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Embarking on a Creative Career

Posted on September 25, 2019

Navigating a creative career path brings its own set of challenges. Despite being 52, I still encounter unsolicited career advice, often revolving around the notion of security and safety. It's understandable, given the anxiety-inducing nature of the world. This well-intentioned guidance stems from a place of love, but it can sometimes be rooted in outdated ideas that worked decades ago. 

In contrast to this advice, we must develop forward-thinking plans and strategies tailored to the future. Before absorbing advice from others, it's crucial that they understand the present-day dynamics of your industry. While past knowledge holds value, it must be supplemented by an understanding of current trends and future projections. 

Receiving uninformed advice is akin to seeking treatment for a snakebite from a doctor who insists on treating a broken arm. It's not only ineffective but could hinder progress. Therefore, it's crucial to avoid reverting to old ways of thinking that may complicate matters unnecessarily. 

There are innate truths that younger generations understand intuitively, yet they can sometimes be overlooked by elders. My goal is to highlight these truths and provide them as a resource for your journey. 

Point no.1 - there is no such thing as a job for life in any sector 

This is true across the board and in the last recession, redundancies were running around 100,000 a month for a long period (Source ONS). Unfortunately, all the signs point to another recession coming. Employment per se is not a shelter from the impending storm. In fact, self-employment may just give you the versatility with your income streams to not only weather a storm but to thrive in it. 

 

Point no.2 - previous careers you could bank on are not as safe as you think 

Previous careers that you could bank on, let’s say nursing, education, accountancy, or any corporate entity is subject to review and restructure. Just because you have a job now, doesn’t mean you are going to have one next month. Job insecurity is built into the fabric of the workplace these days. Even if you keep your job, this doesn’t stop you from constantly worrying about losing it. 

 

Point no.3 - the advances in artificial intelligence are changing the game 

This means that any task or activity that can be replaced by A.I. over the next few years almost certainly will be. This will lead to even more fear and insecurity in the work market. If you check out this website https://willrobotstakemyjob.com/ the most frequently searched jobs are accountants, auditors, lawyers, computer developers, and software engineers. Now the mad thing is, these are areas parents are advising their children to pick as a career. 

 

Point no. 4 – risking the creative career 

With all this collective uncertainty, why take the risk of a creative career? Well, actually, for all those reasons, a creative career is less risky in many respects than the careers mentioned. A creative career could give the skills, knowledge, adaptability, and frame of mind required to thrive in the workplace for the rest of your life. What's more, you can do this on your own terms. 

The big secret is to design your own ‘portfolio career’ sort of situation. That means your creative output is just one of several income streams and, in the ideal model, they all support each other. Managing lots of income streams means we are monitoring our career situation not just on a monthly, annual, or weekly basis, but on an hourly one. We become used to adapting. This becomes a habit and we do not find it fearful, as it’s what we do day in, day out. 

 

Point no. 5 – transferable skills 

It’s all about those transferable skills. If you can run a band, you can run a business. What is a band these days? If it’s making a bit of money, then it’s an innovative business model. It’s all about doing things in new ways that work. Bands that work are usually experts in business and entrepreneurialism, they are also pretty hot on social media and digital marketing, which are incredibly useful workplace skills in the current market. 

 

Point no. 6 – the future belongs to creatives 

My point is that because everything is changing so fast, the future belongs to the creatives. They can adapt and they have the skills and knowledge to be flexible. Creativity cannot be easily automated by A.I. If you take a modern approach to running a band or solo career, and you design a future proof business model, then that's the best possible thing you can invest your time in right now. And, it will stand you in good stead for the rest of your life. You can go ahead and do this confidently but do develop your other income streams as well. In this way, you have a robust lifestyle which will set you up forever. 

 

Point no. 7 – goals 

Musicians are confident in setting their own goals and following their instincts. And parents, (I’m including myself in this as I’m a parent of three) we need to listen more and speak less. Sometimes that’s the hardest thing to do. 

Thank you so much for reading this blog, we have tackled something incredibly important.  

WaterBear – The College of Music 

WaterBear offers BA (Hons) degree and master’s courses made for today’s musicians, artists and industry professionals. Its colleges are based in the heart of Brighton and Sheffield, two amazing UK cities with incredible musical roots and heritage. The college also has a range of online distance learning courses.

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WaterBear is a College of Falmouth University, a pioneer in creative industries education, entrepreneurship and innovation. Run by musicians for musicians WaterBear is about smaller class sizes, flexible course delivery, bespoke one-to-one mentoring and exclusive work experience and career development opportunities.

By bruce.dickinson

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WaterBear Education Ltd, Hanover House,
118 Queens Road, Brighton BN1 3XG, UK  Map

Email: [email protected]
Tel: +44 (0) 1273 726230

WaterBear Sheffield, Unit 4, Gatecrasher,
49 Eyre Lane, Sheffield S1 4RB, UK

Email: [email protected]
Tel: +44 (0) 1143 992720

Why We're WaterBear...

- ‘Water bear’ is the common name for a Tardigrade.
- Tardigrades are micro creatures, found everywhere on earth.
- They are the most resilient creatures known.
- They can survive and adapt to their surroundings, even in outer space.
- Their resilience and ability to adapt and survive inspires us in everything we do. We love them.

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