The Best Jerbs in the World

[Zelig]

It's not a lottery. It requires intelligence and creativity, but it rewards well for that. Bonus points for being the dream occupation of many people.


Perhaps you are one of those who think that working for a studio is safe and that you can never be successful by being independent?

I think the video game industry is a terrible place to work, nobody is safe.

 

[Ajidica]

While not my dream job, I would have loved to be a Pan-Am pilot in the 60's and 70's. It just seems so full of glamor and exoticism.

 

[LamaGT]

I think the video game industry is a terrible place to work, nobody is safe.

Yeah well, if your choice of place to work is based on security you're doing things wrong. I suppose you did at least analyze the field to come up with that judgement? What do you do now?

 

[hobbsyoyo]

Who are you to look down on someone valuing job security above all else? Some people really do put ironclad job security as there number one criteria for a dream job. Given the employment situation in the US, I can't fault them.

There are very few 'sure thing' jobs remaining, we have much looser employment laws in the US than in the EU. You can be fired at any moment for any reason in the majority of jobs in many states in the US.

 

[Zelig]

Yeah well, if your choice of place to work is based on security you're doing things wrong. I suppose you did at least analyze the field to come up with that judgement? What do you do now?

It's not just the job security, it's combined with lower pay, longer hours, less flexibility, and less work that I consider useful to society than software jobs outside of the gaming industry.

I'm in software and have had opportunities to work on game-related projects a few times, but won't ever touch gaming.

 

[Cutlass]

While not my dream job, I would have loved to be a Pan-Am pilot in the 60's and 70's. It just seems so full of glamor and exoticism.

And bimbo stewardesses.

 

[LamaGT]

Who are you to look down on someone valuing job security above all else? Some people really do put ironclad job security as there number one criteria for a dream job. Given the employment situation in the US, I can't fault them.

There are very few 'sure thing' jobs remaining, we have much looser employment laws in the US than in the EU. You can be fired at any moment for any reason in the majority of jobs in many states in the US.

Sorry, I meant basing on security the dream job choice, I didn't want to offend those who seek a safe job.
Now, of course a "secure" job is valuable, but how far should you go for it? Would you apply for a job at a McDonalds that was 100% safe? Wouldn't you prefer a 50% safe job that would be closer to what you like doing?

It's not just the job security, it's combined with lower pay, longer hours, less flexibility, and less work that I consider useful to society than software jobs outside of the gaming industry.

I'm in software and have had opportunities to work on game-related projects a few times, but won't ever touch gaming.

Yeah except that being independent is different. You work how much you want, when you want and your pay depends on your skill, not the hours you've put into working. On the whole I'd say you're still safer than the average wage worker in this field.

 

[Zelig]

Yeah except that being independent is different. You work how much you want, when you want and your pay depends on your skill, not the hours you've put into working. On the whole I'd say you're still safer than the average wage worker in this field.

If you're independent what you're paid depends on whether you win the popularity lottery.

 

[hobbsyoyo]

Well LamaGT, I can't answer your question as everyone thinks about the issue differently. I certainly don't value job security in the way a prospective teacher or public servant might. But I still feel as though there may be some misunderstanding about how job security works here - there is no 100% safe McDonald's jobs.

I know you meant it as an exaggeration to make a point, but I just have to raise that counterpoint to illustrate how very few jobs have any kind of security here compared to the EU. So I think that puts the issue of job security as criteria for a dream job in a different light here, but as you alluded to with your opening sentence, I think we're talking about different things.

I felt the need to elaborate mostly because postcount.

 

[AlpsStranger]

Dream job?

Hrm.

Ex president. ( NOT current president, oh God no ) If there were some way to become an ex president without actually being president it would be perfect.

Wait, did I just describe Hillary Clinton?

 

[LamaGT]

If you're independent what you're paid depends on whether you win the popularity lottery.

It's not a lottery, it depends on how good you are at making games and how good you are at distributing them. If you try to promote a boring and unappealing game it's no wonder you get no money. If you make a good game and don't bother to do anything to promote it, it's again no wonder you get no money.
If you honestly believe you have good ideas then go for it. Don't take the defeatist approach, that has led anywhere exactly 0 people (I'm not necessarily referring to you, you could be just not interested for all I know).

Well LamaGT, I can't answer your question as everyone thinks about the issue differently. I certainly don't value job security in the way a prospective teacher or public servant might. But I still feel as though there may be some misunderstanding about how job security works here - there is no 100% safe McDonald's jobs.

I know you meant it as an exaggeration to make a point, but I just have to raise that counterpoint to illustrate how very few jobs have any kind of security here compared to the EU. So I think that puts the issue of job security as criteria for a dream job in a different light here, but as you alluded to with your opening sentence, I think we're talking about different things.

I felt the need to elaborate mostly because postcount.

I perfectly realize that there is no 100% safe job, but I think this is just one more reason not to base your choice on safety (but anyway, what do you define as job safety? Health of the firm? Long-term contracts?)

 

[Zelig]

It's not a lottery, it depends on how good you are at making games and how good you are at distributing them. If you try to promote a boring and unappealing game it's no wonder you get no money. If you make a good game and don't bother to do anything to promote it, it's again no wonder you get no money.
If you honestly believe you have good ideas then go for it. Don't take the defeatist approach, that has led anywhere exactly 0 people (I'm not necessarily referring to you, you could be just not interested for all I know).

It very much is a lottery, there have been many exceptional games with well-executed business plans that have led to financial failure.

