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Do you get your salary decreased if you make a mistake on a project/layout?
I am in high school and my future career is becoming a Graphic Designer. #high-school #career #artist
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Jason’s Answer
Generally no, as salaries are determined annually and are not impacted due to one-off mistakes. Everyone makes mistakes, so it's more about what you learn from those mistakes and applying it in the future to reduce the changes of it happening again. If mistakes increase over time to the point that it affects quality of work, then typically salaries are not adjusted. Rather, performance improvement plans or termination are potential outcomes.
Ria Madan,Barrister and Solicitor, CIPP-C and CIPT
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Ria’s Answer
Employers cannot reduce salary for any mistake made by an employee. The manager may go through the project responsibilities and try to determine what went wrong and how to rectify the mistake. There may be meetings and planning to ensure that such mistakes are not made in future or use the lessons learned.
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Nick’s Answer
It is worth making a distinction between true mistakes or errors, and design choices that may not have just one right answer.
There is a phrase popular in industry: "Fail fast!" The idea is that not only is "failure" OK, it is expected. I prefer a more recent rephrasing: "Learn fast!" It reframes failure as learning. When creating a design you may need to explore a few alternative ideas, test them out, and then decide which is the best based on what you learned.
As a new graphic designer in the field, it is indeed likely that you will start out doing work where attention to detail and accuracy are more important, with less opportunity for exploration. It's important that you take responsibility for understanding the expectations for your role and for seeking input and feedback.
As others have said, a good manager and company will expect and understand mistakes or errors, and will provide the right framework and coaching for you to improve over time. It's when an employee fails to take feedback or address it that it can turn into a performance issue, which can affect how you progress at the company.
There is a phrase popular in industry: "Fail fast!" The idea is that not only is "failure" OK, it is expected. I prefer a more recent rephrasing: "Learn fast!" It reframes failure as learning. When creating a design you may need to explore a few alternative ideas, test them out, and then decide which is the best based on what you learned.
As a new graphic designer in the field, it is indeed likely that you will start out doing work where attention to detail and accuracy are more important, with less opportunity for exploration. It's important that you take responsibility for understanding the expectations for your role and for seeking input and feedback.
As others have said, a good manager and company will expect and understand mistakes or errors, and will provide the right framework and coaching for you to improve over time. It's when an employee fails to take feedback or address it that it can turn into a performance issue, which can affect how you progress at the company.
Updated
Mohammed’s Answer
Hi Karen,
Making mistakes is a part of learning as long as they are not repeated. Employers do not cut your salary for making a mistake in a project.
Making mistakes is a part of learning as long as they are not repeated. Employers do not cut your salary for making a mistake in a project.