Explore Eight Creative Career Options in 2024

Not so long ago, students had a handful of “ideal” careers like engineering, medicine, law and a few others to choose from. They chose streams almost blindly, based on the marks they got in tenth standard. It would almost seem like people were scared to try anything different. Creative jobs were said to be “floozy” and “timepass”. But this thinking is changing and how! The internet has reached almost every corner and made way for new and exciting careers. You don’t have to go with the age-old, society favourites over your interests. If you’re a parent, you should know that creative careers options are not only great for your child to get the job satisfaction we all deserve, but they also pay quite well.

Channel your child’s interests into a career they love! Mentoria’s holistic career assessment test helps us find the right career fit for your child based on their unique interests, personality, and ability.

8 Creative Career Options

1. It’s All Online | Digital Marketing

Thanks to the Internet, the world seems to have shrunken to half its size. Today, brands speak to customers over social media. This allows them to reach out to different groups  with different messaging, instead of the traditional ‘mass’ outreach. Digital marketing is now given more importance over traditional marketing. Digital marketing is the perfect platform for children, since they are already pretty good at understanding how the internet works. One look at the employees of a digital marketing agency will tell you how promising this career is, both in terms of job satisfaction and compensation.

2. Let’s Get Social | Social Media Manager

Digital marketing happens on social media sites like YouTube, Snapchat, Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter. Brands create content in the form of images, videos and text to communicate with their target audience across channels. In marketing and advertising agencies, social media managers are responsible for creating the right plan or strategy to reach the right people for better brand visibility, engagement and revenue. The next time you want to pull up your child for spending too much time on social media, you might want to push them towards a career in the field instead, as no one understands these platforms better than your child does!

3. Age of the Influencer | Social Media Influencer

Getting annoyed with your child’s constant social media updates? Did you know that ‘influencers’ or social media celebrities actually make money from their posts? All you need is a decent following on your platforms to get noticed by brands. After all, every brand, no matter how big or small, is on every social media platform. An influencer can enhance a brand’s reach with just a single mention or ‘shoutout’. How is this a job, you ask? Depending upon the influencer’s reach and number of followers, they can charge in thousands or lakhs for a mere shoutout – one tweet, one Instagram post or one mention in their YouTube videos. This is probably one of the newest careers in today’s internet-fuelled world.

4. Bringing Design to Life | Set Designer

If you’ve ever gasped in awe at the beautiful backgrounds in movies, know that there’s a set designer who worked hard to make it that gorgeous. Set designers build ‘locations’ as per the requirement of the movie; this could be a simply decorated room or an elaborate fantasy set like the ones you would see in fantasy films like Lord of the Rings or Star Wars.

Every good set designer needs to come with a few skills – the ability to visualise, a keen understanding of design, aesthetics and strong networking skills. Add the right lighting and camera angles, and even a tiny space would look larger than life on screen.

5. From Moviegoer to Movie-maker | Movie Producer

When we think of movies, we think actors, probably even directors. A role that often goes unnoticed is that of a producer. There are executive producers and associate producers, who make budget sheets, coordinate with different departments like the director of photography, set designers, casting directors, editors, etc. In order to be a producer, your child needs to have a good understanding of filmmaking, efficient management skills, the ability to creatively adapt to unexpected situations, and budget planning capabilities.

Looking for guidance to nurture your child’s skills into a full-fledged career? Speak to Mentoria’s expert career counsellors for personalized step-by-step guidance for your child’s future career path. 

6. Encourage their Inner Wordsworth | Writer

Does your child love reading and writing over everything else? Encourage them to follow their love for words! Writers don’t just lock themselves up in a room and work on the next big novel. Be it advertising, corporations, movies, tv shows, or books, everybody needs a writer. And if your child is skilled with words, they could make a rather lavish living out of it!

7. For the Love of Music | Musician

Parents avoid encouraging their children’s musical inclinations, mostly because we keep hearing about the ‘struggling musician’. However, when you think of your child’s career in music, know that being a struggling musician isn’t their only option. Your child could go on to join sound design, sound engineering or composing. A sound designer designs the sound of scenes, say the galloping of a horse, eerie silence, creaking doors, etc. A sound engineer mixes the sound to give the viewers a seamless experience, while a composer may compose background score, jingle, song or a melody for the film/narration. Even if your child decides to become a musician, they have a lot more scope than you would’ve had 20 years ago. All it takes is one viral video to make it big; how do you think Justin Beiber was discovered?

8. Bring on the Doodles | UI/UX Designer

Design exists everywhere. A career in art just doesn’t mean painting for a living. Your child could become an illustrator, graphic designer, game designer, commercial artist and so much more! Designers today have a lot of scope to choose their area of interest and expertise. Your child could combine interests and choose to design for a field of their liking. Say your child loves the internet as much as they love art. They could become a UI/UX designer! UI stands for User Interface while UX stands for User Experience. User interface is what you see on your screen when you visit a site and is created by a graphic designer. UX is when the designers make the users’ experience seamless with a site that’s easy to navigate.

Given the growth of tech startups in India, the need for UI/UX designers is rapidly growing.

Creative Careers ARE Serious Careers

Today, creative careers are taking off, are sustainable and, above all, will make your child happy. Moreover, these careers aren’t as low-paying as you think they are. It is possible to have a “serious” and well-paying career, despite being “creative”.  Creative people have a unique way of looking at things; not all of us can do that. If you’re worried about your child not making enough money to sustain themselves, know that almost all artists, writers, musicians, etc., freelance with clients for a steady source of income. This also gives them a chance to control who they work with and the projects they take up.

Hey Parents, Leave Them Kids Alone…

If your child is inclined towards creative pursuits, encourage them. Automation is already taking over technology-driven jobs, but it’s yet to catch up with the creative field. There is a tremendous need for creativity in every sector, and holding your child back will only cause them to miss out on a great opportunity. Remember, your idea of the perfect job is very different from theirs, because your world is different too. You didn’t have the options they did, nor did you have the ease of access to information like they do. Trust your child to make their own choices instead of making the choice for them, even if you aren’t convinced about it. Give your child a chance to express their creativity, and watch them bloom.

Kick-start your child’s career discovery journey with Mentoria and be sure to find the right career fit for your child. Our 4-step career guidance solution, helps us find the right career fit for your child from 3 streams, 850+ courses & 12,000+ careers.