Questions for a 6th Grader's Career Research Paper!!!
Hoth_Skull
Texas Join Date: 2014-05-16 Member: 196064Members
Texas Join Date: 2014-05-16 Member: 196064Members
Hello! I am the mother of a 6th grade boy who is doing a research paper for school on a career that he is interested in. He chose Software Design/Graphic Design. He is supposed to interview one or more people in this field to get information to go along with other research he has done so he can write a paper. He LOVES this game so he wanted to chat here with anyone in this field who would like to take the time to answer any or all of his questions. Here are his questions:
1) What do you enjoy most about your job?
2) Where do you get your inspiration or ideas?
3) Has this career choice given you financial stability or job security? Can I support a family with this career?
4) If you were 11 again and knew your future in this field, what would you do differently to prepare?
5) What is the best school or the best major for this career? Someone told me that an art major would be better than a computer major.
6) Any other advice you would like to give me? Remember, I'm only 11...
Thanks so much for taking the time to respond. I really appreciate it.
1) What do you enjoy most about your job?
2) Where do you get your inspiration or ideas?
3) Has this career choice given you financial stability or job security? Can I support a family with this career?
4) If you were 11 again and knew your future in this field, what would you do differently to prepare?
5) What is the best school or the best major for this career? Someone told me that an art major would be better than a computer major.
6) Any other advice you would like to give me? Remember, I'm only 11...
Thanks so much for taking the time to respond. I really appreciate it.
Comments
1) What do you enjoy most about your job?
I get to make games! I get to think about games, work with people who love games, and really indulge what would otherwise be a serious hobby.
2) Where do you get your inspiration or ideas?
Everywhere. Whether it's technical or creative inspiration, you can get it from anywhere. Games, books, movies, the sciences, art museums, traveling, music, whatever. There is no limit to what you can be inspired by.
3) Has this career choice given you financial stability or job security? Can I support a family with this career?
Absolutely. As a programmer, job security is quite good in games and in software in general.
4) If you were 11 again and knew your future in this field, what would you do differently to prepare?
I would probably have spent more of my high school and college days making games
5) What is the best school or the best major for this career? Someone told me that an art major would be better than a computer major.
It totally depends on what you want to do. For programming, yeah I would recommend studying computer science at a good engineering school. Many people do learn this stuff on their own (John Carmack for example), but be honest with yourself: Most people need external structure and discipline to really make them learn something. The self-learners are relatively rare in the world. I can't speak for other disciplines.
6) Any other advice you would like to give me? Remember, I'm only 11...
Don't let what society thinks dictate your career path. If you like games and want to make them, and if it continues to be a viable career, do it. I wouldn't recommend you become an orchestra musician no matter how much you loved playing cello, because that is not a viable career path as far as I know (EDIT: I heard that from a friend who did play cello quite well, but her parents who were orchestral musicians themselves recommended against making a career out of it, so that's all the knowledge I have of that! I am no expert), but making games? Yeah, it's a healthy, exciting industry right now.
Also, don't take traditional professional roles too seriously. You don't have be "a programmer" or "a designer" or "an artist" or "a producer". You can have many interests in many things, although you should probably focus on one thing in particular (which will help you get hired). But there is no need to label and/or limit yourself - these are all artificial titles created out of convenience, so don't take them too seriously.
Orchestras tend to be rated in tiers. Cellists in top tier orchestras, like the New York Philharmonic, the Cleveland Orchestra or the San Francisco Symphony can earn a salary of up to $200,000 a year. The principal cellist in the orchestra might earn an even higher salary. Cellists for mid-tier orchestras, like the Columbus Symphony or Indianapolis Symphony, typically earn between $50,000 to $60,000 annually. Orchestral work is usually based on an eight-month season. If the ensemble plays during summer festivals, the musicians earn additional money.
The internet said it so it must be true!
That may be, but you have to get a job in an orchestra first...
Yup, this is actually pretty accurate. Certain orchestras are better and more prestigious than others (Vienna Phil, Frankfurt etc) and will 1. pay you well even if you are a low ranking player but they are also significantly harder to get into.
I don't think that striving to be a classical musician is actually a bad idea though as there are lots of low level jobs around the world which can lead to better jobs if you put the work in, and it is an incredibly skillful profession. Obviously, in any creative industry there are always more people trying to get jobs than there are jobs available but still...
That's because all humans are artists and working for a living is not part of our natural being. Working for the love it is what we should all be doing. The more of us trying, the better society will become.
Meh I had the chance... no cello though. Now it looks like I should a done it for that money... at the Columbus symphony.
Edit-back to thread
1) What do you enjoy most about your job?
I love how varied it is. Subnautica is not set on Earth, so there is huge potential for all manners of creatures you've never seen before. I get to bring them to life, and it's an amazing thing. I love doing Monsters or large creatures in general when animating, they're the most fun. (Especially Evil ones!)
