You were born with a pencil in your hand and you never stopped drawing, writing, and decorating mom’s dining room walls with Sharpies. Now that you’re looking for a good career, what are the best creative jobs that will allow you to keep doing what you love?
The biggest complaint from parents of a creative child is usually something along the lines of, “You’ll never make enough money to support yourself doing that.” Almost every creative child has heard that, or a similar admonition, throughout their entire childhood.
That is no longer true.
Computers and advancing technology have unleashed a vast array of viable and lucrative career opportunities for creative-minded people. So keep those paint brushes at the ready, your keyboard tilt perfect, and sharpen your pencils. You can make money in creative fields!
Your Creative Beast Needs Feeding
If you are one of those people that has always doodled, kept a daily journal, kept busy writing short stories for your siblings and friends, and was always daydreaming, you have a creative beast. As with all pets, you need to feed the beast.
When you are researching career plans, don’t lose sight of that creativity. You can have one of the best creative jobs, make a good living, and actually enjoy your job.
So don’t settle for that factory assembly line job just because you were always told that artists starve.
Creating your way to a viable career
Despite the naysayers, you have decided to search for the best creative jobs, see what you need to do to get one, and live happily ever after. But where do you start?
Right here, of course.
Just to name a few you can select from:
- Creative director
- Media director
- Graphic Artist
- Chief marketing officer
- Art director
- Marketing director
- Writer
The list goes on. There are several dozen career opportunities that we could list here. Everything from a structural engineer to zoo marketing director. No matter where your creative genius lies, there is a creative job just waiting for you.
Exploring the options
While you are deciding on a path to some of the best creative jobs in the industry, you should begin by exploring your options. Look at your personal talents, likes, and an estimated salary you would like to earn after you get established.
That starts with your talents. If you excel in computers, a look into the graphics arts field could land you quite lucratively in web site design where you can earn six figures within a couple of years.
If you are more hands-on and tactile, you might prefer something in marketing such as designing window displays or set design for commercials. Fabrics workers can find a home in costume design and construction in the TV, movie, or stage industries.
Writers, photographers, museum curators, and librarians all have creative jobs.
Once you decide what direction you want to focus on it is time to explore the map. Discover how to get there from here.
Educational Opportunites for the Best Creative Jobs
When it comes to training for the best creative jobs, there are several options. College is the direction that most people tend toward. But the important thing to know is that college isn’t the only option anymore.
As we advance as a society, higher education is still highly sought after, but we are also seeing a resurgence in trade schools and apprenticeship programs.
Accelerated courses in many areas are available through trade schools. These can have you earning a great wage in some of the best creative jobs available.
Don’t dismiss this option
Trade schools, or vocational schools, are designed to assist students to enter the workforce immediately upon completion. While a vast majority of trade schools are devoted to things such as auto mechanics, culinary pursuits, and some medical fields, they are evolving to include many new areas of study.
In the design field, you can explore careers as an art director, fashion designer, architect, industrial design, and many more areas of study. Under the craft arts umbrella, you can find jobs in jewelry making, glass blowing, and woodworking or carpentry. The world of fine arts is ripe with many of the best creative jobs, including cartoonist, photographer, illustrator, portrait painter, and even tattoo artist.
When you add a computer into the mix, more opportunities open. The computer age expands the list of the best creative jobs by at last double.
Multimedia career fields are in high demand. You can be an app designer, web site designer or manager, a graphic artist, or an animator. If your creativity leans toward writing, you can become a journalist, an author, screenwriter, or even a technical writer.
So, if college seems like a long and expensive process, explore trade schools to get you on the right path.
Degree programs can lead to great jobs
If you have decided that you want to take the college or university route, yes, there are plenty of opportunities for the best creative jobs there also. We’re going to use the path required to become a creative director to outline the degree route. While some of the best creative jobs will require slight alterations along the route, most will take a similar path to success.
The first step is to find out the requirements for your area of interest. To become a creative director, you would start by earning a Bachelor’s degree in marketing, graphic design, or a similar major. You probably won’t start at the top, so you’ll have to work your way into management. that can take 7 to 10 years, but you will gain valuable experience along the way.
Some management positions will require an advanced degree, which can be earned while you are working to gain the level of experience you need. This will also afford you the time to work on interpersonal relationships and general people skills. A good manager has worked “in the trenches” and knows what it is like for new people trying to break into the field.
Whatever route you take, the end result can be a rewarding career with great pay. For instance, the creative director we outlined above can be earning $80,000 to $100,000 per year. All while enjoying their job and using their creativity. Graphic designers, art directors, game designers, and others enjoy a substantial wage in the best creative jobs.
You can too!
Narrowing Your Choices or Broadening Your Horizons
We have briefly covered several career paths, but we haven’t even chipped a small ice cube off the iceberg. There are so many potential jobs out there that it was difficult for us to select the best creative jobs. Instead, we decided to list a huge chunk of them and let you decide which area is right for you.
After all, no one knows what you want to do for the rest of your life except you, right?
Make your doodles pay the bills
Artists always seem to be doodling, drawing, or painting. All the famous painters didn’t get famous until they died, so no one really considers painting a viable career field, unless you’re a house painter.
Those days are over.
