What’s your ideal career?
For many younger folks, the answer involves picking a position more or less at random off a list of high-paying entry-level jobs. Why pursue a career that truly tickles your passion, the thinking goes, when you probably won’t make a decent living at it?
Because you can’t be so sure you won’t make a decent living at it. These six creative and creative-adjacent careers are surprisingly lucrative, and none require compromising your principles to live the good life. Which suits you best?
1.Intellectual Property Attorney
If a career in intellectual property law sounds dreadfully boring, start thinking outside the box. Sure, plenty of IP lawyers make good money defending big corporations’ trademarks and patents, but independent artists need representation too. What better way to support your local arts community than to help its members claim what’s rightfully theirs — and earn a good living off their own? First, you need to study law, and the costs of law school are really worth it
2.Interior Designer
Interior design is about as pure a creative enterprise as one can imagine. Talented interior designers always do well for themselves, but those with formal credentials from digital arts schools like Centre for Arts and Technology in Kelowna, British Columbia, have a leg up over informally trained competitors.
3.Wealth Manager/Financial Advisor (Yes, Really)
At first blush, these don’t like very creative careers. Sure, every wealth manager worth his or her salt has a “secret sauce” — a proprietary approach to investing and money management. But that sauce doesn’t take a generational talent to cook up; it’s as much a matter of style and preference as anything.
For aspiring wealth managers and financial advisors, creativity is all about who’s on the client list. If you’d love to spend your working days in a creative-adjacent profession, why not hang out a shingle as a financial advisor to talented performers and artists — who, let’s be honest, isn’t always sure what to do with their newfound wealth.
4.Network Security Specialist
Got a knack for networks? Consider applying your creative energies to today’s toughest cybersecurity challenges — helping organizations large and small defend themselves against myriad digital threats. Like most coding experts, you can expect an attractive starting salary.
5.Audio Engineer
The world of music production has changed dramatically in recent years, but talented audio engineers remain in high demand. If you’re comfortable working in the confines of a recording studio, or you prefer the anonymity of performing venues, you’ll find well-compensated work in this niche.
6.Graphic Designer
Today’s graphic designers use a mouse and keyboard, not paper and pen, but they still apply the same visual creativity as their predecessors. Employment opportunities abound in this niche, from in-house design teams at Fortune 500 companies to boutique agencies. Plenty of graphic designers freelance, too.
Find Your Passion, Earn Your Living
If none of these careers piques your interest, don’t despair. This is just the tip of the iceberg — a small sampling of the high paying creative and creative-adjacent opportunities out there for passionate professionals.
You’ve got years of productive work ahead of you. Why spend it in a job you can barely stomach?
