Dedication

As my first official post - I was never a diary kind of guy and this being my first blog and my first blog post - I would like to share some thoughts on dedication.

I am choosing this subject as a result of my recent career change, the experience of the last couple years and various "events" I had to go through to get to where I am now.  I will do my best not to ramble, draw conclusions based on what I perceive as solid facts, and keep things as positive as I can even though I will undoubtedly have to reference some less than great times.

So to start I will look at what I know of dedication as well as creating a basis for later comparison.  I have been dedicated to exercise (health and fitness) since I was about fifteen years old.  Needless to say, my fitness level and workout regimen have drastically changed from an eager fifteen year old to where I am now, setting goals and tailoring my routines to accomplish goals.  Even from the beginning, this has always been something I enjoy and it requires me to challenge myself to reach goals and dedication is absolutely imperative to see any results.  For me personally, even with a strenuous exercise routine I wasn't achieving my goals - I recognized my diet needed to change so I made the appropriate changes.  This change was not just for a day or a week, but took place over a period of many months until it became a habit, giving adequate time for my actions to take affect within my body and ultimately seeing the results due to the changes I had made.  So to achieve my goals in this case, both my workout routine and my eating habits evolved and strict dedication was required to achieve these results over time.

When I was attending university there was dedication required in order to actually learn the skills required to graduate - even with a less than stellar attendance record.  However, since graduating a secondary level of dedication - more like responsibility - was required to go to work everyday (four legit sick days in three years) especially when working in an environment that didn't equally share day-to-day responsibilities or hold anyone accountable for their actions/lack of regular attendance.  That is definitely another story and *deep breath* won't get drawn into any negativity here regarding that issue.  So to define responsibility here I am referring to working weekends, sometimes working up to fourteen days in a row during some events, fifteen hour shifts (rare and unwelcomed), dragging four or five boxes of paper through downtown Edmonton on a broken trolly in heat, rain, and snow (but not all three at once and not uphill both ways!), multiple trips to St. Albert when our print devices were on the fritz, and basic understaffing on a regular basis.  These experiences served to strengthen my desire to design full time and take on a more challenging creative role on a daily basis.  Although I may not have particularly liked what I was doing in terms of work, these experiences helped me in three key areas:
1) I learned how to run a variety of print devices and learned the ins and outs of working in a print shop, bindery, and mail.
2) As a designer I got my feet wet and learned firsthand the best practices in designing for print media.
3) I also grew individually, becoming a more reliable and responsible person and employee - which can be a somewhat rare attribute to find nowadays in employees.

I truly believed that my actions within a large organization would be recognized and rewarded.  Which they were on a small scale - thank you's from the local manager's when I went above and beyond, but no steps were taken to make improvements to serious issues as the modus operandi became, "Oh don't worry, Grindle will take care of it", which I did for a long time over the course of my employment.  I was the safety net.  In the midst of this, there was the economic downturn which also played a big role in terms of reward.  We were given job security over a raise - that was the deal, it held for two years with no layoffs which was very reasonable.  However, despite the economy the company saw profits and into year three profits continued to rise as a result our day-to-day actions which required the "foot-soldiers" to take on more work, more tasks, more responsibilities without any kind of additional compensation.  In the third year the company was on solid ground, unable to hide under the umbrella of economic instability but yet nothing had changed.  It was time to recognize the work and sacrifices the employees made to create the profit the company was enjoying and finally it was announced there would be base pay increases company wide - the perverbeale light at the end of the tunnel - my faith restored.  After a couple personal employee evaluations with managers and positive reviews, a tentative date was set for the pay raise.  But it just wasn't to be, and two weeks before the raise was instated, it was bumped four months (non-retroactive) so second quarter numbers would be more attractive to shareholders.  Unfortunately this was the point that I lost respect for the way that business was being done and the way employees were being treated - the straw that broke this camel's back.  I wont say anything more negative in regards to this, but it stung.

It is important to remember that at the end of the day, an employer is just that - no more and no less - they pay you to do your job and don't owe you anything above that.  It is a fine line here being a dedicated employee and being used - at this point I felt the latter.  My wife ( I'm lucky not only to have found my lovely wife but also for the support she has in me) had some words of wisdom for me on this matter, she reminded me "You're in the business of you, do what is best for you", which is great great advice.  A change was in order.  I had reached my apex with what I was doing, taken it as far as I could without abandoning my personal goals as a designer, and recognized I needed to be treated with greater respect.  My previous employer had become my metaphorical bad diet.

Queue job search.  A job search is very much like a job within itself - and although in the digital age it is easier to seek out employers and find these jobs online - it is both good and bad for individuals looking to find employment.  Employers seeking online may receive anywhere from a handful (five-ten) up to two hundred resumes many of which could be absolute garbage that they have to sort through to find suitable candidates for the position.  Who's to say if this is good or bad, but it's the reality in our digital age.  So designers of all levels, let me say in my experience the presentation of your resume may be THE MOST important thing on your resume equal to the skills you bring to the table.  Make it clean, attractive, and your skill obvious.

So after two interviews in the city, I found a good match in terms of what I was looking for - a smaller family-owned company with solid roots in the city as opposed to a large, global company - an increase in salary with potential for increase based on company profits addressed yearly - potential for bonuses based on revenue - and quality people.  An offer of employment was made and I accepted.  Initially I experienced a mix of emotions; I was excited that the skills and work I put into my skills as a designer had payed off and my goal of a graphic design position was becoming a reality, I was getting paid more!  (always a good thing) and the senior art director of thirty years saw the potential in my skill and wanted to hire me above the other applicants.  A good feeling.  That was the high, the low looked like this: I had been with my previous company three years and had made some friends and very good contacts over that time, so I did feel some - not necessarily guilt over leaving - but more like some hesitation and disappointment that in order to achieve my career goals I had to do it with another company. I felt that they had let me down.  But, business is business and I left on good terms with everyone and without any "hard feelings" in regards to the company and paths that led me to that decision.

What does all this have to do with dedication?  Well, the time I put into what is now my previous company was not wasted time but preparation for the next chapter of my career; the most important thing I did over this period (besides some personal growth) was remain dedicated to my goal of full time graphic design and work through the challenges at hand without losing sight of the long term goal.  This was at times pretty difficult, easy to feel trapped but again I credit my wife for helping me keep things in sight and my spirits up.  The three + years was simply the period of time my actions - learning the trade, print devices, etc, and becoming a reliable employee - needed to see me grow into a suitable candidate for achieving my career goal and set the stage for future growth.  Another thing I take away from this is that the hard work and dedication put into the job might not always have an evident payoff, just as earlier mentioned with fitness - a lesson I had learned in that regard but had yet to see the results in my career - but given the proper amount of time the results did show and the goal became my reality.

Dedication isn't easy, but when a goal is achieved due to hard work, it is a great feeling.