Danswers 10: Paul Ryckert

If I cringed any harder hearing Dan talk about how "anybody can get a job" or that there's "billions of jobs" out there, or that you should "just stop doing a job if you don't like it", I just might become blind... or the world just might collapse, either one could honestly happen.

being that bitter ain't good for your heart, gramps!

@lilman1101: It just seemed to take a little while. I'm not sure why.

The wine + god dream vacation almost killed me...great podcast as usual. :)

Now that I'm actually in a relationship I feel like I can listen to these again.

Gotta say that as much as I love Dan and his super strange views on the world, that part really did make me cringe a bit as well. Mostly because it will set a really terrible precedent for younger impressionable people. I'm not saying don't follow your dreams, but be realistic about your current situation and options.

There are countless people in this world that try extremely hard and don't get what they want simply because they didn't get lucky. How many people do you think apply to GameSpot every day, talented hard working people at that? Yet when GameSpot was hiring they brought on Alexa from Polygon. I have nothing against Alexa of course, but how many people just as capable as her were completely looked over in favor of just shifting around the same people already in the industry.

I don't want to turn this into a huge rant but yah.. hard work and genuine aspirations won't always get you that job. Heck, as an illustrator that has been trying really hard for a while I know this first hand.

Yeah, as much as I love Dan, his viewpoints regarding finding a job let alone a career you love are very misguided. From a personal level, both of my parents immigrated to North America when I was very young. They worked at jobs they hated, and could barely speak English at the time. They couldn't just get any job they wanted. The best job was the one they had to earn enough money to support me. Even now that they're far better off financially, neither of them works at a job they love, or even really likes. They do it because they make a good income that let's them do things they like when they're not working and save money for when they're retired.

Gonna leave this quote from Mike Rowe of Dirty Jobs fame from here, because I think he sums it up beautifully.

Like all bad advice, “Follow Your Passion” is routinely dispensed as though it’s wisdom were both incontrovertible and equally applicable to all. It’s not. Just because you’re passionate about something doesn’t mean you won’t suck at it. And just because you’re determined to improve doesn’t mean that you will. Does that mean you shouldn’t pursue a thing you’re passionate about?” Of course not. The question is, for how long, and to what end?

When it comes to earning a living and being a productive member of society – I don’t think people should limit their options to those vocations they feel passionate towards. I met a lot of people on Dirty Jobs who really loved their work. But very few of them dreamed of having the career they ultimately chose. I remember a very successful septic tank cleaner who told me his secret of success. “I looked around to see where everyone else was headed, and then I went the opposite way,” he said. “Then I got good at my work. Then I found a way to love it. Then I got rich.”

@humanity: @ichthy: I completely agree. Also I should note that I knew to take Dan's opinion with a grain of salt under the context of the podcast and the question that was asked, as Dan is probably the least qualified to answer it. I'm not saying Dan isn't a hardworker or doesn't deserve what he gets/has professionally in a career, I'm just saying he wouldn't know any better because his career arc and privilege doesn't require the same parameters as the majority of citizens in a modern capitalistic society.

Also, that quote by Mike Rowe is incredibly relevant and salient wisdom.

@dudeglove: That's pretty great, I'm going to save that.

A bar co-owned by Dan and his dad would be amazing

This was another truly great episode. I hope you guys will bring Paul on again relatively soon, since he seemed to enjoy himself quite a bit too and had a lot of stories left.

Paul Ryckert looks positively effervescent! Dan looks like he's taking a shit and enjoying it too much.

@dannyodwyer Your ice cream story hits pretty close to home for me. I made a video a couple years ago that started to go viral. Due to some drama at work, I pulled it off my youtube channel, but it's still widely available. It made a lot of major TV networks as well. I was contacted by Good Morning America and The Today Show about making an appearance. Someone even showed up at work, and said they wouldn't leave until they talked to me (I made the mistake of using some personal information responding to a message, and they figured it out from there). I didn't enjoy my brush with fame.

