crazies: a guide to the mdc

hiring thread issues

as 99% of designers know, being committed to a thread is very difficult. however, there are a lot of very common factors that lead to threads never getting started, never getting requests done, etc. this chapter is about those common factors and how to plan ahead when starting a thread. 

believe it or not, opening a hiring thread decreases the chance of a thread actually being open. mathematically (cus there is just so much math. we even did slope-intercepts :P) speaking, if not everyone is committed, then it's a fail. if a person happens to successfully open a thread with 6 designers and only 5 out of 6 are committed, there's gonna be one queue that's starting to load up with a ton of requests that aren't being done. whereas if you open a solo thread that doesn't require the cooperation of other people, there is a higher chance of actually opening the thread since you are the only one making the decisions and don't have to wait for others to answer. you don't have to deal with people's preferences other than your own, and there shouldn't be as many problems. of course, if you are really lazy and uncommitted, then your thread will most likely fail.

solutions:

we're not saying that hiring threads are horrible because sometimes, they do work. they just need the right amount of preparedness and participation. these are some tips that can help:

-don't open a hiring thread at all. not opening a hiring thread at all means you don't have to sit there and judge a mass panel of people. you don't have to say no neither do you have to say yes.  however, you can pm your friends who also design and ask them if they would like to open a thread with you. usually, this is easier because you know how they work and you're closer to them which makes decisions much easier. it reduces the pressure since they might also know or have an idea of your working style. not to mention you're working with your friends 'cause hey, it's a win-win. 

-have a thread design prepared. not having a thread design is one of the most, if not the most, common factor that causes a thread to never be opened. sometimes, people wait days, weeks, or even months just for the thread only to never get it. even if you receive do the thread, there's the issue of if people are still even committed after the x amount of days it took waiting for the thread design. having a thread design prepared helps a lot because there's no annoyingly long waiting period and you can get things started just like that. try to know what you are going to write and have stuff prepared.

-choose a small amount of trustworthy people to work with. as stated in the introduction, hiring a lot of people is a huge issue. choosing a selective number or people is easier for both you and the hired. the trustworthiness is also important. if you want a successful group thread, you're going to need people who actually show up to make the graphics. if you're there by yourself, you've just destroyed the concept of a "group thread." try having a limited amount of people hired. small/medium:2-6, large:7-10, and for a huge and very messy thread you can hire 20-5 billion.

-make a good hiring form. having a good hiring form means that you have organized all the necessary information in one form which eliminates the need for a staffroom. staffrooms are where everyone gets lost because now you've gotta wait for everyone to fill out this second form which can take a while depending on the people. if you have all the necessary information in one place that is easy to copy/paste, you've got yourself a simple and easy to access loophole. 

-keep your introduction posts short, simple, and to the point. having long posts just saying hi or stating a few simple rules is a big turn-off to requesters. it makes your thread look very serious but at the same time difficult and unwelcoming. if you have to read a friggin 10 page essay every time you request for one graphic, then there are problems with your layout. you need to make them easy to read and understandable yet professional to let people know that you try very hard on your graphics and you are willing to make them if they follow a, b, and c. it's that simple, but sometimes, people overdo it by making designer profiles. no one has the time to read through each one to determine which one you want or think is best. there are tons of threads with simpler processes, so why request at somewhere so difficult to request when there's a much easier one just two clicks away? 

-limit your bumping. bumps are sometimes necessary, but if you're posting them every few seconds, you are only promoting your desperateness rather than your thread and designs. sometimes, certain people are more popular than others, but it's really annoying to watch someone bump three pages straight because he or she didn't get a single request in the first 5 minutes. there are plenty of requesters out there that want to request, but they don't need a notification every second you get bored. another solution is adding discrete bumps. for example, if you're at the beginning or your thread and no one has posted in the last few hours except your own intro posts, you can add a "reserved" space that you may or may not need. not that anyone needs to know... or you can post a status of your requests or something like that. basically, try not to make it obvious that you are bumping. Conversing with a few people in a small discussion is okay. Bumping every 10-20 minutes is okay as well.

-think about your life. this sounds really cheesy in a way, but yes, you must think about your life. are there any upcoming important events? is there going to be an issue around this time that may cause yourself to be unable to go online? should you be doing something more important? if it is a yes to any of these redundant questions, then you're going to have to give some second thoughts to opening a thread. everyone has problems in real life, and as a part of everyone, i recommend to not start threads during those times. wattpad may be an escape from real life and your problems, but some problems just need simple actions that may not even take that much time.  it's better to solve your real life issues first before adding more issues to your compiling problem pile by opening a thread. sometimes, there are surprise issues that come up, which is understandable, but if there are some that you know are unavoidable and are coming, please seriously think again. 

there are probably more, but i have over 1k words right now, and i don't want to bore anyone to death even if i, myself, find this interesting and important. Lauren doesn't really care, find this important or anything. soooo yeah.