I never should have left Cruisin' Style Magazine. I became a freelance graphic artist in 2007. Last year I got a call that seemed like a dream job...
AutoTrator contacted ME about a graphic artist position in Tampa, I didn't go looking for them. They offered me all kinds of bonuses that were oh, so tempting. I was supposed to get $41k a year salary, $4100 for a bonus in February, quarterly raises and sent to the Photoshop/Adobe seminars to keep my skills sharp.
I took the bait, only it turned out to be a bait-and-switch.
Every one of those promises were broken. Starting with the "salaried" position. I ended up working 45+ hours a week with no overtime compensation, which turned out to average somewhere around $13 an hour. I was forced to use PDO's for doctor's appointments where I only needed to be gone an hour or two. Only after pitching a fit about the overtime was THAT resolved.
The next thing that never happened was the quarterly raise. They said that since we were now AutoTrader.com instead of AutoTrader Classics we were only going to be getting yearly raises. I was unable to meet the excessively (impossibly) high expectations of the art director who admits to being OCD and a perfectionist to boot. Somehow the final decision was determined by Atlanta which is hundreds of miles away.
Bye bye raise.
Next on the hit list was the 10% bonus I was promised verbally at the interview. Only after finding out that the bonus had evaporated, did I re-read the offer letter. It was cleverly written in perfect CYOA: "0-10% of your yearly income..."
Bye Bye Bonus.
Finally to add insult to injury, I ended up getting left out of the photoshop convention because some one had to stay behind at the office from the art department just in case. What was so important that it wouldn't wait until Monday- the next business day? The brand new professional photographer/graphic artist in training got to go, but I didn't, even though I was there longer. I even offered to pay my own way, but was told if I didn't show up to work I would be fired.
Asshats were going to fire me anyway. So I was doubly screwed on that deal.
No matter what I did, it wasn't good enough. If I improved on an area that they wanted me to, they'd look for something else to give me grief about until they were nit-picking to the point of pointing out that one picture box in a layout was 51/5000ths of a inch lower than the one next to it.
Do you think that a reader is going to pull out a micrometer and say "this box is .0106 inches lower"? That was less than half the width of a 1pt line. InDesign itself didn't even pick that up.
All of this came on suddenly over the last 3 issues. I was banging out magazines once a week. All of the editorial of the core books were mine to layout. If I had to ask for help, I was punished for it. If I didn't ask for help I was punished for it. I just wished someone would make up my mind...
The only thing I got that they promised was insurance, and its a good thing too, because the stress was making me sick.
I left a WONDERFUL job freelancing because I was stupid enough to reach for that carrot that AT dangled in front of me. I am eternally grateful for the work I had from Cruisin' Style. It wasn't until looking in retrospect, that I realized the amazing deal AutoTrator promised, wasn't much more than what I had been getting all along by just freelancing.
Ray Martino is an awesome guy to work for and Cruisin' Style is one hell of a magazine. Its readers are faithful and its a nationwide publication. CSM is the car show bible with hundreds of event listings from across the USA. Its grassroots and appreciates its readers, advertisers, contributors and employees. Its one of the few publications that interacts with its reader base.
If you want to work for a company that treats you like a PERSON, contact Ray. Visit www.cruisinstyle.com There you can link to the actual magazine and see the way it looks printed. There is an interactive site that allows you to flip through the magazine page by page. Its a really cool function!
I'm looking forward to going back to a magazine where my creativity and opinion are valued and promises that are made are kept. Cruisin' Style is awesome. I shouldn't have believed that a cold, corporate giant like AutoTrader would be better. After all, its only a rag mag (newsprint) fit for the back of a toilet at a swap meet.
I heard a rumor that AutoTrader former employees were starting their own company. A letter came down from the corporate office ranting and threatening legal action against any opposition, so I figured it must be true. I feel like being a rebel. If there really is a magazine made by former AT employees, the editors/owners can feel free to contact me. I'm available for freelance work. AT has no hold on me anymore.
AT expects you to get written permission to work ANYPLACE other than AT, even if its babysitting. Psychos... There is no need for a Non-compete clause, I am a professional who's been doing graphics for 20 years, 9 of which were with Cruisin' Style. I know how to handle a client base. I don't share trade secrets. Your graphics are secure with me.
