Money Making After Uni...

jcb33

jcb33

jcb33

Soldato
Joined
11 Apr 2003
Posts
4,229
Location
Notts
Hey all,

I will soon (Hopefully) Graduate from University with a degree in Computer Games Production, now my aim is to work for a year and then go travelling.

Now in order to do this I am going to need money, I am not sure but I am guessing for a years travel I need at least 10k. So I get to the point... What kind of jobs could I be able to do for a year and earn a decent amount of money towards travelling?

Also any opinions on how much I would actually need to take with me would be useful, I plan to see some of Europe, Thailand, Egypt, Australia, NZ and USA.

Thanks for any advice.
Jcb33.
 
If you're dedicated to it - even a full-time retail job with weekends (~6 days a week) could net you that. £5 an hour, 8 hours, 6 days a week for say 40 weeks of a year is £9,600.

Have you got any assets you could sell? Plan to lower your outgoings, tighten your belt, try live at home rent free?

Obviously it would help your career if you were to get relevant experiences, and maybe working in a shop or call centre wouldn't help this. Any IT related businesses near where you live that are looking for an office monkey?
 
The worst thing you can do with a degree like that is to effectively take 2 years out. Employers will want to hire you immediately or not at all. In 2 years time you'll be considered "stale goods".
 
RandomTom said:
If you're dedicated to it - even a full-time retail job with weekends (~6 days a week) could net you that. £5 an hour, 8 hours, 6 days a week for say 40 weeks of a year is £9,600.

Have you got any assets you could sell? Plan to lower your outgoings, tighten your belt, try live at home rent free?

Obviously it would help your career if you were to get relevant experiences, and maybe working in a shop or call centre wouldn't help this. Any IT related businesses near where you live that are looking for an office monkey?
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Well thats it, I will be living at home (Dont know about rent free, that would be a bit mean) and do not know the area as my family have moved to Nottingham while I have been at uni, so do not know what is avalible bar the usual shops.

NathanE said:
The worst thing you can do with a degree like that is to effectively take 2 years out. Employers will want to hire you immediately or not at all. In 2 years time you'll be considered "stale goods".
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This does make sense, but if I do not do it now then I will never have the chance, I wont be able to get a job in the field I want to for over a year anyway (3D) as I need to build up my skills and make a good portfolio.
 
Ideally, you should have taken a year out before going to Uni. It's not going to look very good applying for degree related jobs, especially in a field as fast moving as computer games, when your degree is already more than two/three years out of date (it'll probably already be 2-3 years out of date when you graduate anyway).

Best bet would be to get a job that ties into your degree, and start taking normal holidays abroad. You usually get between 3 and 5 weeks paid holiday per year, which is enough for 2 x 2 week holidays and then some extra. You'll have to fit in your travels around that.

Careers advisers should have told you to take time out before uni, rather than after.

:(
 
As a careers advisor I have to echo the comments about taking a year out after a degree course like yours. Twelve months is a hell of a long time in the computer games industry and you will potentially shaft your chances of a decent job. Go travelling another time, otherwise you won't be making the best of what you've spent the last three years trying to achieve.
 
jcb33 said:
This does make sense, but if I do not do it now then I will never have the chance, I wont be able to get a job in the field I want to for over a year anyway (3D) as I need to build up my skills and make a good portfolio.
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What have you been doing at uni?!
 
jcb33 said:
This does make sense, but if I do not do it now then I will never have the chance,
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That makes no sense, unless you're planning on settling down and having kids immediately after you return I'd say that most people have the chance to do this at any time from 18-35.

The fact that you would have to do a **** job for a year just to raise the funds means that it might actually not be the best time to do it now as you would effectively be taking 2 years off as opposed to 1.

Why not go to see one of the areas (say Europe or Asia) for a month after uni then get a job for 3-4 years before going on your full on world tour. At least then you would have established yourself in your field, have some money saved and have some decent work experience behind you.

You could even split it into two 6 months trips - work for 3 years then at the time you would be wanting to jump ship anyway take 6 months off and go traveling - the other thing to consider, in the software industry, is that your contract will sometimes contain clauses in order to try and prevent you from working for a competitor for say 6 months after leaving your current role.
 
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gord said:
What have you been doing at uni?!
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Well my course only had 2 units of 3D, plus I am doing my project on character design. It has concentrated on many aspects of games design, but none in great enough detail sadly, hence having a lot of work to do after uni to get upto industry standard...

dowie said:
That makes no sense, unless you're planning on settling down and having kids immediately after you return I'd say that most people have the chance to do this at any time from 18-35.
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My main concern is finding somewhere to live, furnishing it etc, then having to give it all up while I go on my travels, to then come back and have to start again...
 
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jcb33 said:
My main concern is finding somewhere to live, furnishing it etc, then having to give it all up while I go on my travels, to then come back and have to start again...
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Can't you live at home? And find a full time job for at least a year. Minimise your outgoings, and you can save quite a bit.
 
Live at home, get the job you have trained to do, find out whether it's the right direction you want to go in in life, THEN take the break when you leave for the next job.
 
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