Thread by @sungha_hong, How I first got into sound design & how long it took [...]

How I first got into sound design & how long it took me to get my first job as a junior level sound designer in the industry (TL;DR near the end)
(1/16)

3 years ago, a couple of sound designers from Riot visited my college as alumni to give a presentation on game audio. I attended the sound design demo derby afterwards, and I was completely mindblown by the stellar quality of my fellow peers' sound design work
(2/16)

I thought, "Holy crap, they MADE those sounds? I want to do exactly THAT". That's when I immediately became a member of the Sound Design Network (SDN) student club. Crazy to think that I never even thought about how SFX in games were handcrafted by someone my entire life
(3/16)

While I was attending my ear training and music production classes, the idea of how I should start on sound design was always at the back of my mind. The learning curve seemed so steep, esp when I didn't have much (portable mic, commercial libraries, basic plugins, etc)
(4/16)

I was creating VGM covers on YouTube then, which was taking up a lot of my time & energy. I knew I eventually had to let it go to invest in my true career goal. 2 years later, I was fully committed and led the SDN to continue the legacy after old leaders have graduated
(5/16)

I was not a perfect leader. I was not knowledgable at all, so I spent many hours researching and properly learning tools (plugins, wavetable synths, etc). I also had to overcome my extreme fear of public speaking (please don't ask me about my first presentation lol)
(6/16)

I was a really BAD sound designer. In the first college game jam I participated, I made a total ripoff of the Mario jump. I barely made 3 sounds & crawled back into my corner of self-doubt. I thought I'd never become a professional sound designer
(7/16)

At my first GDC in 2018, I chatted with @oscar_coen and asked him what led him into sound design & game audio. He sat me down and shared his experience. I was surprised to hear that he and many other friends basically worked their butt off to get hired within 1-2 years
(8/16)

It was a lightbulb moment for me. Ever since, whenever I felt like I wanted to give up, that always came back in my mind. If I didn't surround myself around hardworking friends, I would have thought it'll take me at least 5-8 years until someone in the industry noticed me
(9/16)

I also attended many local network events, esp the game audio ones. People I met with talked about how Twitter was the place for chatting about game audio. I dug up my old Twitter account from middle school and started getting comfortable with this platform.
(10/16)

I didn't really know the who's who of the industry, so I started following random cool sound designers who popped up on my Twitter feed. One of them was @juanpaudio, who is now my amazing sound design mentor (this thread was inspired by his recent Tweet, go check it out!)
(11/16)

He posted a screenshot of his field recording in RX, showing how he could hear a loud ring around 10-15kHz in Tokyo. I commented that I always have the same issue but at 20kHz when recording in my college studio. We started following each other on Twitter then
(12/16)

Not too long ago, Juanpa opened up a mentorship opportunity for new sound designers, especially for marginalized folks. I wasn't able to find the right mentor until then, so I immediately DMed him. He offered me priceless advice, and he's now one of my biggest role models
(13/16)

I know this thread became really long, but TL;DR -- I got into sound design because of my peers' mindblowing sounds and invested solely in sound design for one full year. I got rejected by many job applications along the way, and I dealt with mild depression last year
(14/16)

My advice is: don't ever give up, and never compare yourself with others! It's neither a race nor a competition. Asking for help is great, but remember to share the knowledge & genuinely care about others too! Always stay hungry for new knowledge cuz learning never stops
(15/16)

So that's my story, thanks for reading!
(16/16)

I'm curious to hear from others too -- how did YOU first discover sound design, and how long did it take you to achieve your career goal/how long has it been since you first started working towards your career goal?

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