Pathway: Creative Arts and Communication

Creativity knows no bounds.

When you explore the Creative Arts and Communication Pathway, you join a community of individuals who seek opportunities to express their creative interests through their career or personal life choices. You’ll find a constant stream of events to help you meet students, faculty, and community members engaging in arts-related activities.

While some students may see themselves as future artists, musicians, writers, or actors, many students who consider this pathway will pursue opportunities to apply creative thought in ways you might not expect. In the creative arts, it’s less about what you do than how you do it.

Learn more about the Pathway Leadership Team members for this pathway - key advisors and supporters who inform how we prepare students for success and give them access to the best internships, jobs, and graduate/professional schools.

Interested in joining the Creative Arts Career Pathway? Sign up today!

Below are majors and minors to start exploring in support of this pathway. Don’t be afraid to look beyond this list to develop your personal academic plan.

Next Steps

You’ll find the resources you need here to get started with exploring your creative side.

Your career advisor can help you with everything from considering major/career options to making action plans to get what you want. Make an appointment on Handshake or stop by Express Advising to start discussing your goals.

Every other Tuesday during the academic year, you will receive messages about specific jobs and internships as well as upcoming events in your Career Pathway Newsletters - check them out!

What can you do right now? 

Research some of the most common internship/career options related to creative arts an communication ranging from arts administration to advertising to consulting. 

Get informed about the trends and norms of the industry or jobs you are considering. 

Browse Lake Forest College’s subscription to Vault.com for articles and downloadable books.  Popular Vault guides for creative students include:

• Career Guide to Media and Entertainment
• Guide to Writing and Editing Jobs
• Guide to Advertising Jobs

Vault is best known nationally for its influential rankings, ratings, and reviews on thousands of top employers and hundreds of internship programs.

Browse jobs and internships 

Jot down some notes about what stands out – the company, the responsibilities, the location, etc. and share your notes with your career advisor.

• Start with Lake Forest College’s career management platform Handshake. 
• Or try www.mediabistro.com and www.talentzoo.com. 

Not finding what you are seeking?  See your career advisor to help you strategize. There are many ways to find creative arts opportunities. Eventually, you will need to work on your networking skills, because most jobs in the creative arts are never posted anywhere.

Familiarize yourself with relevant professional associations and identify events you can attend and people you can meet to learn more about your target field. 

Mark your calendar for campus events of interest.  Learn about campus events through this site, the Center for Chicago Programs, and other interesting off-campus sources, like Chicago Artists Coalition and Chicago Advertising Federation.

Follow professional associations and interesting people on social media.

Create a way to chart your exploration and professional development activities – the things you’ve done, want to do, and the stuff that gives you inspiration. 

You might simply make a list of what’s interesting to you about the creative arts (skills you could/have used, visions about what you might want to accomplish, hopes about the ways you wish you could use your creative interests). 

Really feeling creative?  Create a collage or vision board to capture your thoughts and feelings….don’t worry about whether items on your board fit neatly together into a clear story.

Not feeling that creative? Start your master activity list or update your resume using our resume building resources.