I'm not necessarily advising against it, I'm just explaining why I'm not interested. As a developer, if I really wanted to make game(s), I could survive on ~10 hours/week of contract work and devote the rest of my time to my own projects, but at some point I'd have to face reality and get a "real" job. (And really, if I were going to work on my own projects, I've got better ideas than games - the only stuff I'm really interested in doing are subscription services for businesses.)

I perfectly realize that there is no 100% safe job, but I think this is just one more reason not to base your choice on safety (but anyway, what do you define as job safety? Health of the firm? Long-term contracts?)

Well layoffs at the end of projects are the norm in the game industry - even if you're a programming wizard and won't have any trouble landing a new job, odds are still good that you're going to have to regularly deal with job hunting and moving to new employers, and all the associated hassles.

 

[LamaGT]

It very much is a lottery, there have been many exceptional games with well-executed business plans that have led to financial failure.

I'm not necessarily advising against it, I'm just explaining why I'm not interested. As a developer, if I really wanted to make game(s), I could survive on ~10 hours/week of contract work and devote the rest of my time to my own projects, but at some point I'd have to face reality and get a "real" job. (And really, if I were going to work on my own projects, I've got better ideas than games - the only stuff I'm really interested in doing are subscription services for businesses.)

Any example of such games?

 

[Valka D'Ur]

Canadian Senator.

Lifetime appointment (well, until 75 anyway). Have to show up a minimum of once every 2 years. In addition to your 6 figure salary, you're given a housing allowance here in Ottawa and travel is covered.

Telling y'all, my suggestion of the Canadian Senate beats everything posted thus far.

Bonus points: technically, you don't even need to be Canadian to be appointed. Double bonus, the PM can come from the Senate, so you could be PM of Canada without being Canadian, technically. But that sounds like a tiresome job compared to a Senator.

I've thought about what my life might be like if I were ever appointed to the Senate. And then I realized it wouldn't ever happen. 'Cause the people who get appointed there have to already have spent years kowtowing to, and doing dirty work for, the current PM. And chances are they are terrible people that most decent people wouldn't want to know - prime example being Mike Duffy. He's the one being investigated for not really living in PEI, even though he's been accepting his Ottawa living allowance and pretending that he lives in PEI. He's a Harper crony from way back... and the most awful thing I ever saw him do was harass Margaret Trudeau while she was at Pierre Trudeau's public memorial on Parliament Hill. She was looking at all the flowers, cards, canoe paddles, etc., when he came up to her, stuck a mic in her face, and reminded her that it was the anniversary of her youngest son's death (Micha, who died in an avalanche and whose body has never been recovered). When she started to cry and ran off to be alone and recover her composure, Duffy chased after her (as fast as he could waddle) and called for her to "come back"...

What a <censored> jerk. There is No. Way. In. Hell. I would ever serve under the same roof with him.

Contre, you forgot to mention that a Senator doesn't even have to be in his/her sound mind. Whats-'er-name sat for years after she was diagnosed with Alzheimers. And Brazeau, the one recently charged with sexual assault, doesn't have to give up his seat either - provided he doesn't go to jail for more than 2 years. So you can even be a convicted criminal and sit in the Senate (of course there are quite a number of them who should have been convicted, but weren't).

It may be a cushy job... but it costs too much self-respect to get it.

 

[emzie]

I've thought about what my life might be like if I were ever appointed to the Senate. And then I realized it wouldn't ever happen. 'Cause the people who get appointed there have to already have spent years kowtowing to, and doing dirty work for, the current PM. And chances are they are terrible people that most decent people wouldn't want to know - prime example being Mike Duffy. He's the one being investigated for not really living in PEI, even though he's been accepting his Ottawa living allowance and pretending that he lives in PEI. He's a Harper crony from way back... and the most awful thing I ever saw him do was harass Margaret Trudeau while she was at Pierre Trudeau's public memorial on Parliament Hill. She was looking at all the flowers, cards, canoe paddles, etc., when he came up to her, stuck a mic in her face, and reminded her that it was the anniversary of her youngest son's death (Micha, who died in an avalanche and whose body has never been recovered). When she started to cry and ran off to be alone and recover her composure, Duffy chased after her (as fast as he could waddle) and called for her to "come back"...

What a <censored> jerk. There is No. Way. In. Hell. I would ever serve under the same roof with him.

Contre, you forgot to mention that a Senator doesn't even have to be in his/her sound mind. Whats-'er-name sat for years after she was diagnosed with Alzheimers. And Brazeau, the one recently charged with sexual assault, doesn't have to give up his seat either - provided he doesn't go to jail for more than 2 years. So you can even be a convicted criminal and sit in the Senate (of course there are quite a number of them who should have been convicted, but weren't).

It may be a cushy job... but it costs too much self-respect to get it.

We're talking about the job, not the dirty handjobs you had to do to get it!

 

[Valka D'Ur]

So you would take a job even though the process to get it may be soul-destroying and cost you your self-respect?

 

[LamaGT]

So you would take a job even though the process to get it may be soul-destroying and cost you your self-respect?

In a world where it's possible to become ex-president without being president first, why not!

 

[emzie]

So you would take a job even though the process to get it may be soul-destroying and cost you your self-respect?

Political backroom garroting isn't something I could ever do in the first place, so I couldn't lose respect for myself over not doing it. There's other paths to the Senate though. If David Suzuki* were younger, I could have imagined him being appointed by someone who is not from the Reform Party -- actually, strike the strike let's call a spade a spade.

*not a fan, but whatever

 

[Zelig]

Any example of such games?

Good indie games that you've never heard of, or good bigger-budget games which were released immediately followed by the developer going out of business?

 

[emzie]

Minecraft springs to mind, but it's very much a big hit among an ocean of misses.