TLG looking for new Technic designers!

[howitzer]

Funny, deadlines would probably be more of a blessing for me. I've found out that I'm really great at starting projects on my own time but I'm really bad at finishing them, unless there's an external deadline that must be met - which is never the case in hobby projects (except for the occasional contest). Right now I have half a dozen Lego unfinished projects and I have no idea when I might get any of them done. I'm nowhere nearly skilled enough to apply for this kind of job nor my current life would allow me to move to Billund but the deadlines of corporate work is one thing that really would help myself to get things done. I also like other constraints like limited parts palette or whatever, as they force creativity. For me endless freedom tends to be the worst enemy of getting anything done.

[Toastie]

Well, I don't even have a fraction of the building skills folks have here - maybe even less than a fraction = zilch.

But what disqualifies me upfront - over and out - is that I like Douglas Adams very much: "I love deadlines. I love the whooshing sound they make as they fly by."

Best
Thorsten

[JGW3000]

Not something I can do, but would be great if TLG does hire an AFOL that can both respect TLG's requirements, deadlines, part usage, etc., and throw us Technic fans a bone once in a while (old parts in new colors, get rid of the blue pins, etc.).

Edited April 16, 2021 by JGW3000
grammer

[Gray Gear]

56 minutes ago, howitzer said:

Funny, deadlines would probably be more of a blessing for me. I've found out that I'm really great at starting projects on my own time but I'm really bad at finishing them

Do not work on multiple projects at once, that way you'll have to finish what you are working on before you can try the next idea 

[JustABrick]

Yes, you can hire me. I am currently employed, but i would give up my job for this ;)

[nerdsforprez]

55 minutes ago, Toastie said:

Well, I don't even have a fraction of the building skills folks have here - maybe even less than a fraction = zilch.

But what disqualifies me upfront - over and out - is that I like Douglas Adams very much: "I love deadlines. I love the whooshing sound they make as they fly by."

Best
Thorsten

Lol.... when I worked in academia I actually had this in my email signature block.  The dean of the college did not like it too much....

 

 

[Toastie]

1 hour ago, nerdsforprez said:

The dean of the college did not like it too much...

Off-topic (sort of): The good thing being an old fart, who is celebrating his 20th anniversary at that academic joint this summer, is, that I can tell the current dean to shut the f*up when he'd say something like not liking my signature block - or I may consider having a chat with the vice-chancellor for research  who is of the same age as me ... about - hmm - rude manners in the School of Natural Sciences. That'd be cool. I mean the facial expression ... Maybe I should actually add that to my signature ... . Recently I was entertaining the idea of adding "Fifteen men on the dead's men chest, yo ho ho and a bottle of rum" but that was apparently no good (one of my graduate researchers said and still was holding on to it even after I told him come on, we are now 12 months in lock down, we need to cheer up) - the youth ... 

Best
Thorsten   

[howitzer]

3 hours ago, Gray Gear said:

Do not work on multiple projects at once, that way you'll have to finish what you are working on before you can try the next idea 

Except then I'd never even get anything started, as I'd have to finish the not-anymore-interesting projects first...

[allanp]

My dream job!!! But I'd miss my family and friends too much in the UK.

[9v system]

did anyone else here apply? i was not successful

[ScT]

According to Youtube community, Sariel also applied. He was also unsuccessful.

[Jurss]

Saw on twitter Sariels post, and thought - who they then hired, if Sariel was not good enough?

[allanp]

To be fair I haven't seen Sariel attempt to build something that could be mistaken for an official Technic set. His models usually have system built bodies don't they?

[mpj]

At the end I did not apply but I'm not surprised Sariel's was not succesful, making great mocs is not the only requirement to be an official Lego Technic designer 

[Anio]

It would be good to have some transparency about the recruiting process to know what they are really looking for.

