Turning Hobbies Into STEM Careers
Traditional and unexpected paths to STEM success
Here’s some good news to boost your week: in a tech-driven era, interests and hobbies that seem like play can actually lead to stellar tech career prospects. Your kid’s favorite YouTube channel, TikTok trend, or video game could spark their interest in a lucrative career in e-commerce, streaming, gaming, e-sports, and a plethora of other exciting fields. Below, we’ve collected just a few of the interests and hobbies that can launch a STEM career.
Social Media
Look: social media deserves a lot of the criticism it gets. But the prevailing benefit of those platforms is that they connect people around the world. And a 2015 study revealed that 52% of employers use social networking sites to research job candidates. Social media is here to stay for the foreseeable future, and it doesn’t have to just be a distraction. From designing face filters as an AR designer, to developing the software of social platforms, to building social apps from scratch as a mobile app developer – if your child or teen loves social media, there are plenty of tech careers that can grow out of that interest.
Sports & Gaming
If you’ve got a sports nut at home, you’re in luck, because the esports industry is a burgeoning business powered by a variety of tech career paths. Aside from the professional gamers themselves, this billion dollar industry needs data analysts, software engineers, game testers, animators, and more.
Entrepreneurship
Do you have a kid with big dreams of launching their own business? Well, thanks to the power of the internet, you can reach a global audience in minutes. Jobs for entrepreneurs in tech are abundant, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS). And a career path in tech is well-suited to entrepreneurs because the current economy is so driven by tech! For kids with entrepreneurial aspirations, consider introducing them to the types of technical skills they’ll need to succeed, like web development, information security, and app design.
Ready to take the first step towards turning your child’s favorite hobby into an exciting STEM career? Sign up for one of our coding classes today.