2) Where do you get your inspiration or ideas?
I watch a LOT of wildlife documentaries and also a lot of YouTube. Making things move means you have to understand not just how they move under their skin, but also why they move. Learning about movement can teach you a lot about balance, social interaction and various other traits. It's fascinating!
3) Has this career choice given you financial stability or job security? Can I support a family with this career?
As an animator, you will often find permanent Studio jobs hard to come by. Most of the time, people in this field are freelance and go from job-to-job, city-to-city. Sometimes even to other countries. While you're young it's an amazing adventure and you learn a lot about yourself and life in general. Settling down can be done, but you really need to plan for it and have a partner who can also deal with this lifestyle.
4) If you were 11 again and knew your future in this field, what would you do differently to prepare?
I would say buy Apple stock. Then I would say do more drawing, and never stop. Then learn a musical instrument. Be creative, as much as possible.
5) What is the best school or the best major for this career? Someone told me that an art major would be better than a computer major.
I think it depends what you want to do. Making video games uses a lot of different people with different skills, from all sorts of backgrounds. If you want to make your OWN games, Computer Science is a class that would probably be recommended. The best Art school for 'animation' is debatable, but by the numbers, CAL Arts and Vancouver Film School tend to be the best and have a lot of different courses to suit a person's needs.
6) Any other advice you would like to give me? Remember, I'm only 11...
Dream big, work hard. Nothing is beyond your reach if you want it, and work hard enough.
Thanks again! Anyone else in the field is welcome to add to the discussion.
2) Watching people, then thinking lots
3) Yes
4) Study more maths
5) Anything: The important thing is to do it well. Animation, economics, English literature, physics, engineering, computer engineering, finance... And avoid courses/schools identifying themselves specifically as for 'games'
6) Study more maths
I'm going to answer these without reading my colleagues' answers, so I apologise if I cover the same ground, but it feels more honest this way.
1) What do you enjoy most about your job?
That I get to do something that I'm truly passionate about. I love video games, but I love making them even more! On top of that, it's really great that I get to choose for myself what I'm going to do every day (this isn't true of the whole industry, but it is true at UWE).
2) Where do you get your inspiration or ideas?
Absolutely everywhere. This universe is so rich with experience and knowledge that even our tiny corner of it has more interesting things happening than any one person could possibly learn. There's inspiration to be found in books, music, TV, movies, poetry, conversation or even just walking out of our front door. Seriously, even just wandering around outside for a couple of hours can be really inspirational. And don't forget that your phone almost certainly has a camera on it. Use it!
3) Has this career choice given you financial stability or job security? Can I support a family with this career?
Yes, but I also feel more secure that I have experience in web programming and graphic design to fall back on. Once your career has started, you can do well, but don't forget that this is a creative business, which means that there will always be more people who want a job than there are jobs available.
4) If you were 11 again and knew your future in this field, what would you do differently to prepare?
I'd tell myself not to worry about it too much. You're so young! Just try all sorts of different things. There are things I would tell my 18 or maybe even 16 year old self to do differently but at your age those things aren't important. Just make learning a priority. It doesn't matter so much what you learn, as long as you understand how important it is to have a thirst for knowledge.
5) What is the best school or the best major for this career? Someone told me that an art major would be better than a computer major.
I don't personally think that's true, but it really depends what you want to do in games. If you want to be the really technical guy who does all the programming that everyone else relies on, then you should definitely do some kind of computer major - something with lots of maths. Maths is really important for doing that kind of job.
Other than that, I don't think a university degree is that important for a job making games right now. There are some good schools of course, and there will probably be more when it's your time to look into higher education, but right now you don't need a degree in making games to be good at it (I don't have one, and I know lots of people who don't either).
You can learn so, so much by just spending your free time making your own games, with friends or by yourself. There are loads of free tools too, that make it really easy to quickly turn your ideas into real games, which is so cool.
6) Any other advice you would like to give me? Remember, I'm only 11...
Keep an open mind and a generous heart. Loads of people are going to try to make you believe things that are just so very wrong, but remember that the best thing you can always do is to stop, take a deep breath and really think it all the way through. Not enough people do that.
The best advice I ever got was this: if someone gives you a great opportunity, take it! Even if it isn't what you thought you wanted to do. Learning to make games could open the door to doing something weird and wonderful - maybe in a field that doesn't even exist yet! Just keep an open mind, and a generous heart.
Say : " I cant do like this as a child can do , Mistake and try is making our life great with unknow possibilty"
girls go crazy when you kiss and bite their necks
good luck son
you younguns need to tone down the energy some.
these old bones don't have the vim and vigor of youth any more.
so, try not to get upset if we're a bit grumpy now and again.