What careers would suit you best if you have a creative personality? Here are 12 of the best jobs for creative people who want to stretch their wings…
12 best jobs for creative people ready to shine…
Graphic designer
Starter salary (avg): £16,000
Experienced salary: £50,000
If you can think visually, you could work on anything from branding and ad posters to website designs and book covers as a graphic designer. You’ll know that a picture can say a thousand words, and you’ll have lots of creative tricks up your sleeve to help a client or employer visually get their message across.
CAD technician
Starter salary (avg): £15,000
Experienced salary: £35,000
Becoming a CAD technician (Computer Aided Design) is a great way to combine art and science – because who says creative people can’t be logical too? All kinds of engineering careers use CAD software to create 2D or 3D designs for buildings, products, product parts and machinery. You could be part of some incredibly creative projects, from high-profile robotic projects to future-facing building design.
Journalist
Starter salary (avg): £18,500
Experienced salary: £40,000
Words, words, words! Words can dance and play in ways that even surprise the writers who dreamed them up. Journalism is a great way for creative writers to make money from the words they love. The range of subjects you could write about is so broad that you can let your imagination fly. Social justic campaigns? Vintage fashion? Geek trends? The list is endless, and somewhere there’s a magazine (print or online) willing to pay for that content.
Picture desk assistant/researcher
Starter salary (avg): £18,000
Experienced salary: £40,000
Do you have a fantastic eye for visuals? Do you love how pictures can tell a story? If you’ve ever looked at a photo for a magazine or news feature and thought “that picture didn’t work, I could do better” then you could be a budding picture researcher. It’s your job to support a magazine or publication by using image libraries and digital software to source, create and edit images that make copy come alive.
Social media coordinator
Starter salary (avg): £18,000
Experienced salary: £35,000
Your professional goal? To break the internet. In a good way. How’s that for ambition? As a social media coordinator you handle a business’s online social presence, and your work goes a long way to help them build their brand. Most brands these days know that creativity is vital if they are going to stand out in the crowd. You only have to look at the whimsical tweets of Arena Flowers or the daring creative social campaigns of Nike to see how important the imagination is to making a brand have online.
Design engineer
Starter salary (avg): £22,000
Experienced salary: £55,000
Being a design engineer is one of the most creative engineering jobs out there – and it pays much better than many creative jobs, too. Design engineers tend to keep their hands clean. They help to dream up new products and spend a lot of time using CAD (computer-aided design) to create amazing blueprints for things we’ll see in stores very soon. If you’d like to unleash your artistic side as well as your love of details, this could be your blueprint for an amazing career.
Camera operator
Average salary: £32,760
If you have an artistic eye for detail and can get to grips with gadgets and tech, you could enjoy a career as a camera operator. You could work on anything from film shorts and feature films to documentaries and TV ads. Think TV ads aren’t creative? Think again – it takes a huge dose of imagination to tell a story in one minute that people won’t be able to get out of their heads. In fact, Ridley Scott (Alien) directed iconic TV ads for Chanel No.5 and Apple before he got into films. As a camera operator you may be following the guidance of a director and storyboards, but your keen eye will work the space and find the best angle, so you’ll have plenty of opportunity to exercise your creative vision behind the camera.
Makeup artist
Average salary: £18,720
Have you got creative flair? Are you always experimenting with makeup? Can you make someone’s face your canvas? As a makeup artist you’ll apply makeup for people who need to look special for a big event, whether it’s a modelling photoshoot, wedding, fashion show, or a film, theatre or TV production. You could specialise in different kinds of makeup and even become a makeup artist to the stars. Makeup artists often learn to style hair as well, so that they can offer all-round styling as well as makeup magic.
Hairdresser
Starter salary (avg): £14,000
Experienced salary: £30,000+
Having an eye for hair is a natural gift but it can be trained, teased and shaped into a spectacular skill too. Your job as a hairdresser is to turn a customer’s bad hair day into an amazing hair month. You’ll cut and style hair to improve a person’s look and confidence. You’ll know when to give the customer exactly what they asked for and when to give diplomatic expert advice (and listen to the customer if they don’t want to go with your suggestion!). Whether you work in a salon or at home, your job is to make the customer walk out of the door feeling like a million bucks – even if they didn’t spend that much.
Food technologist
Starter salary (avg): £20,000
Experienced salary: £45,000
When crisp companies hold competitions asking you to design your own flavour, what flavour would YOU design to excite the taste buds and sell to as many people as possible? This is just one example of the questions food technologist ask themselves. The world of food is endlessly fascinating to you, and you’ll believe there’s always a way to improve on the original.
Nursery worker
Starter salary (avg): £14,000
Experienced salary: £24,000
When it comes to daily creativity, nothing beats working with young children. Their fresh minds are soaking up brand-new knowledge and experiences every day. For children, every day is an adventure – and if you have a creative personality and like the idea of working with children, your imagination could shape them positively for life. Use your creative juices to come up with lots of educational games where having fun and taking part is what’s important. Macaroni pictures are just the start!
Events manager
Starter salary (avg): £17,000
Experienced salary: £80,000
Creating an unforgettable experience is one of the most creative things you can do. If you’re the one who organises themed birthday parties for your friends, loves interior design or comes up with wild suggestions for a fun day out, then you could make the perfect events manager. It’s your job to look at a client’s goals and budget, then come up with the most amazing event possible in the time allowed. Events managers can specialise in weddings (Posh and Becks thrones, anyone?), festivals (you can’t deny Glastonbury is the home of musical creativity) or conferences that put a brand’s message across in an unforgettable way.
Creative careers don’t always have to involve words, pictures and music. You can let your creative personality loose and make your mark in a whole range of careers where the most important thing is imagination and a playful, experimental approach. If you’re ready to try something new, one of these creative careers could be just right for you.
Most important of all? Believe in yourself.
