Critical Mass

[Flames0910]

Originally Posted by Flames in 07

Close. They inherited a POS site, fixed it, then had it taken from them.

They win awards all the time for they work they do. Nobody is perfect but they are very good.

Great experince, long hours, lots of competition for promotion and pay is probably low for the junior end of the scale.

Did you work there or know somebody that did Flames in 07?

[Locke]

Originally Posted by Esoteric

Was definitely referring to long hours and not great pay

Haha, already looking forward to your future career huh?

[Shazam]

Originally Posted by Flames in 07

Close. They inherited a POS site, fixed it, then had it taken from them.

That doesn't really jibe with their case study and the press releases at the time.

[COGENT]

Originally Posted by Table 5

Very true. I'm freelancing for a big ad agency at the moment, and I'm almost ashamed at how much they are paying me for the work. It's funny how anal places can be about salaried employees, yet throw money left and right for freelancers.

I think if I am going to stay in this industry I will have to start freelancing sooner than later. It's been my plan for a while but this recession has put a damper on that plan. You're right though, the cooler the place to work, the more you work and the less you get paid.


As for CM... I've heard a ton of horror stories out of that place, mostly from a designers perspective though... working tons of hours, working on the same button for the same website for months ect. However, I know if you get into a management position it can be good.

[Table 5]

Originally Posted by COGENT

I think if I am going to stay in this industry I will have to start freelancing sooner than later. It's been my plan for a while but this recession has put a damper on that plan. You're right though, the cooler the place to work, the more you work and the less you get paid.

It's a funny thing, freelance. Only do it if youre the type of person who can handle the roller coaster lifestyle....because it really can be a feast one month, and starvation the next. The great part is you get to say no or yes to the amount of work you do....if you are like me though, and have a hard time saying no, you might end up working even more than you did before, so careful!

Writing everything in your life off when it comes to tax sure is nice. It's great being able to buy computer hardware or photo equipment for a gig and be able to write it off, and still use it after. Just make sure George doesn't snap a photo of you sticking a screw-driver into anything!

[Sliver]

Originally Posted by Shazam

That doesn't really jibe with their case study and the press releases at the time.

Crap, I've been saying "jive" all these years. Learned something new today!

[Flames0910]

Hate to bump an old post, but guess what!!? I got a job at Critical Mass! I'm on the Nissan team and I start tomorrow!

[GreatWhiteEbola]

Congrats!

[Phanuthier]

Originally Posted by Table 5

I'm going to assume it's the same in Calgary in this field, but here in NY, the cooler and higher profile the place you work, the less they pay you and the harder they work you. Everyone knows that if you don't want to be here, there's a ton of younger guys waiting around the block tp get in (not unlike our thread starter).

Google pays approx $90-95k... by comp, Microsoft doesn't give you free food but they argue they pay you more to cover those expenses. Also using another comparison for programmers, one of my roommates works for Nvidia and he makes $87k. (This is all same status, starting 0-2 years exp, not yet including bonus's.) My company used to also give out free meals (pre-2008) but the thing is, there is a reason they are giving you free food... because they want you to stay longer there.