As you all may or may not know, I started my career as a music video director. Ten years in, tech reared its head, and all of a sudden our budgets dropped dramatically because record labels refused to get on board. They didn't want to innovate. This was over a decade ago. They have now changed their ways, but it also changed the trajectory of my career.
So where did I go to continue to bestow my creative juices into the world - tech, of course, but I didn't know that would be my fate. More on that at a later date and time. Fast forward, I've had five opportunities that have all had some relationship to being a creative and surprise... they've all been in the tech industry.
Take it from me, tech is where the creative industry is going and these are the top three reasons why you need to get on board.
1. Money
This is an easy one. These companies are well-financed, likely venture-backed with millions, sometimes billions of dollars at their disposal. That means the same job that you'd be doing at an entertainment or media company, you could be doing at a tech company and make twice as much because their goal is not to fill the role, it's to maintain the best talent. They have to do this to stay competitive thus, they will pay top dollar and many times equity for creative roles like producers, designers, or copywriters. It's in the DNA of their business structure.
2. It's Not as Stuffy as you May Think
Most tech startups and corporations want to retain creative talent so they offer all types of additional perks to keep you there - unlimited PTO, full health benefits, fun and entertaining campuses when you are actually on site. Some have gone as far as having full-on game rooms, movie theaters, and extremely festive parties where they bring in top-tier musicians, have life-sized photos walls, programable DJ booths, and well... the entire entertainment gamut. Facebook aka Meta does this well as you can see below!
3. You Get to Be Creative
There are plenty of roles for creatives at tech companies that are technical but, there are also many non-technical roles, some of which you probably had no idea existed:
Amazon - Creative Executive, First Look & Overall Deals - this is the type of role you would typically see at a major motion picture studio.
Apple - Development Producer - this person is reasonable for developing compelling unscripted immersive content, another studio-type role.
Snap - Senior Creative Strategist - your entire role is to come up with cool ideas to get Snap more exposure.
All of these sound like so much fun and there are plenty more where they came from.