Career Advice

Arouge

Hi.
I'm a 25 year old college student who is about to fail out of college. I was trying to find something to do with my life there, and I feel like I failed. I was looking long before that too. I have a learning disability as well. It's been hard for me to get a job, and I don't have good enough memory for many out there.
The only thing I have ever felt passionate about is video games. But I've found I'm no programmer, writer, artist, or whatever.
I'm hoping that maybe someone knows of something that I can actually do with my passion?

Dorkman

Do you really want to turn video games into a job? I ask this because I have also been in the same situation as you (sans the failing out of college), and you really have to look at yourself and figure out if that is what you want to do.

If it is..do some research. Look at want ads for video game companies and see what kind of jobs they offer. Did you want to market them? How can you see yourself involved in the video game industry. What do you enjoy outside of video games? Are you good with money? If so work towards a finance degree and work in the back office of a video game company. It's a multi billion dollar industry, I am sure there is some position you could find that is obtainable with a goal.

Just keep plugging away. Just this year, after obtaining an accounting degree, I decided I want to work towards a Racing engineer. Will I ever be one? Who knows. But I am already taking steps towards my mechanical engineering tech degree at a local community college.

Sometimes, you just have to go for it.

Mugaaz

Whomever told people they should only do things they love really was doing a disservice to this generation. Most people don't love their job, if you really loved your job they wouldn't have to pay you to do it. I was like the OP in my early twenties and ended up dropping out. 3-5 years of working dead end jobs with no future in sight has a way of motivating people. You can choose to pursue video game jobs, but they are all long hours with horrible job security and usually horrible pay. The only people who get payed well to do something everybody enjoys doing are the people who are the best in that field, everyone else gets very little. On the other hand people who arent great at jobs with little competition tend to get payed fairly well.

My advice to the OP is find a field that offers good pay, hours, benefits, job security, and very little stress. Then use the pay, vacation/free time, and peace of mind that job affords you to pursue your hobbies. I strongly feel that if no one told you your supposed to love going to college and studying you'd find it easier to do. This is mostly a myth, most of the people whom I've met who truly enjoy working/studying 60hrs a week have personalities that have nothing in common with mine, so advice that applies to them probably doesn't apply to me or people like me.

I work hard and study hard because it is going to pay off financially and improve my lot in life. I don't enjoy it and don't have to. However, I don't hate it either. I don't loathe going to work or studying, and if you do that's something that's completely different.

I enjoy the money and security my job provides me because I like being able to not worry about bills, afford health insurance, and the ability to afford to pursue hobbies and purchase things that I want to buy.
Working hard in school and at your job enables this.

Jimmy King

1) Stop selling yourself short and giving up on yourself. You seem to have decided that you're not smart enough to do anything. You won't get anywhere with that attitude. You might have to worker harder at some, or even many things, than you others do, but hey, that's what it takes. We all have things we aren't good at, some more than others, and frequently we've got to just push through anyway.

2) What do you want to do? Why video games? Outside of programming and design related things, I'm guessing most careers in the video game industry aren't really any different than the same type of job working for the bank or power company or anywhere else.

3) Like Mugaaz said, it's not all about finding something you love. That's very rare. It's about finding something that provides enough reward to outweigh the bs so that you can enjoy your life overall. That could be something more rewarding and/or less stressful but also lower paying or something more stressful and higher paying. Where the balance is depends on what you want your life outside of work to be like and what you're willing to put up with to have it. I feel like I am one of the luckier people in the world with how much I like my job and there's still a lot of complete bullshit that I feel I shouldn't have to deal with. I've also told bosses here that I'm ready to take on more responsibility and possibly even work more hours... just as soon as they're ready to increase my pay enough to reduce the stress outside of work by allowing me to more easily fund house improvements, car repairs, and hobbies.

CelestialBadger

You could become a video game tester. But it's crap money and job security. People usually do it with a view to becoming designers or producers eventually. And remember you will likely be testing Spongebob games not Grand Theft Auto.

The advice in this thread is good. Get a steady job that allows you time and money to actually play games. After testing games 10 hours a day, you are more likely to hate them than anything else.

adytum

That's the ticket; resign yourself to a life of doing things you dislike so you can acquire materials goods!

