Future Career Objectives

 I have recently decided that I want to be a Computer Graphics Artist.  I love art, and I love computers, so naturally it is the best career choice for me.  My current major is Computer Science, which will teach me the programming skills needed to work in that field.  When I finish getting my Computer Science degree, I plan on taking a year off to make the money needed to go to a two-year technical school for graphic art.  I will still live with my parents at this time, so I will not have to worry about paying bills yet at that time.  Although I do plan on paying them back for a lot of things – my college education for example – once I am financially stable.  The school I choose to attend for graphic art will either be the Pittsburgh Technical Institute or The Art Institute of Pittsburgh.  Both of these schools are relatively close to where I live, so I will be able to commute while living at home.

 I will probably find a full time job after I graduate from Slippery Rock University to make enough money to afford to go to the graphics school.  I already have a pretty good amount of money in a CD account and a savings account, but I will need to add to it if I want to continue to have savings and also pay for school.  Hopefully, I will generate enough money in one year to pay for the Pittsburgh school, but if not then I will work an extra year, or even three years if that is what it takes.  My parents are extremely supportive of my sisters and I, so I know I can count on them for a place to stay and food to eat until I am done with all of my schooling.  They agreed to pay for four years of our college education, but beyond that it is up to us.  This is why I will need to get a job when I graduate from Slippery Rock to make the money needed to go to the next school for training to be a Computer Graphic Artist.

 More specifically, I plan on working for Pixar.  Pixar is the company given credit for creating the first fully computer-animated film called Toy Story.  They currently have partnership with Disney which will last through the production of six individual films.  Pixar is a regional corporation located in Emeryville, California, so I will have to move out there.  The drastic change of location will provide me with new exciting experiences and challenges such as making new friends and getting used to a completely different environment.
The cost of living is higher in California, but the pay rates are also higher than they are here in Pennsylvania, so as long as I save a portion of every paycheck it should not take long for me to generate enough money to pay off my debts and student loans.  Pixar does not give out information on their starting salaries or benefits, however, the starting salary for a Computer Graphic Artist is around $75,000.  The average salary after working for five years can go as high as $150,000, and the potential salary is up to $500,000.  According to their web site, Pixar is an equal opportunity employer with “industry-competitive salaries and provides generous benefits packages.”  Their web site also states that every employee gets a stake in the company’s success through a program of stock options.

Pixar is a good company to work for because of it’s continuing rise in success.  It currently holds $300 million in the bank and has no debts.  Pixar was founded in 1986 and has been growing in size and in revenue ever since.  In 1995, Pixar went public with an initial offering of 6,900,000 shares at $22 a share.  This was the year Toy Story came out, and twelve commercials were made.  Pixar comes up with all of their own ideas for their films despite the suggestions thrown at them after the success of Toy Story.

In the very beginning, Pixar had about forty employees.  Today they employ over six hundred people.  This is proof of their rising success.  So far, they have made four award winning films and several commercials.  The films included are Toy Story, A Bug’s Life, Toy Story 2, and most recently Monsters, Inc.  When Monsters, Inc. was released in 2001, it broke the record for animated films making over $100,000,000 in nine days at the domestic box office.  That is just a little information as to what Pixar has been up to these past years.  The future is looking bright with a plan for their fifth animated film to be out in the summer of 2003, called Finding Nemo. The Incredibles will be their sixth film, coming out in 2004, and The Cars will be released in 2005 as their seventh computer-animated film.  Pixar’s stock is doing extremely well and is expected to grow at an annual 20% clip.  Steve Jobs, founder of Pixar and Apple Computers, stated that he wants to cut the cycle for releasing movies from eighteen months down to one film every year.

Pixar is quite possibly the most consistently profitable studio in Hollywood.  Most of Wall Street feels that Pixar’s success will continue to rize.  The reason Pixar is so successful in it’s operation is because of their use of top of the line technology, their creative team of employees, and perhaps their affiliation with Disney.
Some of the jobs presently available at Pixar include: Technical Director Internship, Effects Technical Director, Lighting Technical Director, Assistant Controller, Finance Stock Administrator, Production Accountant, Infrastructure Group Manager, Software Infrastructure Engineer, Workflow Tools Engineer, Film-On-Line Tools Engineer, Software Project Manager, Automated Test Engineer, and Safety and Security Officer.  Because of their extensive amount of different types of jobs and areas to work in, Pixar is able to run smoothly.  They have professionals working in each of the respective areas of the corporation, which allows less room for error caused by inexperienced help. Jobs said that “Pixar has ‘more Ph.Ds working’ on it’s films than at any point in the past, so the company is making technical advancements with each progressive film,” according to Peter Cohen in an interview posted at http://maccentral.macworld.com.

Pixar’s stock has recently been rising.  Currently it’s selling for $46.40 (as of 2:15p.m. on Thursday, October 17th).  I’ve included a table [below] showing the price, change, volume, trades, the Thursday’s high and low, and the year 2002’s high and low.

One of the things that was supposed to be covered in this paper was information about the office I would be working in, and whether it would be rented or bought.  I really am not sure on the status of the offices at Pixar, but that is not really important to me.  All I care about is working for this highly respected company and being a part of their team.  I’ve always enjoyed movies and animations, and I love creating graphics and animations on my computer.  I have already had experience in JavaScript, C++, Visual Basic, and Pascal, and I will be gaining more knowledge through my remaining Computer Science classes.  That means that I already have the required background in programming.  I am excited to learn more about graphics and animation throughout my schooling here at SRU, and after I graduate from here and move on to the next school.  I know that working for Pixar will allow me to fulfill all of my long-term financial goals because of their success as a company and the way they treat their employees.
 
 

Pixar.  2002 Pixar Animation Studios.  17 October 2002. <http://www.pixar.com>.

Cohen, Peter.  Jobs Talks Pixar, Movie Production.  2002.
        Mac Publishing LLC.  22 August 2002.
        <http://maccentral.macworld.com/news/0208/22.pixar.php>.
 

Shook, David. Can Pixar Keep Drawing Investors?. 2002.
        The McGraw-Hill Companies Inc.  19 August 2002.
        <http://www.businessweek.com/technology/content/aug2002/tc20020819_8702.htm>.

back