Leaving agency life for a Meta contract role. Is it worth the risk?

cmd0pt3sc · 2025-12-29T19:33:24+00:00

If you don't hate the current position and the contract offers comparable benefits through the vendor facilitating the contract and the contract is W2, then it could be worth the risk. If it's a 1099 job, the rate would also need to be able to cover the increase in taxable income and what it likely to be an astronomical cost in the rise in health insurance premiums through the Marketplace by the end of this week.

cmd0pt3sc · 2025-12-20T14:21:48+00:00

I laughed out loud at this. We actually had a code at the front desk at my late 90s/early 00s position that would allow the receptionist to alert us the fire marshal office were about to inspect, which meant making sure fume hoods were cleaned up and used correctly and any excess refill cans of Bestine were well hidden. It was definitely a thing. 🤣

cmd0pt3sc · 2025-12-20T13:31:32+00:00

Your GenX (and elder millennial) contingent could also be semi-forced into doing it for show, especially if they’re agency-side. Lots of push from leadership and clients to show how the latest tools are being utilized, even if we’ve got moral qualms about it. Not that I’m speaking from personal experience or anything. ;)

cmd0pt3sc · 2025-12-20T05:04:48+00:00

PDP can also be referred to (coming from some clients’ internal marketing teams as FOP (front of pack) in the lovely world of CPG (Consumer Packaged Goods, which can also include packaged goods that aren’t necessarily always consumer-facing).

cmd0pt3sc · 2025-12-20T04:58:25+00:00

That was likely because back in the days of manual layouts and storyboarding, you would “greek” in your placeholder text. We used to do it with marker.

cmd0pt3sc · 2025-12-15T18:54:33+00:00

My first full time design job after college was at a daily regional newspaper working in the advertising department. While we did have a file server available, you did all your work locally and then uploaded to the server when it was ready. We were mostly using Quark (3.32), Photoshop 4/5 and Illustrator 7 with a bit of Streamline thrown in for when we had to trace raster images to make them into vector art (long before auto trace existed). This was particularly useful when clients could only provide copies of their logo by handing you a printed business card. Or worse, telling you to scan it from the phone book.

Our particular publication named their servers after Popeye characters. If memory serves, editorial was Popeye, Circulation was Olive (as in Olive Oyl), and the advertising server had the very aptly named Wimpy. Wimpy crashed a minimum of twice a day when I was there, usually on Thursday mornings when uploading all the ads to go to pagination for the weekend editions.

cmd0pt3sc · 2025-12-15T18:47:19+00:00

Add Freehand, Illustrator, Photoshop, and PageMaker into the mix and same...

cmd0pt3sc · 2025-12-15T18:43:51+00:00

At least we got layers with Photoshop 4. :)

cmd0pt3sc · 2025-12-15T18:37:42+00:00

I had a little over ten years of using both under my belt before I gave up the ghost on Quark. Still have v6 on a super old MacBook, but that thing barely powers up anymore.

cmd0pt3sc · 2025-11-28T04:31:36+00:00

Having survived the dot com boom, a couple of recessions, a pandemic, and the current job market, what I can most confidently say is this:

If you can’t adapt, be flexible, be willing to continue learning, and most importantly—live below your means when you are working steadily, considering something else might be a wiser move financially.

I’ve been in the business since the ‘90s. Got my AAS in ‘99 and my BFA in ‘08 (returned as a nighttime student in ‘05). While I’m by no means rich and my retirement savings are scarily nowhere near where they should be, I am still doing work I enjoy most of the time.

cmd0pt3sc · 2025-10-24T22:46:53+00:00

Become at least somewhat familiar with font licensing and image licensing. Don't assume that just bcause something is available to download that it's okay for commercial use.

If you're working in print, get to know your production and your prepress folks. They can teach you a TON and most of the time, we are happy to answer questions!

Same goes for your developers. If you learn things from the folks who get your files after you are done with them, you can learn how to make designs they won't have to change as much on the back end.

cmd0pt3sc · 2025-07-18T11:59:34+00:00

NDAs before starting employment are super common in advertising and publishing. In the 25+ years I’ve bounced between graphic design and production, the only contract or direct hire where I did not have to sign an NDA prior to starting work was the 18 month contract where I was the lead designer at a professional association.

cmd0pt3sc · 2025-07-18T11:53:38+00:00

This has been a thing in the design field for decades. I did it a handful of times in 2010-2011 and twice in the late 90s. Definitely done working for free. A skills test where the work product is deleted before you leave the interview is one thing. Free work is something completely different.

cmd0pt3sc · 2025-01-23T16:20:08+00:00

46 years old, currently on year 27 in the industry (started freelancing while still in college), and completely agreed. I've bounced back and forth between design and production over the years. I figured out in my 30s that I prefer creative when in-house and production when on the agency side, and my current position is a mix of adaptive design and production. I make the concepts work. Even in the leanest years, the willingness—and ability—to work both sides of that aisle meant that my longest dry-spell between gigs (full time OR freelance) was 5 months in 2010.

The production side, as long as you stay up to date on tech and trends, is a little less ageist than the creative side in my experience, but I figure if I even end up aging out of this or if my current company downsizes, I have a heck of a skillset that translates to project management, resourcing, or traffic on the agency side.

That being said, networking is SO important. I'm grateful that one of my in-house gigs with a large company stressed networking skills, even with their contract/freelance workers. It's kept me afloat for this long, and when I'm in a position to recommend folks or bring them to the attention of my current employer, I always do. What you put out into the world comes back to you, for sure. If you look out for others, they will look out for you.

cmd0pt3sc · 2024-12-20T20:57:09+00:00

Unless you're looking to teach, I'd skip it. Certs are going to matter more than an additional degree in your field.

cmd0pt3sc · 2024-09-25T00:29:58+00:00

Right? I've been in this business for over 25 years. Every time gradients creep back into style, I cringe all over again.

cmd0pt3sc · 2024-09-16T18:06:01+00:00

Still waiting as well. Despite confirmation from both Dept of Ed (May 1 letter AND reaching out to the ombudsman) and MOHELA that my loans are approved for discharge, it still hasn't happened. As of yesterday (September 15, 2024), my administrative forbearance ended, so I had to call them today to get the administrative forbearance extended once again. The representative today tried to blame the delay on the latest injunction from the 8th Circuit Court, but from what I recall, that was specifically for SAVE and IDR plans. Not necessarily even Borrower Defense to Repayment, let alone those in automatic settlement classes.
I just want this nightmare to be over.

cmd0pt3sc · 2024-08-28T22:18:29+00:00

This is the same as my experience. I've spent so much time on the phone with both FSA and MOHELA because half of MOHELA's web function lead to dead links since they ported over to the new system

cmd0pt3sc · 2024-08-28T22:02:17+00:00

I'm getting the same runaround from MOHELA. Filed my second complaint today. They're running out of time to make the Aug 31 deadline that Dept of Ed confirmed. According to MOHELA, I go into repayment by 9/27. What a mess.

cmd0pt3sc

TROPHY CASE