Creative and marketing jobs are becoming increasingly popular. Not only popular, but companies are seeing the need for these people to advertise their products and convince audiences to engage.
What Writers Do
There are different kinds of writers. When you are a writer, you do more than just writing. You will have to do a lot of research and collaboration with a creative team of journalists and editors. Depending on who you work for, the content of what you write can be different. You could be writing blogs, product descriptions, or even essays.
Scientific Writer – scientific writers have a specific niche. It can be science in general or a branch such as chemistry or physics. Nonetheless, their written pieces focus more on scientific news and documents.
Technical Writer – this is the perfect job for those who have taken computer science in school, but are looking to try something different. Technical writers take care of documents that have to do with engineering and softwares.
Copywriter – more on the marketing side of things, copywriters create attention-catching product descriptions that convince consumers to try out the product.
Ghost Writer – most ghost writers are freelance writers, but some may work under an agency as well. Anything goes when you’re a ghost writer. You could be writing essays, blogs, or even video scripts. The main objective of ghost writers is to manifest ideas to words on a page for those who can’t.
Career Prospects
Contrary to belief, writers are very much present in our day to day world, and the need for their presence is slowly increasing. In the next ten years, BC forecasts that there’ll be just over 2,000 job openings, the annual employment increasing by 2% in the Lower Mainland. Most of the openings will be because of economic growth. Currently, writers and those in similar occupations make an annual salary of $60,000CAD.
Education Requirements
In the corporate world, writing typically comes in the form of marketing and journalism. If you plan to become a writer, some of the main majors that you can choose from are:
- English
- Marketing
- Journalism
- Linguistics
- Computer Science
You can actually choose any major as long as it’s writing intensive, in which most faculty of arts disciplines are. If you happen to choose a major that wasn’t writing intensive, you’ll most likely have to build a written portfolio to show that you can write despite your degree.
In some cases, you will need a degree that’s outside of the typical list of majors. For example, a law firm may need a copywriter or a blog writer, but prefers someone who has some legal knowledge. As a result, someone with a political science degree would be better fit than someone who has an English degree.
Where to Study Writing
You can study writing at virtually any post-secondary institution. English and journalism are common majors and are usually offered wherever you look. Some schools you can start looking into include:
- Douglas College
- KPU
- Langara
- UVic
- SaskPoly
- VCC (University Transfer programs)
Why Become a Writer
Writing is where creativity and knowledge come to meet. As mentioned earlier, writing includes a lot of research and collaboration. If you’re someone who likes to explore new topics, becoming a writer is ideal for you. What you research may depend on the company you work for, but if you’re a freelance writer, you have control over what kind of topics you want to cover.
Regardless, you get to discover more about the world. You’ll be surprised by how much you don’t know. The collaboration with other people also gives you insight on perspectives you’ve never considered. Everything and everyone has a story to tell, and you get to bring it to light.