A student's drawing
Careers

CAREERS

Perpich prepares its students to take their lives where ever they want to go with them. With so many options available, students should talk with their families, teachers and the guidance counselor when considering what direction works for them after graduation.

CAREERS IN THE ARTS

ABOUT 30% OF OUR GRADUATES DO GO ON TO POSTSECONDARY ACTIVITIES IN THE ARTS AREA THEY PURSUED HERE.

Are you planning to continue in your arts area after high school? You can do this in university and college programs, at arts schools, at conservatories and in two-year programs. In addition to pursuing an art directly, you can consider entering an area where you use your art knowledge directly such as art therapy or sound engineering.

In an article on Huffington Post, a report from the National Endowment for the Arts, using data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, shows that the future for careers in the arts is very hopeful. “Over the next seven years, job growth in the arts will exceed job growth as a whole,” the report states. According to the report, careers for painters, architects and photographers are expected to increase by 11 percent by 2018, compared to the projected 10 percent total increase in the American labor force. Due to long-term structural changes, there will be approximately 2,196,100 people working in artist occupations in 2018 compared to 1,977,800 in 2008, the most recent year with data available, according to the report.

Jobs associated with museums, such as curators, archivists and technicians, are expected to rise 20 percent, or “much faster than average employment growth.” According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the public’s continued interest in arts, sciences and history, when coupled with growing amounts of content and material to manage, will create demand for such jobs.

For more information on Arts-Centered Careers: OCCUPATIONAL OUTLOOK HANDBOOK OF THE BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS

NON-ARTS CAREERS

A majority of students who attend Perpich do not continue their arts focus after high school. They go to college and gain degrees in other fields, they travel, join the military and begin jobs directly after graduating.

The possibilities are as endless as your imagination. Often, the coursework you complete at Perpich will give you direction in planning for a future career. What are the classes that you truly loved, that you looked forward to attending; the ones where you never minded the homework? Talk to the teachers in those classes to determine what it was that engaged you so strongly. Apply the knowledge gained from those discussions to think about possible career choices and what type of preparation would be needed to find employment in those careers.

Some graduates decide to take a “gap year” before deciding if they want to continue their formal education. They might travel, work, find internships related to their interests or pursue other non-formal learning possibilities.

Perpich usually sees at least one or two graduates every year who decide to pursue life in the U.S. military. This can be an option that leads to excellent educational opportunities as well as travel and specialized training.