Careers for social, creative types that pay

[bluebonnetgirl]

My rising 11th grader is trying to come up with a list of careers to explore that fit his personality and aptitudes.

He is first and forsemost social.  He’s happiest collaboratating with peers in anything creative.  Hes enterprising and imaginative.  He’s a decent writer.  He’s a talented (though not exceptional) artist and actor.  He loves being in the theater and making films. I think he could be a very good artist, but due to his extrovert nature, he lacks the motivation to spend long periods of time by himself creating so he has only a small portfolio.  He is energized by others.  His standardized test scores are average. Grades are good. He’s well liked by his teachers, peers, and kids.  Traditional school subjects are boring to him (science, history, math, literature) but he puts in the time and effort, though it’s draining for him and leaves him little time for his true interests.  His favorite subjects so far (but this is limited by exposure) are art and writing.  He’s not had too much opportunity to explore classes he might enjoy like journalism, photography, graphic design, web design, architecture design, etc) due to all the amount of time he has had to devote to his core subjects.  My intention is to expose him to these areas via electives in the next two years.  What’s unfortunate is the disproportionate amount of time he has to spend working hard in the maths, sciences, history, classes that take a lot out of him. And now SAT prep which will really be a chore.

What kind of careers could fit my kid that .....also can earn a decent living?  And offer a good risk reward payoff in higher education?  I look forward to hearing some ideas to pass along to him.

 Thank you!

[Lori D.]

A lot of artist and writing jobs involve working solo on a project, and it sounds like he would do better as part of a team. Perhaps:

Advertising or Marketing -- esp. in a company where he works as part of a writing or art team or on collaborate projects
Interior Designer
Film Set Designer

ETA: 
Ooo! Here's one -- the Disney College Program. It is a paid internship with options for work positions and for classes. Upon completion, some students go on to work for the Disney theme parks -- one of the DSs of JennW in SoCal did just that. He works as part of a team that refurbishes rides, and also in designing/installing special holiday displays.

Edited February 5, 2019 by Lori D.

[fourisenough]

He sounds a lot like my DH. DH earned an undergraduate degree in sociology and went on to take an entry-level sales position with a medium-sized company just out of college. He worked his way up through management and executive levels of the same organization and is now the president of a competitor of his original employer (in the same industry). He is a fantastic ‘people person’. 

Career exploration is, of course, helpful, but don’t feel like he has to know ‘what he wants to be’. Since he’s social and good with people, I would encourage him to find ways to develop leadership skills, pursue all his interests/passions, and if he’s hard-working and ambitious, he’ll likely find his way in the world!

[GoodGrief]

I'd suggest combining any creative degree with some business training.

[Ausmumof3]

Something in marketing or sales I would imagine?  

[katilac]

Outside sales. 

[klmama]

Sales. Even if he's not up for taking all of the math required for business courses, he could still take communications courses, maybe earn a marketing minor, or at least take a few courses related to sales.  Or, he could just get a job at a call center or other business near campus and get some experience.