you guys know you have crappy pay, but still you show up to work, write, write, eat some more hot pockets and write some more, i just wanna take pictures, but i can write too, when are you hiring an intern to get your coffee and learn the trade of the elite super street staff?  

unless you've got some experience... iono if you'll get a job as a photographer.  Superstreet is part of a LARGE company, and what gets hired and fired the most are AWP's (assistant web producer).  dont let the name fool you, you basically sit at the computer and convert old/new magazine articles to be put on the website.  i've been trying to get a position as a photographer too, and i do have experience, but i think they want full time.  

Being a professional photographer requires more then owning a camera.  You need credentials and portfolio, to back yourself up.  Anybody can take a picture but that doesn't mean they're photographers.  The pros make sure that they have the best lighting, and use of shadows and colors.  Also don't dis internships, and low level positions.  They're not all just grunt work.  Companies use low level positions to gauge what kind of worker you are and see if you're worth keeping around.  You may think you're ambitious wanting to skip the beginning and start at the top but that's not ambition that's arrogance.  Why should a company like SIM take a guy off the street and give him a cushy writing/photographing job?  I've been working for these magazines back when they were still owned by Primedia and hung around after we became owned by Source Interlink Media.  I've seen a lot of interns and AWPs come and go, and the ones who are never here that long are the arrogant ones.  These are the ones who come in thinking they are too good for the magazines and just want to go out and take pictures of the cars.  With an attitude like that they are over confident, they make mistakes, and they show that they are not worth keeping around.  So before you go on dissing the low level postions, ask yourself how else are you going to prove yourself.  

I hate to admit it, but you made a good point.

However, working as a low level grunt can be very dis-heartening when you can see that those above you simply don't care about the company they work for, yet recieve way more praise than you'll ever get. I think my biggest gripe with working in such a large company is that it doesn't matter if I take an extra ten minutes to put in some attention to detail, while the guy next to you gets more credit because he pumped out a couple more articles than you did, even if they were published incorrectly.

Another thing that really rubs me the wrong way is seeing people who are responsible for QA skimp out on their jobs and let alot of mistakes slip through the cracks. I'm by no means perfect. I make honest mistakes like everyone else, but at least I try to improve my standards as well as work on my weakpoints.

A pat on the back goes alot farther than a lashing.

Constant threats and increased minimum production rates are not a good way to guage how dedicated someone is to an employer. It only spawns disambiguous feelings and resentment towards the workplace. I think that people who outperform shouldn't set the bar for everyone else, but rather should be congratulated, while others should be encouraged to raise their standards, but aren't forced to keep up with the leaders of the pack or die off.

A reason for this is because genuinely dedicated workers who can't keep up will be temrinated and less devoted people will be hired as replacements and may be able to fill in the blanks, but won't produce as genuine an article as the previous, more dedicated worker did.  

word.  

the upper ceos at the company are dicks too, they need to get the stick outta ther asses and blame themselves for the failing company.