Hello girl geeks, longtime no blog! One of the main reasons for this is that the past 9 months have been quite eventful with many highs and lows all started by losing my job. This is, unfortunately, not a rare coincidence in today’s job market. Especially within the video game industry as it is a very volatile environment. I came into the industry knowing that, so I had a few tricks up my sleeve.
What not many people knew was that I had a long-term plan; one that has been building and transforming since 2009 when I was in my second year of my undergraduate degree. It was a lecture on cultural economies and how they change and manifest with location and policies. Something about this lecture lit up ideas in my brain; I found this research not only fascinating but I could spot holes within academic literature that I knew I could write about. I never knew what I wanted to do, much to the despair of my family. I swung between marine biologist, costume designer, equine vet, air stewardess, music producer and many others. As I progressed through my A Levels and undergraduate degree I tried to keep my options open as much as possible, simply following what I enjoyed; which was research, creativity and travel.
I already had plans at this stage to undertake a masters degree, putting money aside from three years of student finance to fund it. From my second year I tailored my studies to be almost all economic geography with my own research focusing on cultural economies; in particular how the internet could be disrupting traditional ideas of place and the impact of creators. It was a very exciting time to be examining such a subject as during this time we had the explosion of YouTube, accessible e-commerce sites such last Etsy and Storenvy appeared, social media began to be took seriously by businesses and indie games were gaining enormous success within ‘traditional’ publications. These are only a few of the amazing innovations that occurred during this time which had an impact on creators, businesses and how and where they locate and work.
However, I knew that to be able to write about something as big as a changing cultural and technological economy, I needed to experience it first. In addition, I wanted a break from academia and earn some proper money to help set my life up. As it happened, I graduated while we were still within the economic crash and I found it very hard to find a job. I took the decision to take out a bit of time to be a carer for my mum and this is when I found cosplay and got back into gaming after a few years out because studies and other hobbies took precedence. My last bit of student loan was spent buying back consoles I had sold in the past! I did it at first for enjoyment and to take my mind off things. I made my costumes, played some games, read industry articles, watched YouTube and started to build my personality online. However I quickly realised how the gaming industry seemed to be going through accelerated changes, how hobbies and what was classed as work were blurring. Fan content was becoming more important and part of official marketing campaigns, Let’s Players were creating their own careers and cosplayers were setting up businesses on the back of franchises.
Long story short, in addition to gaining experience simply through research and cultural employment roles, which I did, I actively aimed to get a job in the games industry and made my own experience with online activities which you can read more about HERE. Being made redundant highlighted that maybe now was the time to try the long goal, achieving a PhD. I had nothing to lose. I knew what I wanted to write about now but I also knew gaining funding for your own idea (not a pre-funded application) can be difficult. So I contacted my old lecturer from second year to ask for advice and if possible, if she could be my supervisor. I was took by surprise how positive she was and how she accelerated everything. I was writing a proposal and funding forms before I knew it! Taking those years out and having industry experience proved invaluable to explaining how I could expand knowledge of how technological advancements could impact current and future cultural economic policies. Most importantly, my proposed research aligned with my supervisor’s work.
I won’t lie, I am still concerned about my future. It is another three years where I won’t be earning a great deal and I’ll be almost 30 when I finish. There is no guarantee of a research or lecturing job once I graduate and I know that a PhD can close as many doors as it opens. I have felt that impact with my masters already where recruiters have said I am overqualified for roles I have applied for. But at least I can say I have no regrets, come what may. I tried and I got somewhere and met a goal I planned eight years ago.
This blog post was written by LGG blogger Helen Johnson - go follow her on twitter!