 Congratulations. You just get hired. You are at your first job and now what? Well, you have to think about the future So today's FNA is all about a five-year plan that sounds very ambitious I even have a ten-year plan, but it's about thinking ahead now you get your job enjoying it But what are you gonna do next? So you got your job The first thing you need to do is enjoy it because you work really hard you worked on you really went through all the classes There's a lot of work that goes into getting your first job So don't think about anything just enjoy it You work really hard for this but then this is where I kick in and go all right Let's think about the next five years before I tell you what I mean about this. Hi, my name is JD If you're here for the first time on this channel, you know the pitch I do animation lectures like these I do animation analysis clips. I do rig reviews product reviews I do a bunch of stuff you see all the flashing thumbnails for free to browse around the channel You know, there's the beginning pitch if you like it subscribe if you don't like it Just hanging there. Maybe watch it. We'll see what happens later But that is that it's the pitch at the beginning helps my channel, bro But let's get back to the points here So everything I want to say here is going to be very subjective and very individual because it really depends on who you are Where are you at your financial situation your goals your dreams? Just there's so much where everything I'm saying there might be maybe one out of ten No, it's a go. Oh, yeah, or all of them. I don't know But it's just there as a information dump and you can pick and choose you can comment So whatever we can come up with to go this opinion interesting list to pay attention to as you move forward with your career So you started at your new job. You love it. You're animating So now you have to kind of shed the idea of well, maybe I'm not good enough better work really hard Just ignore all that. Let's pretend you're awesome. You probably already are I mean with pretend you're gonna be even more awesome, right? Everything's gonna be awesome and you can stay there forever like that is your possibility You can stay at this company now Is this something you want to do because you might get into a company or whatever job you have in terms of Animation and you love it But you know I'm gonna be there for a couple years and then I will make the choice to go somewhere else and then learn Something else make other connections work with a different company different style So again, you know, there are different paths You can stay at a company if that's the possibility or you can also decide you just switch around again If that's the possibility everybody's gonna comment like yeah, but I don't have a choice. I totally understand This is again hypothetical, but I want to bring up some points. You gotta think about so let's pretend you start It's awesome and you want to stay there. You really like the company. You like the people you want to stay there So what do you need to think about? Well, you gotta think in terms of practical things like the commute, right? Maybe you are in an apartment. You're sharing a place with some friends But it takes you an hour an hour and a half two hours to get to the job. Is this something you can sustain long term? Maybe public transportation is deteriorating and it's not gonna get better Maybe you need to get a car. Well gas prices projected gas prices. Who knows? It's very difficult project there But is a longer commute something you want to do over time? Maybe now you can do it because you enjoy the job But after a while you realize it's two three hours out of my day I could do something else or be with someone else just something to consider and as I mentioned before housing Maybe you are in an apartment. Maybe later on your family and you get a house or not again It's all very individual but think about housing costs Is this where you are right now a good place to stay long term to be at that company and depending on where you are city or country There's cost of living increases and expenses. Maybe right now you were living on a student budget and everything was great Now you're getting paid by a company. It's awesome. You have more money You can save but then over time five ten years. Is this something you can sustain? You got to think about potentially switching things around let's pretend you have kids, right? You might get married husband wife partner, whatever you got kids You got to put them somewhere in the school. Well where you are right now. Is that a good school district? Is there anything in terms of the neighborhood that you want to change because again? The commute to the school is too long and then going back to work and let's pretend It is not good So is there a place where you can see yourself by saving up money and actually that would recommend another channel here That has money tips Brian has awesome clips. So don't just go for there go for his channel Let's pretend that's what you want to do You want to have kids and you're looking around and you see a place Oh, I can move over there with my partner and have the school there and then go to work That's all possibility because you never know sometimes you have school districts where you want to send your kid to school And the school placement is like a lottery. It's all random You can't specifically choose where you want to put in your your kids or one kid Whatever and then you might have to drive a really long place to bring the kid over there and go to work There's a lot that comes with it says changing diapers and that's not even work related That's just you as a person private life and just the surrounding environments and conditions that will potentially Prevent you from staying at a company for a long time Now let's pretend you don't want to stay at a company for a long time And you got to think about where you want to go next and I know it is like what I gotta get have a real first And can I go next again? Hypothetically you can choose. I know real-life conditions are totally different You might have to go to a company you don't really want to but that's the only company that call back I know there are many variables, but again, let's pretend you are at the current company You like it, but you know you want to change so it's going to be the same that I just mentioned is that new company where you have To go to scooping your city new country who knows all the other factors where it's school housing commute all that stuff will again apply But also the switch so let's pretend it's not a given you're gonna have to work on a new reel because maybe I'm there multiple possibilities But maybe the work you're doing at the current company is awesome You get the shots you can assemble a reel and that is enough to apply somewhere else and then get a job What if it isn't what if the project is really long term? It's gonna take a long time until you get the shots that you worked on for your demo reel That means that you have to work on a new reel new shots to apply it to another company So now you have to factor in extra work outside of your daytime work And how is that going to work with your hobbies with