know there is no money in photography, unless your name is Rankin of course, but I realised it was more than that that I love about it all - it is the whole touring thing. Yep its bloody hard work, physically draining and all but started to realise it is what I would like to do.
EES were in Holland/Belgium the last few days, and again I got to go out on tour with them again, but this time working properly - only merchandising sales and general crewing, but it just drives home more and more that it is what I need to do to be happy. It means throwing away a 20 year career and a 6 figure salary for probable poverty, forgetting what a bed feels like and living in a bus/van for weeks at a time that stinks of farts, but damn it to exchange sitting in an office while musak plays on a colleague's radio, having to be up at 5am and most days commuting instead of say last night, getting to bed around 5 am after being in another country, drinking with the bass player from 'A' and joking with Jared from the Bloodhound Gang, working alongside my gorgeous merchmaid Esther with her magical constant pant, being onstage at sound check singing sabbath and van halen songs and then singing 'fisting horses' all the way to Gent, flirting outrageously with a multitude of lovely ladies and all the time with a free beer in my hand, and all the while listening to some fantastic music and with a permanent shit-eating grin on my face.
posted
Ugh! I went permanent today. You remember when I announced I was being offered a permanent role? Well two months on and I have it. It's been a totally predictable fuckup from start to finish. An absolute shambles. Upon receiving notification that we were permanent today (as mentioned on Friday) I called up to ask them to actually confirm the wage, which is 4k lower than they offered. My boss (thrice removed) was quite cool about it: "Ah, ok if that's what we said we'll take your word for it, look into it, see what we can do etc" but my direct line manager asked me today to confirm any mistakes I had noted in the contract. All if would have taken was half an hour of his time to ask us enough questions, but instead, we have a contract that doesn't confirm the correct management structure, the wrong wage, the wrong hours and can you believe, an entirely fictional address for the building we work in. I've worked for the company officially for three hours now and I'm already rubbing my temples with my forefingers and frantically trying to sort all this out. They want to move us as well, even though they don't have the space or direct links to the phone system. I have the feeling they'll make us change phone systems, so that basically, we won't be on the same phone systems as our call centres - the people we receive the most calls from on a daily basis. What will happen, I'm convinced is that they will put us onto the call system with another team and get us working on both desks, taking calls from everyone, and having someone pass the calls from India, straight to us. That isn't going to work though. As soon as something fucks up, you know, like a server goes down for our million strong customer base, they'll be stuck in a 20 minute queue and then have to wait for one of the team to finish up a call before they are passed through. I'm watching my department get slowly ass-fucked. Still. I've been here 8 months, so I'll probably do another 4 then start looking to move over to a smaller, sensible company. That's a terrible thing to say in your first day of employment, but there you go.
posted
This week I am going to take BIG STEPS into sorting the "career" part of my wretched life out, starting with finding out if I am technically eligible to study to be a vet. But probably not today as I'm quite busy, and cold and tired.
Mikey, did you have anything in writing from HR about your salary? I don't think I've ever started a job without written confirmation.
ETA: good luck with career changes, all. Waynester, do you have the kind of job where you could do a few months per year freelance/consultant/temp and then spend the rest taking pics of hairy musicians on the lash?
-------------------- What I object to is the colour of some of these wheelie bins and where they are left, in some areas outside all week in the front garden. Posts: 4941
| IP: Logged
quote:Originally posted by Vogon Poetess: Waynester, do you have the kind of job where you could do a few months per year freelance/consultant/temp and then spend the rest taking pics of hairy musicians on the lash?
I do work now as a freelancer, and I guess that if the worst came to it I could go back and do a few months here and there - its something I have considered and it will always be there as a fallback option. Trouble is this contract is until the end of the year and I really am itching to get started as soon as possible.
Worst comes to it as well, between this contract and getting a road job I can go on the dole, which in Holland is pro-rata to what you pay in, meaning I can get quite a tidy sum of cash whilst trying to get a job.
quote:Originally posted by New Way Of Decay: That's a terrible thing to say in your first day of employment, but there you go.
Have to say, though, the honest approach could be said to be refreshing. At least they're making no attempt to present the company's clusterfuckedness as anything else. Take my current company for example. I started as a contract employee and then came on full time about six months later, but didn't realize how completely and utterly dysfunctional the company was until some time later. Contrast even that against the experience being given to the few new people being brought in to the group over the past few weeks, who have been getting the fucking royal treatment, schedules of getting-to-know-you meetings with every department in the company, people arranged to take them to lunch every day for their first two weeks, and a set of comprehensive documentation outlining benefits, how to find important things on the company intranet, etc etc. None of which, I note, were done for me when I was hired; by contrast, it was here's your desk, if you need anything i'll be working from home for the next month or so, i'm sure you'll figure it all out.
-------------------- Give 'em .0139 fathoms and they'll take 80 chains. Posts: 3201
| IP: Logged
posted
Yeah, it's all a bit odd, that. When I travelled up to Warrington my manager was getting all hot under the collar because I was late. It was kind of difficult to be on time though, what with him asking me to attend the day without actually supplying me with a train ticket, giving me a place to meet him or telling me which platform to be on. I just had to 'show up' He was gutted, you see because he'd bought saver tickets and had to transfer them. This is a company that has a retail store on every London street corner and in every town and he booked a set of cheap seats. On the way back, he was chatting up a manager from another team but she had tickets for first class, so their conversation was cut short.
posted
big change is that I'm going to be a motherfucking homeowner. A homeowner who works for a boring multinational. With a steady girl. I'm so fucking establishment. Today I'm wearing grey trousers, a white EZ-IRN shirt, and I've got a side parting. I look / am about as uninspired and drone like as you could imagine. Somewhere along the line I lost the will to make a difference. Even if it was just a difference for myself. My hobby is playing computer games. I'm trying to eat sensibly. I'm not even gripped by intense fits of depression and self-destruction any more. I'm a freakin failure.