My email is located on my under-construction site GrafixASAP.com I'm available 24-7
AutoTrator contacted ME about a graphic artist position in Tampa, I didn't go looking for them. They offered me all kinds of bonuses that were oh, so tempting. I was supposed to get $41k a year salary, $4100 for a bonus in February, quarterly raises and sent to the Photoshop/Adobe seminars to keep my skills sharp.
I took the bait, only it turned out to be a bait-and-switch.
Every one of those promises were broken. Starting with the "salaried" position. I ended up working 45+ hours a week with no overtime compensation, which turned out to average somewhere around $13 an hour. I was forced to use PDO's for doctor's appointments where I only needed to be gone an hour or two. Only after pitching a fit about the overtime was THAT resolved.
The next thing that never happened was the quarterly raise. They said that since we were now AutoTrader.com instead of AutoTrader Classics we were only going to be getting yearly raises. I was unable to meet the excessively (impossibly) high expectations of the art director who admits to being OCD and a perfectionist to boot. Somehow the final decision was determined by Atlanta which is hundreds of miles away.
Bye bye raise.
Next on the hit list was the 10% bonus I was promised verbally at the interview. Only after finding out that the bonus had evaporated, did I re-read the offer letter. It was cleverly written in perfect CYOA: "0-10% of your yearly income..."
Bye Bye Bonus.
Finally to add insult to injury, I ended up getting left out of the photoshop convention because some one had to stay behind at the office from the art department just in case. What was so important that it wouldn't wait until Monday- the next business day? The brand new professional photographer/graphic artist in training got to go, but I didn't, even though I was there longer. I even offered to pay my own way, but was told if I didn't show up to work I would be fired.
Asshats were going to fire me anyway. So I was doubly screwed on that deal.
No matter what I did, it wasn't good enough. If I improved on an area that they wanted me to, they'd look for something else to give me grief about until they were nit-picking to the point of pointing out that one picture box in a layout was 51/5000ths of a inch lower than the one next to it.
Do you think that a reader is going to pull out a micrometer and say "this box is .0106 inches lower"? That was less than half the width of a 1pt line. InDesign itself didn't even pick that up.
All of this came on suddenly over the last 3 issues. I was banging out magazines once a week. All of the editorial of the core books were mine to layout. If I had to ask for help, I was punished for it. If I didn't ask for help I was punished for it. I just wished someone would make up my mind...
The only thing I got that they promised was insurance, and its a good thing too, because the stress was making me sick.
I left a WONDERFUL job freelancing because I was stupid enough to reach for that carrot that AT dangled in front of me. I am eternally grateful for the work I had from Cruisin' Style. It wasn't until looking in retrospect, that I realized the amazing deal AutoTrator promised, wasn't much more than what I had been getting all along by just freelancing.
Ray Martino is an awesome guy to work for and Cruisin' Style is one hell of a magazine. Its readers are faithful and its a nationwide publication. CSM is the car show bible with hundreds of event listings from across the USA. Its grassroots and appreciates its readers, advertisers, contributors and employees. Its one of the few publications that interacts with its reader base.
If you want to work for a company that treats you like a PERSON, contact Ray. Visit www.cruisinstyle.com There you can link to the actual magazine and see the way it looks printed. There is an interactive site that allows you to flip through the magazine page by page. Its a really cool function!
I'm looking forward to going back to a magazine where my creativity and opinion are valued and promises that are made are kept. Cruisin' Style is awesome. I shouldn't have believed that a cold, corporate giant like AutoTrader would be better. After all, its only a rag mag (newsprint) fit for the back of a toilet at a swap meet.
I heard a rumor that AutoTrader former employees were starting their own company. A letter came down from the corporate office ranting and threatening legal action against any opposition, so I figured it must be true. I feel like being a rebel. If there really is a magazine made by former AT employees, the editors/owners can feel free to contact me. I'm available for freelance work. AT has no hold on me anymore.
AT expects you to get written permission to work ANYPLACE other than AT, even if its babysitting. Psychos... There is no need for a Non-compete clause, I am a professional who's been doing graphics for 20 years, 9 of which were with Cruisin' Style. I know how to handle a client base. I don't share trade secrets. Your graphics are secure with me.
My email is located on my under-construction site GrafixASAP.com I'm available 24-7
