Unsurprisingly, there are few Artistic jobs given a "bright outlook" by the U.S. Department of Labor. Maybe if you lived in Renaissance Florence, creating art would be considered a "growth industry," but in today's world, pursuing an Artistic career with a living wage requires - well - a little creativity.
Expand your career options: Combine your Artistic interests with other strong interests
One way to expand your Artistic career options in a creative way is to combine your Artistic interests with other strong interests you have. For example, when you take The Career Key test, we recommend that you explore at least your two strongest personality types indicated by your test scores. Make sure you read this short summary of Holland's Theory that explains the relationship between personality types and which ones are more compatible than others.
Common combinations of top two strongest types might be:
Artistic and Investigative
Artistic and Social
So we added a few Investigative and Social careers that can have a strong Artistic aspect to them. For a complete list of promising Investigative Careers, go to Part 2 of this series. For Social Careers, I'll post that list later this week and link it up.
Combine Art with a Growth Industry
While they may not have a large number of job openings, you may be able to find your niche in growing industries like the sciences and healthcare. Try combining:
Photography with the sciences: Scientific Photographer
Illustration with the Health Sciences and Medical Field: Medical and Scientific Illustrator
Graphic design with Computer Science: Video Game Designer
Last caveats:
- A few of these careers did not meet the U.S. Department of Labor's "bright outlook" standards but have at least an average or above average rate of growth if data is available.
- You can combine artistic interests with the commercial world in ways that you might not have thought of - and in ways that satisfy your values. Keep an open mind.
- Make sure to read the Occupational Outlook Handbook summary on Artists and related occupations. It will be updated in late March 2012 (from 2010) but is still relevant now.
- Self-employment is common in the arts. Learn more about Self-Employment here and whether self-employment might be right for you at the Self-Employment Key website.
Holland's Theory of Career Choice and a description of the Artistic personality type
Literary Arts
Technical Writers
Visual Arts
Architects
Graphic Designers
Landscape Architects
Multi-Media Artist or Animator
Scientific Photographers
Medical and Scientific Illustrators
Communications
Interpreters and Translators
Promising Social Careers with a strong Artistic aspect (SA)
Substance Abuse and Behavioral Disorder Counselors
Self-Enrichment Education Teachers
Preschool Teachers, Except Special Education
Elementary School Teachers, Except Special Education
Special Education Teachers, Preschool, Kindergarten, and Elementary School
Training and Development Specialists
Promising Investigative Careers with a strong Artistic aspect (IA)
Anthropologists
Biochemists and Biophysicists
Sociologists
Video Game Designer; learn more in "Work for Play: Careers in Video Game Development" in Occupational Outlook quarterly, September 2011 PDF article.
Explore other posts in this series (I will link to them as they are posted):
Promising Realistic Careers
Promising Investigative Careers
Promising Social Careers
Promising Enterprising Careers
Promising Conventional Careers
Related Blog Posts on Artistic Careers that might interest you:
Self-Employment and Artistic careers - including my grandfather's story as an artist (illustrator and sculptor)
Artistic Careers Job Outlook (2009)
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