your friends with your partners your married life? Whatever it is you got somehow a schedule in extra time to work on outside animation to create a new reel So again something to think about if you want to switch companies and is that going to be a different style? It's it going to be from cartoony to VFX VFX to cartoony games Yeah, whatever you're gonna have to think about well This is totally different. I have to work on a new style practice some more Maybe the first couple shots are not gonna be great right off the bat I need to do some more practice shots and then work on the demo reel piece all of that You have to factor into the schedule any decision-making of I want to switch another company What does that mean for me? What are the consequences or precautions as in like time and schedule and stuff like that? And it's pretending don't work So you got your reel is the company that you want to work for paying for moving costs And if not well, that's something else again You have to factor in you have to save up money for that move and so on so again Many factors consider if you want to move places, especially if it's a different country But then of course you have to factor in immigration and visa issues and so on it's it's a massively big topic now The positive though about switching again If that's your choice and you're that flexible and you can go about that You will potentially have the opportunity to raise your salary as you switch within companies again If that is something you can do the more you switch the more experience you gain new tools new styles It's just you're getting better and better and it is an exchange of services at the end of the day Even if we love the job so as you switch There's a possibility that your salary goes up and up and up versus if you stay at one company for a long time It's probably going to be a slower ascent into whatever career ideas you have in terms of titles or Financial situation. Well, let's piggyback on that. So let's pretend you do want to stay. I found the company I want to work for I'm in I'm enjoying it. I'm loving it. So now you're thinking about, okay What does it look like in five years and I got a ten-year thing, but that's really crazy time So let's pretend five years and again, it doesn't have to be five years obviously, right? For you could be two years three years seven years. Who knows? I just I'm just picking five and I just get just it's a number but think long term So I'm there as an animator if I want to stay there for a longer time Do I have aspirations to become a lead animator or a supervising and what does that mean? So then you have to look at what are other lead animators and supervisors at that company doing? How do they get to that position? Are they just animating? It's already hard enough, right? But are they doing other things on the side? Are they more involved in story story board story anything with story department? Or in terms of previous, maybe they're no more about camera work and editing Maybe even sound design the same little piece to show to a client So just think in terms of what additional skills do they have or have they learned and developed to get to that position? Because you can't just be the same and then expect, you know salary bump and promotion and all that stuff You got to be more valuable and bring more to the table So is that something that you can do? That's something that you want to do and how you're gonna get there? Is the company providing classes when you kind of training to get there or is that something you have to do on the side? So again, just like the real now you have to factor in work outside of your daytime work to get there And I mean you can also ask the bleeds and soups that what did you do and how did you learn all this? I don't know if they're gonna tell you but you know Hopefully this is a friendly bunch and you can learn from them by shadowing them watching them, you know Whatever the path is however, you're gonna go about it But if you are the company and you're deciding I want to stay there and you have those aspirations Then it's time to start thinking about that where how do I get there? I want to be whatever lead in couple years Well, what do I need to do to become that and for the company to consider me and again I say company and just that situation is going to be so different for so many people But hopefully this makes sense in terms of a general piece of advice and then there's a 10-year plan Which I know it sounds bananas. I mean nowadays. I do people stay for 10 years But I mean this in terms of what is your really long-term dream goal those 10 years could be alright Well, I'm doing this job and I might have my eye on other companies I want to switch around and gain experience and do all kinds of network, but long-term 10 years Let's say you want to become a director, right? You start as an animator like I like doing all this and I understand the process But I'm more interested in story in really long term I want to animate and understand what it takes to animate in the process And if I give notes the amount of work it takes to do all this schedule wise But ultimately I want to go into story and then into directing and that is solely fine Why not have a 10-year crazy goal and it doesn't have to be crazy Who knows and you can still roughly think about what you need to do to get to that point But I understand it's also totally ridiculous. I mean in 10 years so much can happen in 10 years I mean just look at how the world is now just within the last two years things have changed dramatically Oh, why not? I would still think long term You can think in terms of I gotta save up money Doesn't matter where I'm gonna end up how windy that road is I'm gonna still end up there because that's my goal And you still have to learn additional skills to get there So you might as well start now or at least start thinking about how you're gonna get there And all this might just put a massive bummer on you just getting a job As I said at the beginning, congratulations, you got a job, that's awesome And again, enjoy it Now you're actually animating and you're getting paid for it And you can have so many friends around you in dailies and just the working environment It's gonna be awesome And then after a couple, you know, whatever months, years, I don't know I'm just totally up to you again, it's very subjective and individual Start thinking five-year tenure plan It's not five years, but maybe a couple weeks I'm trying to find a segue for my workshops But if you feel like, well, that's all cool and I'm working on my reel Can you help me work on the reel and give me other tips to get to my goal? Absolutely, I will do my best I got workshops, link in the description with all the information And again, it's not five years, but you get 16 submissions So if you do weekly, it's 16 weeks Definitely shorter than five years or 10 years But hopefully something you're interested in Again, let me know, email me And that is that, that is the end that I'm checking here It's a bit of a long-rich clip So thank you for watching As always, till the very end, I appreciate your patience And that is that Thank you for watching and I'll see you in my next upload