Be an Overachiever – adamtcroft.com

I know this is a shock to some of you – but I was the super nerdiest kid growing up.

My glasses were too big.

My body didn’t fit anything.

I was attractive to zero members of the opposite sex and also freaked out having no idea what to do when, eventually, I asked a girl out on a date and she said yes.

I also got shit grades. Awful grades.

Like, nearly dropped out of college awful grades. (It’s by sheer luck that I didn’t drop out)

Suffice to say, I was a below average human.

(You may see yourself reflected in my description of myself – I’m calling myself a below average human, by my standards for myself. If you’re projecting yourself onto my words and getting upset with me – close this window.)

Today, I’m super fortunate by a bunch of standards. I’m married to a wonderful, smart woman who keeps me from being too obnoxious. I’ve worked in a ton of fields within my dream career. I have worked with companies that young loser me would’ve freaked out over if he’d known that was his future. I also have even more, larger dreams and goals.

But how does this happen? How does one go from feeling as if the world is against them (nobody picks you for the team, no real ability to do anything cool, the only people who like you are your internet friends) to finding their version of success?

What the World Expects

Like it or not, the world around you has expectations. To get anywhere, you need to at least meet those expectations. If you’re smart, you’ll exceed and/or defy them.

What I didn’t know when I was younger were the expectations of success at that given point in time.

It’s arguable that there really weren’t any “universal” standards of success back then – or at least, they’ve changed since. High school success had a lot to do with your circle of friends, and perhaps athletic ability. Even if you were an academic success, many times you were still shunned.

But when you’re a functioning, bill paying, adult in a creative career – the standards of success are pretty clear. So it’s amazing to me that people often still don’t “get it”.

What I’m saying is – it’s not actually all that hard to do what I do for a living. Or, anything I’ve done, for that matter.

It doesn’t take special, superhuman hearing and ability.

It doesn’t take knowing the best people.

It doesn’t take knowing all the intricacies of every microphone, DAW, programming language, or anything.

It requires meeting a few, common, easy to reach standards.

You meet them, you increase your odds of success and the career (or career shifts) that you want. You exceed them, you overachieve, and you get nearly anything you set your mind to (work for the companies you want, get the money you ask for, etc.)

Clearly, I advocate you becoming an overachiever.

And if that word – overachiever – scares you, breathe and relax a minute. I promise what I’m suggesting is not outside of your capabilities. Seriously, even if you’re depressed, haven’t ever achieved anything, have a low self-worth, and feel like you’ll never get anywhere.

That was literally me at one point in time. I’m not joking.

To do the following, you literally need to be capable of things like, having an imagination, dressing differently, and not staring at the ground when you walk.

Seriously.

I’ll explain.

Be Cool

The first expectation that the world has for you is that you’re cool.

I don’t mean fashionable, attractive, dynamic, and charismatic – though dear god if you strive for one of those things you’ll instantly level up your life.

I mean mildly confident, and not needy.

Not desperate.

If you’re dying for a relationship, for example, nobody will want to go out with you. You don’t want the person, you want the relationship status.

Similarly, if you’re dying for an audio job and will do anything to get one nobody will want to hire you. You’re not looking to contribute, help a team, be an asset, etc – you’re looking to get a title or fulfill your dream.

Imagine for a minute, the difference between two potential employees.

The person who has mastered the essential basics of audio software and how interactive audio works. They can design sounds competently, work with a game engine, and understand the words “version control”. While they wouldn’t be hired as a senior or on a legendary movie right out of the gate, they’re not bad. They’re also very eager to learn more and work with intelligent people further along in their career.
The person who has worked with audio software, game engines, and hopes they know how interactive audio works. They might be able to design sounds and work on things but they aren’t exactly sure. They made a demo once and it was okay but they’re kind of embarrassed about it. They think they could probably work on a game, they really want to! But they’re also really unsure of if anyone would ever hire them, think it’s unlikely, and probably wouldn’t know how much money to ask for anyway.

Who do you think is getting hired?

Who are you hiring?

Option #1 doesn’t even have to be all that great. They just need to be good, smart enough to ask questions, and be humbly confident in themselves. If someone criticizes their work, they roll with the punches and get better. They can always find another job, and they won’t die if things don’t all go to plan.

