Writing Experience: Exploring Career Paths

Introduction

Upon concluding my high school education, my plan is to enter the workforce. However, while my primary goal is to get by, I may seek higher education on the side in hopes of pursuing a bolder career. While life has many bumps in the road to overcome and piles of uncertainty to mill through, one thing I can take with certainty is my understanding of three potential careers for my future that I have researched.
The first career I have researched is that of an author or writer.

Some baseline information about this career is that there are different bachelor's degrees you can pursue that fall under this umbrella: namely, English, journalism, and communications. Many potential employers will seek those out with a degree in these fields, as even if writing is a constant source of on-the-job training, experience is absolutely key when developing written content.

Body

The Art of Expression: Writing as a Career

While a degree is the most conventional and perhaps even top show of experience, writing is a field where a strong number of backgrounds and experiences can be your start in obtaining job experience. For example, working for your high school or college newspaper or managing any sort of online blog or website are both low-floor entries to the world of writing. There are also places to volunteer or work, such as television and radio stations, advertising or publishing companies, or even non-profit organizations that can all provide some opportunity to hone your craft. In short, there are many ways to potentially begin to climb as a writer, so long as you possess the skills to get started.

In fact, the accessibility of writing as a career doesn't end there. Internships are available, which in addition to being yet another outlet for valuable experience, can be a good stepping stone to get your foot in the door. Despite there being many different degrees and avenues for formal training, overall, writing is a field where you do not necessarily have to have formal training to succeed. The typical entry-level education is a bachelor's degree in one of the categories, yes, but it is not the sole qualifier in this field, nor is it the all end all. Above all, the highest determinant of success for a writer is the quality of their work, and the highest determinants of a piece of writing are the quality of the writing, a unique perspective, and the size of the potential audience.

Writers, as people, must be flexible. They must be able to think critically and be socially perceptive. They must be determined to have their words heard. The career path of a writer or author interests me because these are some of the traits I feel define me the most. Having your voice heard is immeasurably powerful, and a writer can wield that ability more than most.
The type of writing that appeals to me most is fiction. Nonfiction is incredibly important, for it provides documentaries, biographies, science and research on countless topics, recounts of events and history, and so on. It's another beautiful thing that writers bring to the world, however mundane or forsaken, but for me, the idea of fiction stands out on its own merits. Fiction does not have to just be a comedy for the sake of comedy or drama for the sake of drama (even if I will just as much say that those two things are very valuable in and of themselves); I believe that fiction has the power to impact reality. To make characters and a setting that the reader truly connects to can give you the opportunity to push a theme, state a message, and maybe even, idealistically, change the world. Even on a small scale, that gift is something to hold dear, and as a writer hold it you do.

Coming back from the mental and worldly worth of writing, the occupation as a career is not physically worthless either. The average median salary pay for writers and authors in 2017 was $61,820, with an estimated $29.72 per hour. In addition, employment of writers was projected to grow 8 percent from 2016 to 2026, which is about as fast as the average for all occupations. Combine this with the fact that about 64% of writers are self-employed, and the career shapes up to be not just one of an optimist but also one with potential for a realist.

Being an author is not the only career that interests me. Everyone in life needs options in case things don't pan out, and there's always a chance Plan A doesn't, so with so many options, there's no reason not to invest some time and potential into other things that appeal to you. The second career I have researched is photography. Being an accessible field, if you're willing to learn the trade, you typically only need an entry-level education of a high school diploma to get your start in the field. The on-the-job training is long-term, as every day out in the field taking shots is more experience garnered.

Capturing Moments: The Lens of Photography

Still, even with this firsthand casual experience, more formal levels of study are available. There are not many real proper degrees or postsecondary education courses for photography itself, but many will find themselves taking classes or striving for a bachelor's degree in a related field in order to help employment prospects or their understanding of a more specific genre of what they wish to take photos of. There are courses for photojournalists, as well as industrial and scientific photographers, to earn a bachelor's if those are the desired fields, but more than just those exist. More types of photographers include portrait photographers- including wedding, religious ceremony, or school ones, commercial and industrial photographers, aerial photographers, and fine-arts photographers.

