Whatever It Takes
I always hate it when people ask me what I do for a living. I hate it even more when my wife asks me what she should tell people when they ask her what I do for a living. People who know me best ask what I’m working on, which is always easier to answer. I’ve realized that the harder I work in the field of new media, the harder it is to put any sort of title on what I actually am and what I actually do. I find myself telling my wife to give different responses depending on my current project work-load. This has led to some severe employment split personality issues and a very confused spouse.
The field of new media is an odd one when it comes to titles. I think its the only field where individual pieces of a project incur the necessity of specific categories of talent that historically are different people and not multi-talented individuals. If this ideal made its way into other fields we would lose mechanics and gain oil change technicians; forget hair dressers and welcome hair comb specialists and blow dryer operators. I think its more important than ever that we stop being copy-writers, modelers, and designers and we start trying to stretch ourselves into the scary realm of “oh, I’m horrible at doing…”.
Long-gone are the days of the big ad agencies, even though a small few eek by with their cornerstone “big” clients that could bankrupt them at the drop of a hat. I’ve worked at every style of agency and interactive house from the boutique, to the tiny, to the large and I’ve learned that grasping the ability to span right-brain and left-brain duties is the best way to stay important and truly grow. If it’s scary then you’re DAMN right it’s worth it.
That being said, pick up a book on one of those things you keep seeing other people in the office or cubicle next to you excel at. Go grab a subscription to Lynda.com or Digital-Tutors and start earning the title of “Whatever it Takes” and you’ll start becoming “What it Takes”. Your future will thank you for it.
I’ve often had the same problem, now I have a title for it. Good luck with your “employment split personality ” 🙂