Oddly, they usually do. Or the plan gets better.

If you’re simply cool, interested in genuinely helping others, and decide to be an asset to your team – you’ll get really, really far.

Know your Shit

Piggybacking on the previous – you have to know what you’re doing.

You have to be able to competently edit audio, understand the basics of middleware and a game engine.

If you’re doing film and you’ve never touched any of that, you won’t get a job.

Just like if you’re a “composer” and apply for a technical gig, you won’t get the job.

Being competent is the bare minimum expectation.

Imagine this like, you’re expected to get at least B+ average grades, perhaps straight A’s. You might not need straight A+’s, but you’re expected to hit 92% and above every time as a baseline.

You can do that, it’s not out of your realm of capability.

Be Just a Little Special

Here’s the kicker for most of you. It’s what consistently gets me jobs.

I get hired for primarily 2 reasons:

I have such a varied, ridiculous work background that it quickly becomes apparent I can figure out how to succeed in nearly every situation I’m in
I can talk to engineers

A bunch of you might read this, or know me, and assume that I’m some programming genius.

I’m not. If you sit me down with a senior developer (and I have done this, multiple times, I promise) – I come off like an idiot.

That’s totally okay too. I’m working toward being better, and it will come with time.

But from the engineer’s perspective – I’m a breath of fresh air.

You know when you meet someone who knows just enough audio to understand a little of what you do and respect it immensely? When you’re working with them, you love these people. They help you, they’re an asset that can translate your needs to the rest of the studio, and the relationship is usually mutually beneficial.

That’s what I am, between software engineers and audio. I know enough to effectively speak both sides, help teams work together instead of against each other, and be an asset to everyone.

I also know enough to be technical and program my way out of holes and help other people. While that’s a wonderful skill – the true value comes with the people skills and being able to help dig out of holes.

You need to find your thing, if you haven’t.

What one thing do you do that would be an X factor to get you hired?

It’s usually not a technical thing, though it could be.

Do you learn systems really quickly? Can you explain and write documentation like nobody’s business? Are you extroverted and able to help teams work together? Are you introverted and simply are capable of getting a metric load of work done that is daunting to anyone else?

See, the audio knowledge is the baseline expectation.

But that thing that makes you special? When you can articulate it – you’ll get hired by the people looking for you.

Extra Credit: Look Professional

This is the easiest part of the whole thing – and the part you’re also least likely to do… because, well…. games.

Dress up for work. I don’t mean wear a suit or a super formal dress.

I mean, wear a collared shirt that fits. Or, wear a dress/female-oriented business casual attire.

Essentially I mean, go at least 1-2 steps up from jeans and a t-shirt. Wear that to work at least 1 day per week.

If you want to make it even easier – grab a semi-formal pair of shoes (ie: 1-2 steps nicer than tennis shoes) and wear those to work.

I wear dress boots with jeans and a t-shirt regularly. The boots dress the rest of the outfit up well without looking awkward. If I wear a collared shirt (that fits) with it, I look downright dapper compared to most people at a games company.

And that’s the whole point.

The very first day you’ll get a few heckling comments.

“Wow, somebody dressed up for work today, huh?”

That kind of thing.

Just say “Yep.” or, “Yeah, I felt like looking nice today.” and just leave it at that.

Wear this attire to work 2-3 times, and those comments will die off. Then the magic starts happening.

For literally no reason at all that I can decipher, people will begin to take you more seriously.

I’m not kidding.

They will trust you, they’ll get along better with you, and they’ll assume that you know what you’re doing. Even if nothing at all changed except your dress.

Humans are wired to appearance – like it or not – and the more you dress well and are in shape, the more people will associate positively with you.

The trick is doing this without making everyone else feel ashamed, or standing out like a sore thumb.

But, in games, it’s easy. Simply wear clothes that fit, and dress 1-2 steps above where you’re at right now, 2-3 days a week.

Trust me, magic will happen.

You Can do This

Remember, I was once the nerd with glasses that were too big who was afraid to ask out girls and never got picked for sports teams.

Classic loser. Loser in like, the 80’s teen coming of age movie sense.

I’m not that much more special now. I just chose to commit myself to a few things that were unique, get good at them, and dress one step up from band shirts.

If I can do this, you can too.

Now use that imagination of yours and get to it!