Creative career paths can often be looked down upon and not considered “real jobs”. Parents, strangers and schools can heavily discourage children or young adults from pursuing a career in a creative area.
The prejudice around can make it daunting for individuals to follow their passion and pursue a creative career, whilst the magnitude of the vast industry and competition can be daunting enough as it is.
Where does this stigma come from?
The ever changing landscape of the industry leads people to question the ‘security’ of jobs in the industry. But creative industries flourish on working in the present and new, it doesn’t make them insecure jobs but people need to be adaptable when they are in a creative career.
Creative subjects are also deemed as being more ‘hobbies’ or ‘interests’ rather than an actual career path. This creates the concept that a creative job ‘isn’t a real job’. But in reality, the creative industry is growing at twice the rate of the economy, with a record £92 billion contribution to the UK’s alone economy.
How Can You Help Your Child Looking To Pursue A Creative Career?
Build their confidence for a creative career. Do your research and understand the benefits of a creative career, including work flexibility and satisfaction. Confidence is key to a successful career progression, having the passion and confidence to break this stigma and follow their dreams is important.
Understand the vast careers in the creative industry, whether that’s hairdressing, acting, art or graphic design. Going through different careers and helping your child find the right path for them will help give them a purpose. They can understand what they might need to start working on, what qualifications will help them for this role and other training or improvement they may need.
Examples of Successful Creative Careers
Calvin Klein
Known worldwide for his iconic fashion brand, the designer owed his successful career to his mother who instilled his love of art and fashion, as he taught himself how to sketch and sew for his passion for fashion design.
Arne Jacobsen
Danish furniture designer and architect, Arne Jacobsen’s Egg Chair and Series 7 Chair was designed during the 1950’s and is still to this day, is considered a design icon. Jacobsen was one of the leading designers of the European functionalism movement, which heavily influenced the whole design world.
Stephen King
The writer of twisted thrillers and horrors, who has sold over 350 million copies of his novels. His first novel was the renowned story, Carrie, which was rejected 30 times before a firm was willing to publish the novel. After what seemed to be endless rejections, he threw the book in the bin and luckily his wife fished it out after having the faith and confidence in his writing skills.
Mark Ruffalo
A successful actor, featured in iconic films like The Avengers, 13 Going on 30 and Shutter Island. As a child he struggled in school due to his undiagnosed dyslexia, he decided that an academic career path wasn’t for him and wanted to pursue acting. At the start of his career, he was rejected from many auditions, but these challenging moments made his passion for the career stronger and helped him be the successful actor he is.
