Today, being considered a nerd is not an insult – it is a compliment. That’s because many people who are considered among the world’s smartest also consider themselves nerds. If you feel you are also a nerd, you might want to pick a career that uses your skills and interests. Whether you are changing careers or just entering the workforce, there is something for everyone.
Preparing for a New Career
You may not have any prior experience that can mesh well with one of these careers. However, there are ways you can prepare for them before applying for positions. For example, you can get a degree in a relevant field and consider interning while you are getting your education. Paying for college can be difficult, especially if you are only interning instead of working full-time. The good news is you can take out a student loan from a private lender to cover the cost of college. This allows you to look for enriching work opportunities without worrying about how much they pay.
Technical Writing
If you are good at reading user guides and instruction manuals, you could work in technical writing. It can be challenging to write the manuals, but each writer is up for the challenge. You will need to learn how to use the items and translate the technical, complex information into manuals that anyone can read and understand. As a technical writer, you may also need to develop and share this information with manufacturers and designers. Having good communication skills would be a must.
Working with Video Games
If video games are what you nerd out about, you are in luck since they are a big business. The video game industry is worth billions of dollars and if you consider yourself a video game fanatic, you can find a great job. For example, video game animation involves using multimedia tools to come up with animated, interactive characters and other images for games. You will combine traditional artistic methods with technical equipment to create a story that can be played on gaming devices, phones, computers, tablets, and other devices. There are many reasons why video game design is a great career choice, on top of animation opportunities.
If it doesn’t sound like this would make the best use of your skills, you can also work in video game testing. Of course, it is not that easy to get into the industry since these positions tend to be rather competitive. Still, if you get a relevant degree and also understand a bit of programming, you can understand what your customers are looking for and fix any bugs. The position is not as simple as it might initially sound since finding errors and bugs can be challenging. Plus, you will have to rate it based on difficulty. Each game has to be completely free of flaws before your programmers or designer will approve sending it out.
Comic Book Work
There are plenty of classic comics, and you could get a position as an illustrator if you are good at sketching or drawing. You will come up with artistic designs for comic books or strips. You will need to be creative and have some examples of your work in order to get a job.
