For those with plans of walking across the stage in May, the next few months will be a never-ending storm of cover letters, resumes, job hunting and a general sense panic. The task of searching for your first real job is a whirlwind of emotions (i.e. crippling anxiety and headaches). Before you send off your neat little package of qualifications, however, you have to do some digging. Finding a good employer and position that offers growth should top your job priority list.
If you feel cubicles are where dreams go to die and the thought of entering the rat race with a one-way ticket to corporate America makes you shudder, then you should consider a yob in the creative industry.
When you think of a creative-centered job, you might picture the starving artist with ironic facial hair that survives on cigarettes and angst, or maybe the vagabond beach lady that sells handmade beads out of a straw backpack. But fear not. Creative careers span a variety of fields, encapsulate many skills and talents, and perhaps best of all, are typically seeking free-thinking, independent people.
The folks at PCR, a Jacksonville-based creative, digital team, gave us some killer insight on what it really means to learn, work, and develop professional talents in a creative market, and why it beats the stuffy, corporate 9-to-5 life.
Company Culture
Company culture can be viewed as the intentional behavior and actions of the people that work for a organization, and the motives that give them identity and govern professional awareness.
As a member of the social media generation whose greatest fear is disconnecting, your work environment should jive with a social butterfly status. While a cubicle screams loneliness, the collaborative agency environment allows for rich connections and seamless synergy. Instead of being just another cog in the wheel, your input and contributions shape the fabric of the company. Culture is expressed not only through relationships with co-workers, but with the business as whole.
Last holiday season, PCR’s employee gift was a plane ticket to anywhere in the country. The only stipulation? Each member of the company had to go somewhere they had never been before. This culturally-centered mindset inspires you to step outside your comfort zone, experiment and grow as a person.
“I think the most exciting thing for us is genuine openness,” said Spencer Pitman, director of strategy at PCR. “We are a collection of experimenters, researchers, tinkerers, explorers–I think this is reflected in how we live and how we work.”
Mind, Body, Soul
Confucius once said that if you choose a job you love, you will never work a day in your life. Or maybe we just read that on a fortune cookie? Either way, there is some serious truth behind those words.
Although creative liberty certainly gives us a sense of purpose, it also has the power to give us better wellbeing. Both mental and physical health is boosted in a visionary environment, as people tend to be happier, less stressed and better equipped to solve problems in tough situations. The impact of work-related stress is not only just a brain drain, it contributes to weight gain, respiratory infections, anxiety and heart disease, to name a few.
The good news? These ailments are totally preventable. Becoming a part of an independent, yet driven organization can help. Feeling inspired to tackle each day of work while being surrounded by passionate people is a foolproof formula for success in multiple facets of your life.
“A lot of our creativity is the result of putting different points of view in the same room on the same project, which causes these really exciting syntheses of new ideas and perspective,” said Pitman. “I’ve increasingly found myself seeking those sparks in other aspects of life. It’s almost addicting.
The Balancing Act
It may seem glamorous to launch yourself into a hot new tech startup, but typically those sort of jobs don’t provide the stability that new grads seek in a first professional job. A stale corporate position, on the other hand, provides stability, sure, but it typically lacks the creative freedom and thrill that flow through a young company. At a small, creative company, you get the best of both worlds: a reasonable amount of job security paired with the innovative and a quirky business environment that is still forming its identity.
Via: ValentineHR
“The path forward is rarely as clear or defined as you’ll get in a more established firm (okay, never), but I think that attracts a breed of creative, excited, open people,” said Pitman. “And that’s kind of our braintrust.”
It’s strange to think that soon, many of us will be parting with our late class schedules and leisure time in exchange for professional lives that consume more of our weekly hours. Depending upon how you look at it, this can either evoke crippling fear or forward-thinking excitement. Of course, that part is up to you.
Interested in working for PCR? We thought so. They’re currently looking for full-time employees with a passion for creative freedom and a knack for client relations. If you’re interested in applying, click here for more information.
Featured photo courtesy of: Salesforce