I have to agree with the response to Dan's observation. Not to draw too much of a personal eye on my struggles, but Dan and I are about the same age, we both knew what we wanted to do in our lives early on, we're both from the Midwest (meaning: no instant connection to fame or major games journalism outpost operating just down the street) and we were both at E3 attending the exact same taping of Conan O'Brien's Tonight Show. The correlations amused me because he got the career and fame he wanted out of life and I haven't gotten anywhere close to what I wanted.

Not to pare it down, but the biggest thing that separated us, it seems, was focus. I wanted to be a filmmaker, Dan wanted to be a game reviewer. He was able to cheese his way through enough courses and acquire enough games (through trade-ins or what-have-you?) to review something like 700 games while he was in college. Meanwhile, I went to an Art Institute, could only afford to be there nine months (I'm still paying it down) and had to drop out. I didn't focus on anything in particular. I learned to write, whether game review, a novel, a technical report or a screenplay. I learned to shoot and edit footage. I already dabbled in design, so I learned Flash and After Effects.

The thing is, it's impossible to get a creative job as a generalist like that. There will always be better-qualified writers, videographers and editors because those people went through school laser-focused on their craft and, gasp, have an actual degree. People like me only win out when one of our projects - the summary of our work - happens to go viral. And that's not easy! It is lightning in a bottle! Dan knew what he wanted very, VERY specifically and he got it through sheer determination.

When I worked in a call center, I was making more money than when I was working retail, but I was infinitely more miserable. Around that time, Steve Jobs died and one of the most relevant quotes to me was

“I have looked in the mirror every morning and asked myself: "If today were the last day of my life, would I want to do what I am about to do today?" And whenever the answer has been "No" for too many days in a row, I know I need to change something.”

But that's so much easier said than done. I mean, that is practically Dan's point. If you don't like something, move on. To some extent, you can, but for most of us, we can't. We're a society that seems to pity those who never find their "god-given gifts", but those who do find them wind up wasting away in obscurity, unable to capitalize on them. Someone also mentioned the leg up that Alexa got working for Polygon, I'd point out Giant Bomb's wide net for jobs last year and they brought in Dan and Jason from Game Informer, gaming's largest print publication. I think they're absolutely the best people for the job, but rewarding the best talent quickly and most efficiently can also lead to shades of nepotism.

So for now, I produce stuff that people really enjoy, but I just wait for my ship to come. (Not to sound scammy: but this is my latest work here: http://youtube.com/nthreview.)

Also: wah. #firstworldproblems /Rant

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Loved having Paul on the show! I really enjoyed this show, but I don't know, last week's was a bit of a lull. I appreciate the Dans bringing in an actual professional to talk about real issues that affect us, but I think the show works its best when they stick to amateur observations and camaraderie and point us toward the professionals, rather than compromising between both for an episode and not being terribly effective at either.

Cheers!

Great episode, bring Paul more often! :D

"Cause it doesn't pay the bills Dan...". Papa Ryckert still teachin'.

Filed Under: Divorce, Post Office

@npfeifer: I had a look at your channel and your production value seems really high, the videos are well edited, you speak well (and the script is well-written) and although I currently don't have the 40 minutes to invest in watching the whole thing, it seems like you've got a great project running here. I think your ship will come as long as you continue investing time in promoting your material outside of YouTube. I like to think that for online content, the cream eventually rises to the top. And it seems like you have the proverbial cream, so keep up the good work.

On the topic of focus: this is my biggest problem. I have huge levels of interest in producing music, doing freelance graphic design + illustration, studying fulltime for my architecture degree, streaming on Twitch, and producing videos for YouTube, but I simply don't have the time or energy to do more than two of these things at once. This leads to a lot of time spent resenting the fact that I can't focus my energies (and I believe that inside of me, there is a strong motivational force) on one particular project. I probably invest 50+ hours a week into my architecture studies, which, when combined with a part time job, leaves me with almost no time even to do something like stream Hearthstone for an hour after work. And even when I do have that hour free, I never have the energy.

I really hope once my degree finishes at the end of this year, I'll have the energy to apply myself to the other things I'm interested in. And yes, I'll be doing my best to do one at a time. Let me know how it goes waiting for that ship.

@merxworx01: You just blew my mind!