They didn’t fly. Still aren’t flying. Not that I didn’t try. But I don’t care. I’m no longer there.
June came & went. Came & went again.
So I didn’t check back.
The recruiters started calling me in Jan. '15. The first one, on my birthday, was a 6mo contract gig. I should have taken it. A couple out-of-the-cube phone calls a month were taken. Several “dentist appointments” happened.
I kept working on personal projects.
In October of last year I bought a general admission ticket to the local “round A” startup pitch event that I actually pitched at a couple years ago (project still in progress). Figured I needed to get out of the routine of Lameness I was in. I was fired at the end of that same month.
I only wish I hadn’t acted so defeated. I should have been like; Cool! Welp, I know where the door is!
Through a connection I landed an interview at a company in town that does some “product design”. I’ve known about them for a while, but through the connection I gathered that they didn’t pay that well and it wasn’t a lot better than where I was at. The interview went OK, but they admitted at the time that they weren’t ready for a full time IDer yet, but they were pretty sure they would be needing one “in the near future”. OK…
At the pitch event I spoke with one of the finalists and advised him on what software he should use. The following week he was asking me when I could get started. I don’t even recall pitching my services, but maybe I did. I guess at the very least I sounded like an expert (thanks two free drinks).
I’ve come to realize that, as a designer, you have to have some kind of a fallback plan. For some it’s waiting or bartending. The guy that quit a couple years before I was let go was a line cook. My other coworker who quit one year before took a job in a grocery store deli. Fortunately, my brothers do landscaping work. I love being outside and there’s a certain zen to mowing grass and setting patio stones. Working with family has it’s own set of issues, but at least I know what I’m up against. Unemployment checks help, but for how long?
The startup work has finally begun, so that’s pretty cool. It does feel kinda badass writing contracts n sht! It’s not a lot at first, but could certainly develop into pretty consistent work for a year or two anyway. Of course, now I’m going to have to have an accountant & lawyer on retainer & all that great stuff. Cool sht?
Against my better judgement I started using one of these pay-to-play bidding websites. Yes, it’s slimy, but I thought I’d give it a shot. To my surprise, I’ve actually gotten a couple paying gigs out of it with a couple more, bigger, cooler projects in the works. I dunno. Whatever. If they fall through I’ll probably burn off the rest of my credits and focus on more personal networking.
A couple weeks ago I got called up about a second interview at “product design”. I had seen the ad for “Graphic Designer” but hesitated because I didn’t want to get trapped in Photoshop & Illustrator for God knows how long. It was basically the same interview but different, since it was a slightly different position. The interviewer (SVP) could tell I was enjoying my independence a little too much. Basically I’d be doing graphics for packaging & products with an ID project crammed in between every month or so. Sounds great right…?
They’ve been calling my references, so I guess I’m on the short list.
The problem is, now I’ve got 2-3 freelance/contract ID clients that are counting on me to get work done. It’s not like I can realistically do this stuff on nights & weekends. I mean I probably could, but… ugh.
So I’m thinking about pitching doing contract ID work for them whenever they need it. There are a lot of plusses. I’m 5min down the road. I could come in and work in the office if need be, even if for a “kickoff meeting” (old place term - I don’t know what real ones are called). I would get to do work for them and keep my current clients happy. They wouldn’t have all the overhead & baggage of a full time employee (not so great for me) and I wouldn’t be stuck doing monotonous packaging graphics 90% of the time. They would get to see if they think they need a real IDer (they do) or not, and I would get some consistent contract work (at least until they realize they don’t need me or like what I’m doing for them. Then I don’t have to get fired, just unceremoniously excommunicated, if that’s any better. And a friend pointed out that it makes me look sort-of like a badass and not quite as desperate, if it looks like I have other awesome stuff going on and gives me a little bargaining power, if only hypothetically. If I can pull it off without being a weirdo, which is hard for me.
At least it sounds totally kickass in my head.
Also in my head there is a decent chance they will balk and say they “need to have someone there full time to be a part of the corporate culture” & all that kind of malarky. Then my chances of getting an offer go WAY down. But all their ID now is done by crude CAD work done in house by the self taught CNC tech, and whatever factory they’re working with in China. So why wouldn’t they go for it, right?
So I wrote all this because I know you guys have been sitting around in your spare time desperately wondering whatever happened to me 
I don’t know that I’m looking for advice or comments or anything, just. You know, internet therapy.
You guys are great.