No matter what your company does, it could use more art majors.
Yes, you read that right. If you’re not actively recruiting creative degree holders from
well-regarded digital arts schools, you’re missing an opportunity to add transformative talent to your team at a moment of unprecedented economic and technological change.
Not convinced? Consider these five reasons to start hiring creative degree holders today.
They’re More Resilient Than Quants
“One of the best reasons to embrace more [creativity] in your life is that it’s a powerful way to build resilience,” writes Terry Trespicio in HuffPost.
Trespicio is onto something, and so are the members of the growing cohort of employers who hire creatives precisely because they’re more resilient than so-called “quants” — the numbers-and-figures grads who command enviable compensation for what they do but struggle to venture outside of their relatively narrow specialties.
If your business operates in a disruption-prone industry that’s always on the cusp of transformative change, resilient creatives may be just what you need to ride out the heavy surf to come.
They Often Have Above-Average Emotional Intelligence
Psychology Today defines emotional intelligence as “the ability to identify and manage one’s own emotions, as well as the emotions of others.”
To be sure, you probably know a creative or two who seems perennially on the cusp of emotional crisis. But it’s fair to bet that most of the true creatives in your life are well-adjusted, empathetic, introspective, insightful.
In other words, they’re great candidates for roles that involve personnel management or higher-order thinking.
They’re Used to Thinking Outside the Box
Creatives are accustomed to thinking outside the box; indeed, “thinking outside the box” is more or less a long-winded way of saying “creative.” Creative degree holders don’t accept the status quo, at least not without prodding and testing it until they’re satisfied it represents the optimal here-and-now solution.
They’re Adept at Interdisciplinary Work (And May Have Cross-Disciplinary Credentials to Boot)
Creative degree holders don’t become creative degree holders without mastering the interdisciplinary. Although career-oriented creative degrees may focus on a particular specialty, such as studio production or 3D animation, most post-secondary credentialing programs require cross-disciplinary prerequisites that force candidates out of their comfort zones.
Many creatives, for instance, are fluent written communicators, ready to draw up a detailed report at a moments notice. Likewise, many creatives possess otherworldly presentation skills, making them a valuable asset in the boardroom or at the closing table.
Look at it this way: Why would you hire someone who ticks one or two boxes when you can take on a truly transformative talent capable of handling whatever you throw his or her way?
They’re Often Better at Critical Thinking
Critical thinking is, well, critical to the creative arts. For true creatives, every problem is a solution waiting to be discovered; creative credentialing programs’ practica focus in large part on systematizing the search for such solutions.
Where’s Your Next Hire Coming From?
Look, no one’s telling you to recruit exclusively from digital arts schools and public university art departments. In a historically tight labor market, you need to cast a wide net for top talent.
But you’re doing your company a disservice if you’re not actively seeking to add top-flight creative grads to your team. Your all-of-the-above hiring strategy demands it.
