Is there "Tenure" track in CG industry like that of the Academia ?

[adamsayash]

In Academia the top position of a professor or a researcher (as I know) is to be Tenure! and the path for this title begins with:

1- Architect - (holds: B.Sc. in architecture)

2- Teaching Assistant - (has: M.Sc. in architecture)

3- Assistant professor - (has: Ph.D. in architecture)

4- Associate professor - (has: Post doc degree (I guess!))

5- Professor

6- tenure professor (Final stage!)

______

I mentioned the tenure path in the academia as an example of ORGANISED & CLEAR career path as well as skills and experience (AKA degrees) the researcher need in each stage to pass from one to another regardless how hard to reach THE TENURE position.

 

****but in CG industry, I don't find the career path clear at all and what should I have in each step of my career to get promoted to another??? besides how should I be enthusiastic to work hard and improve myself without knowing the goal of each step?

[Justin Hunt]

the most basic structure is

 

Junior, Senior, Lead, Overlord

 

There is no formal pre-requisites for each level, ie you can become a senior after a year or ten years in the industry. There are no formal qualifications required which would be pointless and worth less than the paper they are printed on. There are no governing bodies to tell you that you cant work because you haven't met an arbitrary set of requirement or paid a subscription fee.

 

Now if you are working in-house for architects they may have some sort of structure similar to that of the architects. All though its more to help them define pay and organizational structures than anything else. Some studios may require you to hold a degree of some sort, others only care about your portfolio , your technical and artistic skills and what kind of person you are.

[fabricebourrelly]

Hi Adam,

 

That's a really good question! From my experience working as an in-house architecture visualiser. There is very little prospect for you career to evolve, imo. Unless the firm you work in is expanding and the visualisation department can grow, you can become the "head" of the visualisation department. If you work for a visualisation firm, it's pretty much as Justin says. Although, you would most likely specialise in some field, ie modelling, lighting, compositing.

The 3rd option is to setup on your own (guess which one I've chosen!) and yes it's tough, but the potential are enormous, since you can promote yourself straight to "overlord" , and it all just depends on what relationship you can establish with you clients.

I hope that helps, and good luck!

cheers

Fabrice

[Scott Schroeder]

According to my various conference registrations, I've held the following titles. Master and Commander, King of All Media, That Guy, The Rendering Man, and President Renderer. In our industry, titles generally don't mean a whole lot. What matters is can you produce. If you produce good work, you'll be given more and more responsibility on projects and even be given the top-tier projects in your organization. Boosts in pay should also follow as you prove you can produce work. Titles are all secondary to pay/responsibilities in my opinion.

 

This reminds me of a Futurama episode that maybe getting tenure in a place wouldn't be so bad.

 

Professor Ogden Wernstrom: Of course, but it'll cost you. First, I'll need tenure.

Mayor C. Randall Poopenmayer: Done.

Professor Ogden Wernstrom: And a big research grant.

Mayor C. Randall Poopenmayer: You got it.

Professor Ogden Wernstrom: Also, access to a lab, and five graduate students, at least three of them Chinese.

Mayor C. Randall Poopenmayer: All right, done. What's your plan?

Professor Ogden Wernstrom: What plan? I'm set for life. Au revoir, suckers!

Leela: That rat! Do something!

Mayor C. Randall Poopenmayer: I wish I could, but he's got tenure.

[adamsayash]

the most basic structure is

 

Junior, Senior, Lead, Overlord

 

There is no formal pre-requisites for each level, ie you can become a senior after a year or ten years in the industry. There are no formal qualifications required which would be pointless and worth less than the paper they are printed on. There are no governing bodies to tell you that you cant work because you haven't met an arbitrary set of requirement or paid a subscription fee.

 

Now if you are working in-house for architects they may have some sort of structure similar to that of the architects. All though its more to help them define pay and organizational structures than anything else. Some studios may require you to hold a degree of some sort, others only care about your portfolio , your technical and artistic skills and what kind of person you are.

 

Thanks justin

[adamsayash]

According to my various conference registrations, I've held the following titles. Master and Commander, King of All Media, That Guy, The Rendering Man, and President Renderer. In our industry, titles generally don't mean a whole lot. What matters is can you produce. If you produce good work, you'll be given more and more responsibility on projects and even be given the top-tier projects in your organization. Boosts in pay should also follow as you prove you can produce work. Titles are all secondary to pay/responsibilities in my opinion.

 

This reminds me of a Futurama episode that maybe getting tenure in a place wouldn't be so bad.

 

Thanks Scott.

[adamsayash]

But I think specializing in a definite field as modeling, lighting, ... will destroy the joy of creating the whole scene and seeing the final product made by your hands! that's why I think why you chose the 3rd option (( OVERLOAD )) Thanks Fabrice.

[Tommy L]

There's two ways of getting tenure.

1 - change jobs and become an academic, revered in you field, eventually rising to the hallowed ground that is tenure. You'll never get fired.

2 - own your own business. In which case you can only be fired a bit at a time.

 

The second is easier to achieve but more difficult to sustain.

[adamsayash]

There's two ways of getting tenure.

1 - change jobs and become an academic, revered in you field, eventually rising to the hallowed ground that is tenure. You'll never get fired.

2 - own your own business. In which case you can only be fired a bit at a time.

 

The second is easier to achieve but more difficult to sustain.

 

Thanks Tom!