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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.

1 Comment

  1. November 17, 2010

    I’ve often had the same problem, now I have a title for it. Good luck with your “employment split personality ” 🙂