Okay, I'm fully aware of the capitulating nature of the following piece, but remember – the light always comes through occasional shitposting.

While the markets are showing some signs of relief, it is still tough out there, especially for the small teams in pursuit of a widespread NFT collection launch. Since I still haven't found my keys to the time travel device or infinite fountain of cash, I've decided to search for a part-time job to spare a few hours here and there in the middle of the week. Yes, loser, whatever. Stacking up my vast production experience in a CV and preparing an exciting reel full of content, I was sure it might take me a little more than a few days before I end up in some production studio filling up call sheets. But it turned in quite the opposite direction.

Here are my few cents after going through the process. On the one hand, creating content in Russia circa 2022 is a game of compromises. You can have the mental capacity to pull yourself together and work with state-owned platforms (the most powerful hiring force these days). Or you can be stubborn enough to set up a workload filled with half-illegal money transfers, virtual credit cards, and logistical nightmares (and these guys usually operate as low under the radar as possible). And on the other hand, the irony here is that there's a little need for that content all around. The major advertising players (all foreign) are gone, as well as bloggers, celebrities, and startups (all relocated). Therefore each production team capable of keeping up their business inside the country doesn't need any external human resources, which was my specialization of sorts: an outsider who came to fix stuff.

So now, for the most part, I've been stuck seeing the "Decline" application status over and over again and with the inability to get a person on the other side of the line to chat. Each day, more companies freeze the hiring process due to market conditions. The thing is common: some of my peers are in the same position across different work areas, so we support each other by lifting the group's spirits with crazy stories or meditational bits of advice. But I don't know if it's working: the money is slowly evaporating for every person in our little support group, considering the hot flaming inflation. So most of the time, we keep building the same side projects, little by little, which is almost a miracle if you consider that we don't have any substantial financing left. Of course, there's always freelance work here and there, but I miss complex long-term stuff on the ground.

In closure, there's a bright side to all this. I've never in my life been able to retain so many hours dedicated to education on my hands (yeah, even during the university years). I firmly believe that this process now is a foundational thing. Then maybe all the "Declines" for part-time applications mean something.

Okay, I'm fully aware of the capitulating nature of the following piece, but remember – the light always comes through occasional shitposting.

While the markets are showing some signs of relief, it is still tough out there, especially for the small teams in pursuit of a widespread NFT collection launch. Since I still haven't found my keys to the time travel device or infinite fountain of cash, I've decided to search for a part-time job to spare a few hours here and there in the middle of the week. Yes, loser, whatever. Stacking up my vast production experience in a CV and preparing an exciting reel full of content, I was sure it might take me a little more than a few days before I end up in some production studio filling up call sheets. But it turned in quite the opposite direction.

Here are my few cents after going through the process. On the one hand, creating content in Russia circa 2022 is a game of compromises. You can have the mental capacity to pull yourself together and work with state-owned platforms (the most powerful hiring force these days). Or you can be stubborn enough to set up a workload filled with half-illegal money transfers, virtual credit cards, and logistical nightmares (and these guys usually operate as low under the radar as possible). And on the other hand, the irony here is that there's a little need for that content all around. The major advertising players (all foreign) are gone, as well as bloggers, celebrities, and startups (all relocated). Therefore each production team capable of keeping up their business inside the country doesn't need any external human resources, which was my specialization of sorts: an outsider who came to fix stuff.

So now, for the most part, I've been stuck seeing the "Decline" application status over and over again and with the inability to get a person on the other side of the line to chat. Each day, more companies freeze the hiring process due to market conditions. The thing is common: some of my peers are in the same position across different work areas, so we support each other by lifting the group's spirits with crazy stories or meditational bits of advice. But I don't know if it's working: the money is slowly evaporating for every person in our little support group, considering the hot flaming inflation. So most of the time, we keep building the same side projects, little by little, which is almost a miracle if you consider that we don't have any substantial financing left. Of course, there's always freelance work here and there, but I miss complex long-term stuff on the ground.

In closure, there's a bright side to all this. I've never in my life been able to retain so many hours dedicated to education on my hands (yeah, even during the university years). I firmly believe that this process now is a foundational thing. Then maybe all the "Declines" for part-time applications mean something.