[DISC] Flash as a career; College courses

[5TonsOfFlax]

As I hear it from out-of-state friends and family, looking at the south east US to be the last glimmering hope for salvation of a career in programming at this point. Probably means when I finally get my Bachelor's degree I'll have to move to India...

Texas here. South, but not in "the South".

There's plenty of good programming work still here. So much so that they keep bringing in foreigners to do it . No, seriously, if you're decent at it you can find a good job, particularly in web application development.

[tonypa]

The school should give wide area of knowledge and should be place and time to try out different things.

Modern programming languages are all very much same so knowing basics of programming theory allows you to learn any of them when needed. Best way to learn programming language is to use it, not listen or read about it. But if you can, you should try out all different kinds so you know what they are used for and how they differ.

But if you want to design games, not simply write code, everything is useful. Physics, history, color theory, psychology, animation etc.

[Squize]

"I'd love to see you try that in the states, pal."

You say that mate, but you've got Disney on your client list in your cv now, such as V, who doesn't live in London, has CandyStand on his. Location isn't too big a deal imho ( If you want to freelance ).

I'm aiming to run off to Spain as soon as I've got two years tax returns, and I don't think it'll affect me getting work.

The key thing to remember is that there's a real shortage of good Flash developers.
It may not seem it if you go to any portal, but work out what percentage of those games are actually any good. Then from that calculate how many of the good games are on par in terms of presentation with good advergames. Next, realise that not all those coders can just produce a game to order, with a very specific brief, a deadline, and a designer laying down exactly how they want it to be ( Without even taking into account the possability of having to work as part of a team, where you're not the sole coder, and you're actually down the pecking order ).
It's one thing taking 6 months over a personal project where you can tweak and backtrack and get lots of feedback, hell even have a break for a couple of weeks if you want, it's another to turn around a game that's as good as everything else out there in 3 weeks.

Anyway, back to the thread at hand...

Squize.

[ImprisonedPride]

"You say that mate, but you've got Disney on your client list in your cv now, such as V, who doesn't live in London, has CandyStand on his. Location isn't too big a deal imho ( If you want to freelance )."

True, but I only got that job from a firm stationed in London.

[Never_land:(]

I think you have to learn by yourself because when learning by yourself you learn the necessary parts to "create" something, I also think you should study to fill those little blanks to become great creating "something", and become better by learning things that can make your work amazing like: graphic design, physics, art, Math, etc.
I think that people should never stop studying because people never learn everything completely, there is always something new, this world is in constant change, and it will never stop...

It will stop if this happens

[Ray Beez]

WTF Neverland, that's the sun. What's your point? And aren't you like 14 years old? You haven't live yet.

[Never_land:(]

I tried to break the tension with the earth exploding,
BTW I'm 20

[lesli_felix]

It looks like a massive bogey.

And 20 is still way young. You haven't lived yet

[hatu]

I just got a flash game programmer job starting next month in a big game company who are starting to make some Flash content.
It doesn't really matter if you're self-taught or school-taught as long as it's something you love to do. All the nights spent making your own games is what will look the most impressive.

[luxregina]

I second Hatu : I'm fully part of the recruiting process in my company ( though my voice is usually more impactfull when it's about applicants on the graphic side ) and the first thing we look at is the portfolio : we couldn't care less where you learned Flash, what matters is how high your skills are... the portfolio is the first thing we can judge on, the interview the second

Personnally, when I look at a portfolio, i'm extremely attentive to the "out of work" projects : someone that spend its free time to do some flash work ( wether it's a game or a fan-site, or animation ... ) scores points in my book
I'd rather work with someone that loves/eat/breathes what he/she does rather than someone that just considers it as a job, but has no particular connection with it : I know it's biased, but you gotta find stuff to differenciate candidates

[renderhjs]

from my expierence (worked for 4 agencies before+ multimedia study @ univiersity) all that counted so far was my portfolio- even if I had sometimes the disadvantage of beeing to young.
So in my oppinion College or University is the best oppertunity to pimp your portfolio and do things you wouldn´t have the time for or get the chance at a paid position.
University is and was till now the best time of my life- imo. it´s like a better preperation for the future and your job . Usually you can pick from the more interesting jobs once graduated compared to leaving straight highschool and apply for some smaler agency.

[Never_land:(]

"And 20 is still way young. You haven't lived yet"

how much years is considered "lived yet".

[691175002]

I think that even if higher education isn't directly related to what you want to do, it is something that can help open doors.

It may just be me, but while a portfolio counts for a lot, having to tell someone you only have a highschool degree wouldn't be that much fun.

Also, while there may not be a "Flash" course, logic can be applied to any programming language, and graphics design is of course an integral part of flash.

[Ray Beez]

"And 20 is still way young. You haven't lived yet"

how much years is considered "lived yet".

I understand being talked to like your opinion doesn't matter can be offensive. I would feel that way too.

The discussion here is about careers, which for the most part is how a person will make a living, maybe eventually support a family, buy a house, contribute to the world, and save up for retirement over 4 decades. The average age of a high school graduate is about 18. Retirement is around 65. That's a span of 47 years. A lot happens in that time. A lot changes. People who have lived through 10-20 years of change will have a much better perspective on how a younger person should prepare for that.

Again, no offense intended.

[Never_land:(]

Ok, I understand I can look very inmature sometimes.