- You know one of these days,
somebody is gonna be making a video
about what it was like to work for me.
And how they survived it.
And that's gonna be hilarious.
Hey everybody this is Roberto Blake,
of RobertoBlake.com helping you
create something awesome today.
So today, we're gonna talk about
surviving as an in-house designer.
Something I think a lot of you forget sometimes
about my backstory is that I've worked
as an in-house designer before.
I've worked as a designer at an ad agency.
And I've been a freelancer multiple times
before deciding to just fully run my
own business, be a creative entrepreneur,
and do a whole bunch of stuff.
Now, with that in mind, I have some
very specific advice for how you
survive as an in-house designer.
This could be particularly helpful,
if like me, you might be suffering through some
of the things that a lot of creatives go through.
I went through anxiety.
Probably what might be called severe anxiety,
if we're talking about panic attacks
that could send you to the hospital.
Depression.
And often a lack of motivation.
That was a big problem throughout a lot of my 20s.
And so, I have some advice on how
you can survive as an in-house designer.
How to work through some of those things.
It's not specifically focused on just the internal things.
There's a lot of the actual career side.
And a lot of the politicking.
So let's just get right into it.
So one of the big problems of being
a creative as an in-house professional
is often you'll have to work with non-designers
and non-creative people in general.
And it'll hard for them to understand why what you do,
and how you operate, is so different than them.
To avoid being singled out, one of the things
that I figured out was you have
to actually tap into your empathy.
You have to try to learn as much about them
and about their job and how what they do
facilitates the entire business, as well as what you do.
And when you do that, you'll be given a lot more slack.
A lot more benefit of the doubt.
And they'll be willing to accept and understand
the differences in how you guys work together.
And you won't be finding yourself
having to conform nearly as much.
You'll be given your space because you
paid it forward, upfront by understanding them.
Taking the time to learn about them.
And then letting them know that you appreciate
what they do and what they bring to the table.
This might sound a little rough for you guys.
Because some of you are feeling very introverted.
And that takes up a lot of your energy.
You don't have to do it all at once.
And you can take this slow.
And you can do it on your own terms.
You can ease into it.
What I will say, is the sooner
you acclimate yourself and have come
to some kind of individual personal understanding
with all of your co-workers, the easier your life,
and your career, and your job will be.
Tip number two for surviving as an in-house designer
or creative, I would say learn to develop
processes, work flows, templates, and shortcuts
as quickly as you possibly can.
Literally have an archive of these things.
Have meticulous notes about your processes,
because it is going to be important.
You are going to find yourself having to do a lot of things
outside the scope of work of your job description.
The more things that you have a strict process for,
and that you have resources around
to make your own life easier, the better.
Because you cannot trust the job to provide you with it.
That's just not gonna happen.
Tip number three.
Resist the temptation to correct
your boss and your supervisors.
This is gonna sound very negative.
If they want you to do something
that completely goes against what
you understand to be good design.
And you've already figured out
that this person just wants what they want.
They're not somebody that is historically
been able to accept an outside point of view.
Or be redirected down an appropriate path.
Until you decide that you're gonna get
a different job and work in a different
corporate culture, give them what they want.
And then just go to clients from
hell and talk about it later.
Not even kidding.
There's a book called The 48 Laws of Power.
And one of the things it talks about
is never outshine the master.
Your supervisor, your manager, your employer,
they are the master of their domain.
And the thing is if they're not looking for guidance,
or if they're not looking for another opinion.
If they're not looking for honest descent.
Then by giving it to them,
you're just making yourself a target.
And you're just making everyday
going forward harder on yourself.
I know that your integrity is gonna be stressed here.
One of the problems that I had with working in-house,
and working in the corporate world,
is that sometimes if you pick the wrong place,
and it doesn't have a really good or open corporate culture,
and there's not room for intelligent discussion or to pivot,
then a lot of times it comes down to closing your mouth.
Sacrificing your integrity.
And collecting your check every two weeks.
And so, in that situation, I would say that
if you've identified that that's the corporate
culture you're in, the easiest things to do
is just try to get along with people.
And to give them what they're asking for.
You can always do what you've been told and tasked with.
And if you feel really compelled to do your very best,
despite the fact that they're holding you back,
do the extra work and present more options.
And just understand you're not
gonna get paid a dime more for it.
Yeah.
I know that was really soul crushing.
But I had to be truthful with you guys.
I wanna give you guys honest advice here.
Tip number four.
Don't make yourself indispensable in your current role
if you want to move up the ladder.
If you don't want to move up the ladder.
Or there's nowhere else to go,
and you're comfortable where you're at,
then make yourself absolutely indispensable.
So that you can retain your job for as long as possible.
And coast to a pension.
Wait, do pensions still exist
as of the making of this video?
That might be a thing.
No, but in all seriousness, there is a such thing
as needing to escalate up the career ladder.
And the thing is, if you are perfect
in the role you're at, no one wants to move you.
But, if you are very suited to another role,
and you can be replaced in your existing role,
then you have a better shot of moving up the ladder.
And being able to groom a successor.
So, I would position for that if
that's something that you're interested in.
If there's no room to grow, then I would
consider other job prospects.
If you're very comfortable where you are,
and you can't imagine leaving.
And you love the culture.
And you love the work.
And you don't want another position.
And you just want a raise.
Then be indispensable.
That would be my advice.
Do as much as you can.
Even though you know upfront
you're not gonna make more money.
Go the extra mile every single time, if that's the job
that you wanna keep for the next decade or two.
Tip number five.
Have a life outside of your job.
Do not define your happiness, do not define your success,
by your job position, role, or title.
No matter how infatuated you are with it.
You need a life.
And you need a creative life outside
of the workplace as an in-house designer.
Or you can end up with a lot of negative issues.
You can be too emotionally involved
and invested in your job.
And if anything goes wrong,
you'll take it much more personally.
It will be more difficult for you.
I am speaking from experience.
It's fine to be friends with your co-workers and colleagues,
but you really need to have some clear division
between your work life and your actual life.
That really matters.
It's something that I even take very really seriously
as an entrepreneur and somebody who runs their own business.
You have to really figure out how to separate these things.
Anyway, I hope these tips for surviving
as an in-house designer help you get some perspective,
and maybe help you what you might be
going through in your career right now.
If you actually have an interesting story
about any of these things that you've experienced,
let me know in the comment section.
I'd be really curious about that.
I think it could help a lot of people.
So let's have a discussion guys.
Anyway, like this video if you like it.
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Check out the other awesome content on the channel.
Remember, graphic design videos are usually on Mondays.
As always you guys, thanks so very much for watching.
And don't forget, create something awesome today.