[ 20.03.2007, 11:26: Message edited by: Jimmy Big Nuts ]
Posts: 4376
| IP: Logged
I'm going to have to take a year out after next year in order to retrain because I couldn't work the part-time training option out with my current work. So once I've got the house sorted I'll give myself a bit of a break and then start saving like crazy to part-finance my year out.
I'm looking forward to everything but the short-term deprivation.
-------------------- Some people stand in the darkness, afraid to step into the light... Posts: 3770
| IP: Logged
posted
I am an absolute and total sell-out these days now I'm in management, and I dress the part, kind of kidding myself that I'm doing it as a role-play and wearing a "costume" (not entirely delusional, as nobody else dresses corporate except me, so it's voluntary rather than obligatory). However, as I can't think of anything much I am interested in writing about academically anymore, I am going to devote my 30 days "research" time (Jul 15 - Aug 15) mostly to getting my latest novel almost finished. I might do a short article on the side, just for show, but in my head I'm prioritising fiction now rather than academia. So, while I'm obviously keeping my day job, especially now it pays shitloads (well, by my standards: I was on £5k a year until 1999), I think of that as a secondary career shift.
-------------------- pudgy little saucepot Posts: 738
| IP: Logged
wonderstarr, is your performance not reviewed on the quantity and quality (top rated journals) of your annual publications? They are quite strict on that here. One of the academics here was talking about how he estimates that 50% of his PhD students never really leave that topic for the rest of their career- that does sound pretty limiting.
-------------------- What I object to is the colour of some of these wheelie bins and where they are left, in some areas outside all week in the front garden. Posts: 4941
| IP: Logged
posted
It is, VP, but I've done so much over the last five years that I'm in everyone's good books for the forthcoming RAE, and apparently the RAE system is being modified or abandoned after the next one. Yeah, I'll have to write four more articles in prestigious journals by 2013 or something, but I think I can manage that.
-------------------- pudgy little saucepot Posts: 738
| IP: Logged
posted
I'm only really about to enter the big wide world of carears. I have about a month and a half left on my undergraduate degree course so should probably start actually applying for jobs.
Im looking to go into the world of radio, since the second year of my media production course iv been speciallizing in radio production so i'm most qualifyed for this over any other aspect of the media industry.
I'm hoping my experiance with the community radio station based at my university over the last 3 years (iv gradually worked way up from show presenter to head of features to asistant program controller to program controller) will give me a good chance.
currently the station manager is the only paid person on the station, everyone else is volunteer but they are about to create a new assistent station manager position so will apply for this and hope for the best.
Posts: 520
| IP: Logged
posted
I can't get my head round the fact that it's not even two years since I left journalism. So much has changed since then - three different homes, two different jobs in two different cities - it floors me to think how fast it's all happened. So it kind of feels like the dust is settling after a massive, extended upheaval; like the change has just finished happening and I can try a new life.
Like WoStarr and JiBiNu I feel a bit more... er... sell-outy in my current job. I was marvelling the other day at what I used to get away with years ago - three hour lunch breaks, going to the cinema or the pub all day instead of going back to the office after a press event, the ridiculous drinking and abuse of other industry professionals. I kind of miss that attitude; like I wouldn't have the guts to try anything like that these days. Mind you, I don't miss the persistent paranoia and perpetual sense of impending doom.
-------------------- Now that you've called me by name? Posts: 2007
| IP: Logged
posted
I feel I'm at that point where my life could really change depending on the decisions I make over the next couple of months. I don't like it. I don't make good decisions.
-------------------- What I object to is the colour of some of these wheelie bins and where they are left, in some areas outside all week in the front garden. Posts: 4941
| IP: Logged
posted
Meeting my mother at the weekend was a little bit exciting. As she entered the house we were all looking at each other intensely. Everyone was smiling and my Nan's husband said to my Mum 'oooh, haven't you got chubby, Lynne?'
Anyway, I've started to care less about my family being proud of any of my achievements or financial success. In fact, when driving back to the station last night my Nan said to me 'It was really nice to have you here this weekend' and my Mum said 'yes, Mike's a great kid to be around'
quote:Originally posted by Jimmy Big Nuts: is Hades phil_haw? did that happen? Or is that imagined?
Correct. Although I thought everyone already knew that.
Was it my terrible use of spelling and grammar that reminded you?
In 6th form I used that to my advantage, once I was tested and declared mildly dyslexic they gave me extra time in exams which was very helpful. At uni however I was incredibly lazy and never applied for the stuff (I figured i didn’t have exams so what was the point)Its only in my 3rd year i found out the uni would have given me a free computer. Posts: 520
| IP: Logged
quote:Originally posted by Jimmy Big Nuts: your spelling is much better than it used to be, fella.
Well glad to see my university degree has had some positive effect then.
quote:Originally posted by wonderstarr: I can't believe "Phil Haw" cynically improved his spelling and grammar to construct a new "persona" and trick people on here.
Yep. I’m a right bastard me. On a side note I love the fact that I can quote parts of a chapter in a book by you in my dissertation that itself has a quote from me posting on Seethru when I was 15 in it.
I'm trying to justify to myself a way of including that quote by me in the dissertation. Posts: 520
| IP: Logged
![[Wink]](wink.gif)
![[Roll Eyes]](rolleyes.gif)
![[Mad]](mad.gif)
![[Big Grin]](biggrin.gif)
Printer-friendly view of this topic