Why is it difficult for creative people to find satisfying jobs?

From the game industry: We don't enjoy people who are simply "creative" and nothing else. Not everyone on a game team is creative, but nobody wants to be making a game they feel is someone else's vision 100%. This changes in larger teams, but if you're only 'creative,' chances are you won't be leading any of those either - the ladder is too high to climb solo.

Firms want creative people to be making the decisions and the drones to be carrying them out. Unfortunately, you can't just walk into the decision making positions. Usually you need to be a drone first. Even then, there are only a limited number of decision making positions in any company. Perhaps job advertisements really should specify, 'can you endure boredom ?' and 'mindlessly do as told?' That may be honest but it wouldn't get as many applicants as 'creative and dynamic people wanted.'

While it's not always difficult for creative people to find jobs, occasionally it's really so. There can be a host of reasons 1) To start with, I disagree with your assertion "Creativity is widely regarded as a valuable skill in the workplace." Not always true. This assertion is frequently made by recruiting professionals when they want to attract bright freshers and some self proclaimed gurus. For most of the jobs, discipline, right sense of diplomacy and political correctness, smart work-arounds to avoid conflicts-these are the skills which matter far more than creativity. This brings me to my next point. 2) Do you think a business can run smoothly with the most brilliant, creative brains forming majority of the workforce? Nope. For the most of it, a business needs a dedicated hardworking workforce who can implement a decision and carry out an instruction with a professional perfection and efficiency. Creativity is for at most top 5% (in organisational hierarchy) of the global workforce. The rest need to be sincere, diplomatic and smart enough to take instructions. Here is where a lot of overly creative people have problem. They just can't accept orders and sometimes value their conscience too much compared to practical need of a moment. If ever I own a small firm then I will rather prefer an obedient, hard working guy under me than a genius who will listen to his inner voice first. 3) There are several varieties of creativity and not all of them are worth much in a marketplace - where one sells his/her skill sets to serve others' interests and get paid in turn. Wildlife photography and graphic design may involve a lot of creativity but very few people are ready to pay to enjoy the fruits of them and the market doesn't support too many professionals in these fields. The bottom-line-if you can mix your creativity with sufficient maturity, diplomacy and the requirements of an actual job market, the world is your oyster. Otherwise people aren't going to care much about your creativity. All this mundane world cares about is how can you serve others' purpose and that's what sets your value as a professional. If being creative alienates you from this fact you got a hard lesson ahead. P. S. Throughout the answer, by 'you', I didn't mean the specific person who asked the question and my opinions were not directed towards him/her. I meant a general person. Nothing personal.

While its a vast subject, in response to this specific question I would say: Environment. Explained below: a) People consider creativity as simply a 'different and delightful outcome'. They rarely ponder over the 'how' and equate spontaneity with creativity. Many creative ideas are an outcome of hard labour. b) In other professions, such as management, there is greater stress on standardisation and process documentation. Creative process requires free thinking, and at many times, wastage. c) Every creative person has a different route towards creative outcome, which may look odd in a conservative environment such as office space. Professions, such as advertising, offer a conducive environment with colleagues and bosses who understand this process of creative thinking.

The most creative careers are perhaps engineering, mathematics, medicine, and computer science. Math is logic, and finding ways to beat common thinking. An engineer is someone who faces very complex problems and needs to fix it under immense pressure. The non-creative equivalent of an engineer is a technician. A doctor has to be creative and think outside the box, a nurse does not. Not that the non-creative jobs are bad; they can be more pressuring and demanding, but they need much less thinking outside the box. A businessman doesn't just set deals, he figures ways to beat the competition, ways to fix a business plan going wrong. A start-up businessman is perhaps one of the most creative jobs in the world - he has a bunch of theories, most of which fail, a ragtag team to work with, a lot of people to convince, and no procedure or algorithm to rely on. He needs to be creative almost constantly because everything is going wrong. But success pays well. Creativity is not about drawing things or making things pretty. It's about finding solutions that nobody else has found. The most highly paid jobs in the world require these creative people. The jobs that don't require creativity are outsourced. The jobs where it is easy to be creative (e.g. artists, designers) are poorly paid. The jobs where you have to be creative under pressure are the most highly paid because few people can do them and they can't be outsourced. Plus, very few people are going to buy a painting.

Most self-described "creative" people are believing in a societal lie: that there are "creative" people and "non-creative" people. Furthermore, as Andy Warhol* proved with his entire career, everyone and everything humans do is art - if viewed from the right angle. (*Also Marcel Duchamps, the entire Bauhaus Movement, and others.) You know who I want to bitch-slap so hard their ancestors feel it? Whenever someone says "I'm not an artist" or "I'm not creative like that", I want to go back in time and get whomever taught them those lies. "We are all born originals. Why do so many of us die copies?"

I agree, creative people and our generation in general become bored extremely easily. This is because we are surrounded by a constant supply of information and inspiration. Creativity is often sporadic and therefore cannot be forced or controlled, thus if there is no creative inspiration the creator will often become bored and opt to carry out another task. Being creative can be hard but often rewarding work - ask any creative. This is why most creatives opt for freelance positions or temporary contracts!! This provides them with the freedom and variety they require.. an excellent website for digital creatives is: http://www.welovesalt.com/

So many great answers. The vast majority of holes (jobs) are square or round, I'm quite irregularly shaped so fit badly in either.

Because most of people are anxious conservatives, and the rest of them are skeptics disabused. Therefore creatives are ostracized, most of the time. In science In art In life In everything... You have to have not only rationnal explanation to persuade them of your ideas but also you have to have creativity and diplomacy in persuasion. Very simple answer.