Is 30 too young for a creative director?
A little background to start... I'm 25, completely self taught (no degree), with about 8 years of experience in the design field. In terms of my career so far, I started out freelancing in 2008 and still do that today. In 2011 I accepted my first in-house position as an intern at MailChimp and have worked doing both freelance and full time since then. I started out as an intern, then junior designer, followed by visual designer, and currently my work has me doing a little of everything (web, graphics, sound/video, marketing, etc). My current position has me in an awkward situation, as I'm a senior designer in all but the title and there's nowhere to grow... But it's looking like my next adventure will carry the "senior designer" title from the looks of recruiters constantly reaching out to me and based on peer feedback. I've been offered Art Director roles previously, but have turned them down as I don't want to advance my career too quickly and hit the top of the ladder with nowhere to grow. Assuming I take a Senior Designer position within the next year (very likely), would it be unreasonable to assume I'll be hitting a director role right around when I turn 30? If so, what would come after that... Since I'll likely still have a good 30-40 years of work life left in me...
In terms of skills, I've really strived to be a modern renaissance man. I'm very knowledgable in design fields, with other skills in marketing, video production, and business to augment that as well. My team is very collaborative, and I have experience in management through freelance work (though I would like to get that through an in-house position as well). My freelance work has also given me a lot of hands-on client experience early on, and that's a daily part of my 9-5. If I'm to strive for a creative director role, what skills should I focus on acquiring and honing between now and then?
Also, as a matter of curiosity, how have I done so far in my career?
Great design resource
100 Things Every Designer Needs to Know About People (Voices That Matter)
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