About 68% of photographers are self-employed. The work environment for any given photographer varies significantly depending on their specialty. For instance, aerial photographers often work in planes and helicopters, portrait photographers are typically in a studio when they aren't traveling around to a shoot location, and news and commercial photographers get to be on the move very often. Most photographers stand around a lot and work most if not all year round, so the work ethic to enter the field is certainly not an exhaustion-free commitment.

For myself personally, the happiest medium for me would probably be portrait photography in specific. While social change and influence are something that appeals to me, there's a certain quaintness, a special and intangible feeling that personally draws me to the idea of taking pictures of people. There's no method more accessible to relive a special memory because once you take a picture, it only exists at that moment. I don't think I would be able to handle the heights of an aerial photographer, nor the constant movement and even sometimes risk that comes with being a news photographer, but I think all fields of photography are beautiful and important in their own regards, and I have high respect for them.

No matter the specific field you dedicate yourself to as a photographer, there are certain qualities you must possess. When everything comes down to the simple act of taking a picture, you must have a good artistic eye. There is more merit to some photos than others, and a talented photographer should be able to seek out the perfect shot in any scenario. Some common practices you'll have to know, meanwhile, are business skills; these include marketing strategies and how to find clients that want what you can bring to them. There are also computer and customer service skills that will pay dividends, as being able to problem solve when the need arises, be it with your own photo post-production or any issue or concern a client may have, is a must if you're working on your own.

On the subject of work, photography is still an alive field as far as careers go, though it may not be described as thriving. Employment of photographers is projected to even decline 6% from 2016 to 2026, as opposed to the total of all occupations, which is expected to rise. With photography not only not rising well but actually declining, it may seem like a risky career venture, but the decline is only for the overall. Employment for self-employed photographers, in particular, is expected to grow 12% in the same time span. With about 150,000 people employed in the field of photography, the idea of pursuing it as a career is not a completely lonely one. In 2017, the median salary pay was $32,490, and the hourly pay was around $15.62. For something that in this day and age can be begun by anyone as a hobby and then grown into a more genuine and boisterous talent, it's an affordable income. As long as there are people who want more portraits or corporations who want more advertisements, there will still be some demand for professional photographers.

Unraveling the Human Mind: Psychology as a Calling

My interests commonly stem from a desire to understand the world and the people around me. I find the science behind this very interesting. That's why the third career I've decided to entertain in consideration here is that of a psychologist. Unlike the other two careers previously mentioned by me, being a psychologist not only assuredly takes some sort of degree but also even potentially requires a license, should you be clinically practicing.

Typically, it's a doctoral degree, but for some positions, such as school or industrial-organizational purposes, a master's may suffice. Following a degree, in most states, practicing psychology, or even just using the title of "psychologist," will require a license. This involves many things- typically, these include a doctorate in psychology, an internship, and at least a year, if not more, of supervised professional experience. The Examination for Professional Practice in Psychology must also be passed, and in my state, continued education must be pursued even after a license is obtained to keep it.

The schedule and wage for the psychologists who do make it this far are very varied. In 2017, the median annual salary pay was $77,030. And on average, per hour is $37.03. That's well over double the amount of photography and is overall a very respectable number, but given the work that has to be put in to reach this point at all, this makes sense. The expected job growth is 14%, which is also double that of the total average of all occupations. A field as desirable as it is lucrative, psychology is certainly a field to be respected by those who dedicate themselves to it and those who don't alike.

For me, psychology cultivates the traits that make the previously mentioned two careers appealing for me: a desire to examine and understand personal and social relations, as well as potentially influence them, and a desire to see all of the beautiful and interesting things that humanity has to offer. The general idea of making or providing something that gives people inspiration moves them forward, or just means something to them is the driving force behind my own motivations.

Conclusion

The truth is that I don't wholly know what I'm going to dedicate myself to in the future. What I do know is that exiting high school, I'm confident in where the world takes me and that I'm excited to see it. I'm eager to bring something to the world, and I'm eager to greet the world itself, one step at a time.

References

1. "On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft" by Stephen King
2. "Understanding Exposure: How to Shoot Great Photographs with Any Camera" by Bryan Peterson
3. "Thinking, Fast and Slow" by Daniel Kahneman

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