Not that there's anything wrong with that, if it makes you happy. But, realize that most people never figure out what makes them happy.

Not having a college degree is going to really cripple your job prospects going forward.

Mugaaz

adytum wrote: »

That's the ticket; resign yourself to a life of doing things you dislike so you can acquire materials goods!

Not that there's anything wrong with that, if it makes you happy. But, realize that most people never figure out what makes them happy.

Not having a college degree is going to really cripple your job prospects going forward.

Even if you don't agree with what I said the bolded parts you do agree with result in the same conclusion (might as well work hard and get a degree / good job).

Usagi

OK, so is your passion creating video games or playing video games?

Because if it's the first, you may have to slog through some stuff that you find difficult (programming, editing, writing, etc.) before you suddenly find your niche.

If it's the second you may be someone who actually enjoys doing game testing, though I've heard it can be a rather unforgiving career path. Other options that include that sort of interface would be things like robotics or remote vehicle operation, like for the military's unmanned vehicles. Or look into jobs with the title keywords of "Operator" or "Technician", you might end up learning how to assemble and maintain electronics as well as how to operate them.

Forbe!

You know there are programs available for persons with learning disabilities at universities. Without knowledge of your particular disability, all I can say is:

Get over it. If you want to work entry level positions the rest of your life, without much hope of scaling the ladder, then continue on the path you're on. I say this in every one of these threads: You have to want it. If all you want to do is putz around on the internet all day and play games, then drop out and get a retail job. If you are fulfilled by that and feel like your meaning in life is to be a coach potato, then do it. If you want to do something in electronic entertainment, then here is the bad news, you probably need a degree in programming or lots of experience. Just because you are bad at a skill now doesn't mean you aren't able to learn it. My brother was piss poor at mathematics, but ended up pursuing a degree in it, and now he makes $45k a year as an IT tech for a regional corporation with plenty of room to move up.

You're able to post coherently on the internet, your disability can't be bad enough to the point where with adequate reinforcement and third party help you can't at least pass your classes/learn course material.

adytum

Mugaaz wrote: »

adytum wrote: »

That's the ticket; resign yourself to a life of doing things you dislike so you can acquire materials goods!

Not that there's anything wrong with that, if it makes you happy. But, realize that most people never figure out what makes them happy.

Not having a college degree is going to really cripple your job prospects going forward.

Even if you don't agree with what I said the bolded parts you do agree with result in the same conclusion (might as well work hard and get a degree / good job).

There's a happy medium between not going to college & working hard labor jobs the rest of your life and going to college and working a job you hate but that pays the bills.

You just have to find it! But until you do, college is probably the best place for one to be.

And like someone else said, any reputable college is going to have assistance for the disabled. There were people with major disabilities in my undergrad program; the school figured out a way for them to keep up with the work without diluting the program.

Funguy McAids

I always dreamed of working in the gaming industry. I made a ton of maps for doom and the unreal games, did some graphic work but nothing ever awesome at the time.

Then I took a chance and moved to China to teach english to kids since I was working at Kinko's and hating my job and career prospects, not having a clue how to break into games.

Turns out i'm a really good teacher and getting paid to play with kids is incredibly fun and stress free. Now i've grown a business, hired more staff and can see lots of room in the future for growth and financial security.

Moral of the story: try and find something that fits your personal skillset and you may find happiness and reward.

kaliyama

This thread warrants some exposition on a theory of the difference between a nerd, geek and dork. A nerd is a bit of a bright polymath, a geek is one with specialized technical aptitude or focused, deep interests. One could be a nerd and a Linux geek, or a spaceflight geek, etc. But a dork is just someone with shared interests as a nerd and no particular talent for anything or intellectual firepower. The classic definition of a cheetoh munching WoW playing retail wage slave who leverages technology as an emotional escape with none of the ciriositty or breadth of his nerd/geek cousins. A life of video game testing or slavish adherence to VGs as a playing experience would put you solidly in the sad category of dorkdom. Good video games just aren't edifying the same way a good literature and cinema are. As a creative exercise videogames may be a good outlet, but if you aren't creating them don't fixate on them. The repetiive task based nature of games offers an easy but hollow sense of fulfillment especially if the rest of your life hasn't come together yet. Your best bet is develop hobbies and live life away from the computer, not wallow in video games.