Poll: Job you love, or job that pays high?

[Vausch]

So I've run into a little problem with my future plans. I love drawing, anything from comics to character concept creation to animation. The problem I run into is I know too many people that have gotten art degrees and have done nothing with them and most places don't even require one. One of my friends who is an industry vet says that my style and ability to adopt new styles and changes as quickly as I do and being completely self-taught would help my future if I tried to get in to any internships or gigs.

However, I also run into the knowledge that an art degree feels rather useless (no offence to anyone with one, I know I'm likely very wrong). I originally set out to obtain an engineering degree because another passion of mine has been tinkering with and building robots and machines. However after taking a few classes, I began to feel like it was not right for me despite still wanting to go through with it because I know engineers are in high demand and get paid very well.

It brought up the question, should I abandon engineering and just try to get a job doing artwork? Or should I stick with it while getting more in debt with student loans, and try to get a job as an engineer?

Which would you do if you were in this scenario?

 

[Eleuthera]

This is going to sound like a cop-out. But I'd pick the job that pays enough while still being reasonably non-soul-crushing.

I don't believe that fun-jobs exist (for me), I have never heard of anything I would enjoy doing for 40 hours a week that people actually get paid to do. However, I also don't feel a terrible need to become independently wealthy. The job I have now pays well enough for me to afford my style of living without me dreading going to work every day. It's a compromise I personally find the best option.

 

[Vausch]

This is going to sound like a cop-out. But I'd pick the job that pays enough while still being reasonably non-soul-crushing.

I don't believe that fun-jobs exist (for me), I have never heard of anything I would enjoy doing for 40 hours a week that people actually get paid to do. However, I also don't feel a terrible need to become independently wealthy. The job I have now pays well enough for me to afford my style of living without me dreading going to work every day. It's a compromise I personally find the best option.

That's almost my current standpoint. Right now I'm a colourist for a webcomic and trying to get some more gigs, otherwise I sell individual pics. I don't quite make enough to live off right now, though I'm working to get a couple new tools to help me work a bit quicker (a wacom cintiq for one). At the moment, I'm also applying for an internship at Nickelodeon.

 

[Vausch]

I've never been one for money. While I wouldn't say I grew up poorly, we still didn't have enough money. I learned to make do with little at a young age. And I applied for my dream career when the pay was fairly shit for what I would be doing but I chose it anyway.

Do something you want to do, not because you want money.

I'm not all about money, I just want to be able to live comfortably. Sometimes it would also be nice to be able to point at something and go "I did that".

 

[Nouw]

I'd say the latter is a higher priority at first. Once you have a decent amount of money, you can swap to the job you love.

 

[StormShaun]

I'm still believe I can get a job I love and pays well/decently.

Hopefully by the time I'm done studying at University, I will be able to become a game journalist which will hopefully pay me not bad. Though the reason I chose game journalism is because I love to write (Especially about my passions) and I love games, so it's kind perfect.

I guess I'm taking an optimist side to this. XD

 

[gazumped]

Like you, I had the option of studying for a higher paid career or going to art school. I chose art school. And I think you're right that it's a kind of useless degree even now when I'm almost at the end of it, and I'm not even sure I'm going to have a career in art and design because too many people want to do it and many of them are better than me. But it was a fun four or five years and I learned a lot about what I love and I got to practice doing what I love and I made a lot of contacts in the industry.

I wish I could speak to you from four or five years in the future, because I couldn't say for certain if I've made the right choice or if my life is going to go to crap because I haven't chosen the more financially secure career path. HOWEVER, I will be happy so long as I can earn enough to keep a roof over my head and decent food in my belly, and if that means stocking shelves at a supermarket while only having the very odd illustration commission here and there over weekends, I think I'll be doing alright.

 

[Frungy]

Don't do something you love for your regular job. Do something you enjoy, something you're good at, but not something you love.

Why? Because after doing the thing you "love" 9 hours a day, 5 days a week (not counting overtime and extra days worked to meet deadlines) you'll begin to stop loving it. Maybe, if you're lucky, you'll still "like" it, or even "find it bearable".

My advice is to do something you're good at, something that will earn you enough money to have free time to pursue your "love" during your free time, when you can really enjoy it at your own leisure.

I know this may seem like strange advice, but I have a lot of friends who "loved" programming... and now hate the sight of code because of late nights working under idiotic bosses who don't understand the complexities, demand "results", and have no clue that what they're asking is impossible. I love coding... and I still love coding... mostly because I don't do it for a living.

 

[e033x]

Now art is a risky degree to take. I'm currently studying music, which is sort of relatable, and my experience is that an art degree doesn't work the same way that other degrees do. At least not where i am. If it's strictly "art" you're going for, instead of product design and stuff, an art degree is more or less just access to resources (teachers, space, equipment) and time put aside to use them, along with opportunities to network. You can get all of that outside a school, and if the music world is comparable at all, nobody could care less about your grades, it is only your portfolio that counts (in my case, try-outs).