[allanp]

My guess would be the ability to work on a model of a size and subject you have little interest in ( like you have to make a 150pc hovercraft when you really want to make a 4000pc JCB backhoe). And when you think you're finished you're told you have to make all kinds of changes to your uninteresting little hovercraft to make it easier to build and cheaper to manufacture, which makes it even more uninteresting, then you have to explain to some focus group/penny pinchers why the model you spent ages on is so uninteresting! That's my guess 

[fosamax]

I think Dyen would  be a good candidate. He's a great B model designer and he's able to work with small as well as really big alternates. 

https://rebrickable.com/mocs/?q=dyen&get_drill_downs=drill_down_filters

[amorti]

1 hour ago, Anio said:

It would be good to have some transparency about the recruiting process to know what they are really looking for.

So that people who aren't what they're looking for can save themselves some heartache?

Read another way: So that people who aren't what they're looking for, can be pretend to be that?

/devil's advocate.

Edited June 2, 2021 by amorti

[Lipko]

I applied and got rejected.
At least not the usual "Thank's for your interesting our company" message.

[McMarky]

13 hours ago, 9v system said:

did anyone else here apply? i was not successful

I got the same reply as Sariel.

BTW I wonder how much do they pay their designers?

I asked for 10k € gross. Is it much?

[gyenesvi]

38 minutes ago, McMarky said:

I got the same reply as Sariel.

Getting curious what that reply was! Would you share it in a few words? I did not read Sariel's post..

38 minutes ago, McMarky said:

BTW I wonder how much do they pay their designers?

I asked for 10k € gross. Is it much?

I did entertain the thought of applying (mainly for fun, but did not in the end for the reasons @allanp listed, and also did not find Billund too much of an interesting place to live) and did some search on the designer salaries. What I found on Glassdoor was about half of what you asked for (about 60k per year), which I thought was kind of low for a western European country, although not sure how representative their sample is, and if I remember correctly that's an average salary, not a senior one, which was about 80k per year, still not that high for an engineer salary at a large company.

[McMarky]

6 minutes ago, gyenesvi said:

Getting curious what that reply was! Would you share it in a few words? I did not read Sariel's post..

I got such a reply from no-reply address:

"Thank you for applying to the LEGO Group and to the role as Model Designer - LEGO® Technic™.

 

Although your background is interesting, we regret to inform you that we have decided to pursue other candidates for the position at this time."

If it's true what you wrote about salary there's nothing to regret. Denmark is one of the most expensive country in Europe to live in. And they have high taxes up to 50%. So, having 5k € net monthly doesn't seem so much. I were a few times in Denmark for holiday and prices were absurd for me. For one hamburger in Givskud zoo I can have a lunch for 4 person family in good restaurant in my country. 

Maybe there are some LEGO designers on the forum who can reveal some facts about their job and enlighten us?

[agrof]

Might be only an obligatory career ad, meanwhile the positions are already filled internally. Wouldn't be the first nor the last such case, so don't be too disappointed.

[howitzer]

They say that you should never make your hobby into a career, if you want to continue enjoying the hobby. I wouldn't apply myself, even if I had the skills necessary and I could move to another country easily.

The salary of 5000€/month seems pretty acceptable though, from where I'm looking from. Denmark has probably about equal public services as Finland does, and I like that I don't have to pay much (if anything) for things like healthcare, education, children's daycare, or countless of other things that are provided for me or anyone with minimal or low cost. I know I'm paying for them in taxes (no free lunches after all), and I believe that's the way it should be too.

[Lipko]

43 minutes ago, howitzer said:

They say that you should never make your hobby into a career, if you want to continue enjoying the hobby. I wouldn't apply myself, even if I had the skills necessary and I could move to another country easily.

The salary of 5000€/month seems pretty acceptable though, from where I'm looking from. Denmark has probably about equal public services as Finland does, and I like that I don't have to pay much (if anything) for things like healthcare, education, children's daycare, or countless of other things that are provided for me or anyone with minimal or low cost. I know I'm paying for them in taxes (no free lunches after all), and I believe that's the way it should be too.

I'm still lightyears away from 5000€/month salary even though I'm a senior(ish) test engineer at a multinational company. In Hungary... so I'd be okay with that small 5000€/month.

As for turning hobby into a career: I just don't find any significant time for Lego hobby. The only way for me to do Lego is to do it professionally.
Not that I would move to another country for any career, maybe this was a bit obvious in my application, I didn't want to lie about that tiny dilemma....
But my CV come together pretty well, maybe I'll upload it to my website.