Only one person at my current studio knows that I’m actively looking to leave for a better opportunity, and I’m trying to keep it as undercover as I can until I’ve found and accepted a position at a new studio. I’ve been at the same studio for a while, so what are some things I should do before accepting a new position and leaving my current studio?
Is there anything you all wish you would have done before cleaning off you desk and saying a final goodbye? Paperwork or records I should print out? Should I re-create all the tech I developed on my personal machine at home? Copy the unique textures I’ve made, grab all my simulation setup scenes, etc? Or is that kind of stuff frowned upon? I’m talking about the stuff I made without anyone else contributing to it, not like copying all the character Zsculpts or anything.
I’m currently trying to video capture all the stuff I’ve worked on so far.
Capturing evrything for your future reels is one thing, but you’re not supposed to take anything with you. No textures, no sims, nothing.
The work you’ve done belongs to your company (unless your contract states otherwise, which I doubt). You could potentially get in serious troubles if you’d take anything and that gets known one way or another.
I mean it’s not about being frown upon or not, it’s illegal per your contract. Not quite worth the risk is it?
It feels awkward to leave everything behind but you’ll remember the important things, and you’ll build and learn new stuff in your next company.
Leaving things behind is the necessary trade-off if you want to change job…
What about things like overlapping or laps of insurance coverage? My main concern is what kind of bases should I cover, from a studio and personal life aspect, that may not be obvious at first thought?
401k* was the only ‘pain’ for me, (also any flex spending medical accounts)
if you have certain amenities like a bus pass don’t forget to switch them to a personal Credit card
make sure to wipe passwords if you logged onto a discord or gmail, disconnect devices to services such as itunes…
*i’d pick your checking bank, make a rollover IRA and always take co. 401k into that (rather than having money split between a growing number of places)
a lapse in health care shouln’t be a problem, you give the current place 2 weeks and can always due cobra for 2 weeks (yes paperwork is annoying) while you take a small break before your next gig
as long as you feel like you have the ability to include the things you want on your portfolio, there’s not much.
might want to ask lead/AD if they have time to write a small recommendation for you on something like LinkedIn
also if you did any evaluations, get copies so you have a good record/memory of your ‘challenges/goals’ to put on resume