There are art jobs that pay over $100,000 annually just waiting for you. You might not walk out of college or trade school right into a six-figure salary, but you can attain it within a few years.
Take a look at the different career fields open to you as an artist:
- Illustrator/technical illustrator
- Industrial designer
- Makeup artist
- Fashion designer
- Cake decorator
- Art teacher
- Animator
The list goes on, but we’ll stop there. If it is in the arts field, there is a career out there waiting for you.
Suggested Post: Tips On How To Follow Up After Your Interview
You’ve got the touch, give them the look
If your creative talents tend more to the tactile and visual area, there are a slew of career choices for you.
- Interior design
- Floral arrangements
- Landscape design an implementation
- Architecture/building design
- Wedding and event planner
This list continues also. If this is your strong area, you will find plenty of opportunities to explore your creativity while earning a decent wage. Many of these are also perfect for freelancers and entrepreneurial spirits who don’t want to be tied to a standard job.
Get your words on!
Are you a writer? Careers for writers are always going to be in demand. As we fall away from printed copy, the demand has shifted to digital formatting options. But that shift has also created a wealth of opportunity for some of the best creative jobs on the planet.
The number of stay-at-home jobs increases constantly, allowing you flexibility. From web content positions to technical writing, demand will continue to rise. If you need a stay-at-home job and can be self-motivated, freelancing is an awesome lifestyle.
While print demands are decreasing, there is still a viable market in novel production for on-demand book sales. Yes, people do still buy books. Travel books, fiction and non-fiction, texts, and biographies are always going to be in demand. With on-demand printing, publishing costs are broken down to allow singular production of books as they are purchased. The minimal delay in shipping is sometimes as slight as 12 hours to print a complete book, bind it, and send it out to the purchaser.
The demand for ghostwriters is also growing daily. Take someone else’s idea and develop it for a great source of residual income. Editing is another field in this category where there are plenty of jobs to be found. While most ghostwriting and editing jobs pay per word, there are some that offer pretty lucrative contracts for someone with the right portfolio.
There are also management positions in these fields available that allow you to work with teams of creative people for a salary. If freelancing and working at home isn’t for you, you can explore opportunities with a large array of companies that are looking for people with your skills and creative mindset.
Unlock that thespian
Although this area sort of defines itself, we will offer a few suggestions on the best creative jobs in film and theater:
- Actor
- Director
- Producer
- Camera operators
- Choreographers
- Set design and construction
- Costume design and production
- Stage managers
- Film editing
As you can see, there are plenty of opportunities. You can work in a community theater setting (most of these don’t pay, but are an excellent launching point). Off-Broadway shows often have open auditions. You might even hit the big time with a Broadway production or a major film.
While it may take some time to break into this industry, the entertainment business will always be in demand. CGI can only do so much, and even those require real people to create accurate movements.
A music lover’s dream job
If you love music, consider using that love to strike out as a wedding DJ or form your own small-town band. While many people do this type of job as a side gig, there are those who make a full-time job out of providing a viable service.
If you don’t like crowds, but want to share your love of music, think about becoming a radio DJ. With the internet and satellite radio, the opportunities in this area increased 100-fold over the last decade.
Behind-the-scenes positions in radio are available if you are technical-minded and microphone-shy. Mixing music, adding synthesized sound enhancements, and working with electronics can be a high-paying use of your creative energies.
The art of sales
If your eye is on visually appealing displays, marketing may be an excellent showcase for your talents:
- Window designers
- Catalog designers
- Internet commerce
- Television commercial production
- Photographers
There are more jobs in this field than the few we have listed. Selling will exist as long as we are a capitalist society. Providing a pleasing display advertisement can mean satisfying your inner design elf.
The designer touch
Since the 80s, the internet has become as commonplace as salt on the dinner table. If you are good with a computer, graphic design and internet jobs may be a perfect stopping point for your talents.
From simple to complex infographics, web site design and layout, to advanced coding for special web effects, these jobs will remain in constant demand for many years to come. Application coding for phone apps is another area that is growing. Develop your own app, or contract your services to someone with a unique idea.
This well is literally bottomless. Explore to your heart’s content and develop the skills you need to succeed in this field.
Teaching (I know, but hear us out)
Some people are teachers. They just are. While teaching is not exactly a high-paying career field, it can be satisfying in many ways. That may or may not make up for the lack of fiscal stimulus, but being happy in your career makes going to work a lot easier.
So, if you were born to teach, follow your dream and teach. Trade schools will allow you to become a substitute teacher or community program teacher. A full degree program with certification will take longer, but will also reward you with a higher salary in full-time education.
The Best Creative Jobs Are Waiting on You
We could not make this an all-inclusive list of the best creative jobs. We tried to spark in your creative brain the ability to look past what you have been told by the naysayers.
You can make a decent career in the arts. With trade schools and university programs being developed daily, this field will keep growing over time. Our entire society is shifting into a more independent arena. There are more opportunities for freelancers and entrepreneurs than ever before.
So adjust your mindset and go find that perfect job for your creativity to express itself.
We hope you enjoyed our foray into the best creative jobs and that it has given you food for thought. Leave us a comment if you are considering a career shift, have already made one (we love success stories), or are just starting to search for your perfect job.