“You deserve a chance to try and find a role that challenges you”

Creative Career Conundrums is a weekly advice column from If You Could Jobs. Each week their selected panel of professionals from the creative industry answers your burning career questions to help you navigate the creative journey.

This week’s question: 

“I’m feeling complacent early in my career. Do I stay or do I go?

I was fortunate enough to get a cushy, well paying job right out of college in a graphic design role at a non-graphic design focused company.

I’m just about two years into this job and I’m beginning to feel the effects of not being challenged creatively, nor working alongside like-minded individuals. It feels like my own creative skills are turning stale, despite an immense passion for design while I was in school. Additionally, the monotony of the job makes finding motivation for creative hobbies outside of work difficult.

I keep going back and forth between wanting to push myself to find a position more aligned with the interests I got my education for, and wanting to ride out this current position for a couple more years for the financial benefits. It’s hard to not feel like I’m doing a disservice to myself one way or another, and with how fast things move nowadays (not to mention AI) it feels like a decision that needs to be made sooner rather than later.”

Katie Cadwell, co-founder of branding studio Lucky Dip and The NDA Podcast:

The fact you’ve written in speaks volumes. People stay in comfortable jobs a lot longer than two years, so it’s great that you’re questioning if you could do more. You deserve a chance to try and find a role that challenges you. And the good news is there’s no better position to job hunt from than being in a stable role. So what’s the harm in trying?

Either you’ll find a brilliant opportunity, or you won’t. Then you’ll feel less guilty because you took the risk to try. So set yourself a goal. By January, to have a portfolio you’re proud of and start applying for jobs.

The best creatives I know take the leap as soon as they feel comfortable. They find a new role that feels bigger than them. Something to grow into. It’s the reason there are some people who progress much faster than others. Because your growth is tenfold when you’re outside your comfort zone, surrounded by other people doing the same.

Don’t worry about feeling despondent right now. Creativity doesn’t die. You still have that drive deep down. Listen to Ira Glass talking about ‘The Gap’ which is where I think you are. You’re not alone in being early in your career and questioning what’s next.

If you stay put, what will dwindle is your technical competency. The programmes change quickly, the tech is advancing like you mentioned – so whether it’s during the daytime or in the evenings, you need to be pushing yourself to learn. Your references can also take a hit when you’re not surrounded by other creative people. Their taste, their culture, their approach would all feed into you. So make sure your pool of inspiration is varied and current.

Let me be clear, there is nothing wrong with choosing financial stability, especially in this climate. But you never know – there might be a creative role out there that could give you both.

In answering your creative career conundrums we realise that some issues need expert support, so we’ve collated a list of additional resources that can support you across things that might arise at work.

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