Now back to the risk of taking an art-degree. If you take it, you'll leave school in debt, with few opportunities to land a solid job to pay them back. In my situation, I put all my eggs in that basket when I was 16, and has been working towards a music career since. That has given me several years to develop my skills, find my niche (conductor) and network, so i am reasonably sure I will get some kind of job after i graduate. As a sort of spur-of-the-(very-drawn-out)-moment kinda thing, you don't have that advantage.

So in the end, in your shoes, I would stick to the engineering degree, while cultivating your art on the side, find teachers to help you, network and so on. It'll probably take alot of time and energy to juggle the two, but an art degree (if comparable to music) isn't excactly a walk in the park either (I have weeks i work 14-hour days non-stop, and i still strive to get on top of the load). Good thing is that you'll walk out with a useful and profitable degree to fall back on, while still having the opportunity to work with art if you have the talent, time and tenacity to continue with it.

Now, a big disclaimer: I don't know that much about a visual arts degree at all, just music, but i figure some of my experiences carries over. Please correct anything I might have gotten wrong.

 

[Christemo]

Okay, before i start writing, I´m 17 and have only worked 2 jobs, 1 of which i am currently contracted to still. The first job was as a bottle boy for the largest supermarket in town. Good pay (about 11,18$ an hour), unchanging work hours and some pretty nice coworkers. The problem is my boss was a giant A-hole (heard he had a blood clot recently and i almost cheered) who kept blaming me for things i didn´t do, forced tasks on me that i wasn´t trained to do and generally made my Mondays and Fridays hell. Understandably, i quit after 4 months.

Currently i work as a cashier in a smaller supermarket in town and i LOVE it. Everyone i work with is nice, my boss is awesome and understanding and i have enough scheduled hours and unscheduled ones to make almost the same amount of money that i used to. Therefor i favor jobs one loves over high paying ones.

 

[Eclipse Dragon]

snip

I have an art degree, an "art" job and I've been out of collage for almost 2 years now. After drawing for 8 hours a day Monday-Friday, it gets exhausting, to the point where you won't even want to work on art when you get home. My advice would be to stick with the higher paying career that you find somewhat enjoyable (engineering) and use the money you get from that to fuel your art as side projects. That way you won't have a boss, or clients telling you what you have to make (or telling you it's not good enough), you can make what you want and not get burnt out on it.

 

[Angie7F]

I think if it were a choice between two other genres my answer would be different.
I know a person who was very passionate about cars and wanted to be a racer or a mechanic.
Instead he worked in the finance world and ended up paying for his own race cares and racing team.
It let him drive the way he wanted to and not be effected by politics.

I think maybe hte same goes for art.
You can always make the money first, and then use your engineering experience and money to expand your art.

 

[Assassin Xaero]

Job I love. I'd rather enjoy my day and get paid for it instead of being able to make slightly more and be miserable all the time. Plus if you go for a job just to make money, you will never be as good at it as something who loves doing it.

 

[EscapeGoat_v1legacy]

I'll take a job I love over a job that pays well any day. I've done well-paying but soul-destroying jobs and it's utterly shite. You wake up with an over-bearing sense of loathing for what you're about to go and do, you do a shift running on hate for what you are doing, and then you get home and start dreading waking up because you know what you have to go through the next day. No amount of money is worth that.

On the other hand, while if you work at something you love while you might get burned out on it, if it's something you truly love then you will bounce back and start enjoying it again. I might not make a great deal of money playing music, but I'd take that over working in an office, store or factory ever again.

 

[Esotera]

All the people who say do what you love and you'll be happy were completely lying - you're not going to be happy if you're completely broke, and it will make you pretty damn stressed.

As others have said, go for something that pays well & is interesting enough that you can bear to do it for a considerable amount of time. If possible you can end up making it into a high-paying job that you enjoy...particularly if you get to a senior position which quite often translates to doing bugger all & controlling minions.

 

[The Artificially Prolonged]

I feel you should always strive to something who love in your life, however it's always best to have backup prepared should things go not as planned. As for myself I've kind of just checked out on job satisfaction and I'm just happy to get paid a decent amount that allows me to pursue the things I actually enjoy in my spare time.

Spoiler: Or in other words

 

[Vetta E-dom]

This is going to sound like a cop-out. But I'd pick the job that pays enough while still being reasonably non-soul-crushing.

I don't believe that fun-jobs exist (for me), I have never heard of anything I would enjoy doing for 40 hours a week that people actually get paid to do. However, I also don't feel a terrible need to become independently wealthy. The job I have now pays well enough for me to afford my style of living without me dreading going to work every day. It's a compromise I personally find the best option.

That's almost my current standpoint. Right now I'm a colourist for a webcomic and trying to get some more gigs, otherwise I sell individual pics. I don't quite make enough to live off right now, though I'm working to get a couple new tools to help me work a bit quicker (a wacom cintiq for one). At the moment, I'm also applying for an internship at Nickelodeon.

The cintiq isn't going to help you work faster unfortunately.

 

[King Aragorn]

The thing with doing something you love, yet low paying, is the lack of money is going to turn it into something that you do not like. It basically defeats the purpose. Which is why you should go with something that has decent pay, yet isn't soul torturing. Maybe at one point, you can go back to that thing you love because now you're more economically secure.