We all know the jobs out there that are the geek dream, such as being a game tester, or a comic book artist, or an intern for X-Play. But if we’re being realistic with ourselves, we know that those jobs are not easy to come by. Most of them, most of the ‘geek dream jobs’ are nearly impossible to break into.

However, that does not mean that we have to content ourselves with being sales or customer service reps in those awful giant call centers. There are geek jobs for the rest of us that can be just as rewarding as the dream.

Please, don’t let the dream die though. If you want that far-reaching job more than anything else and are willing to work, network, and wait for it, never stop trying to grasp the possibility.

In the meantime, there are more easily available professions for us geeks that are still a lot of fun, very fulfilling, and that utilize the geek skills that make us who we are.

Graphic Designer

Not every geek is great with computer coding and right for a networking or upper IT job. Not every geek is fantastic with Photoshop, either, but the graphic arts are a continuously growing industry with constant need for fresh blood, and most graphic artists I have met are pretty big geeks too.

I work for a job search newspaper. Ads for job openings pass my eyes every day, and one of the constants I see that make me wish I was the right fit for being a graphic designer is the demand for those types of artists.

Graphic design is used in everything from web design to billboards to the ads you see in your local paper and even the menu at the restaurant you ate at last night. There are endless possibilities where skills in this area can be beneficial in the job search.

IT Guy

Speaking of IT, since I mentioned it before, there are always openings on that end too, and not necessarily ridiculously paying or complicated ones, but sometimes just a simpler role of making sure a company’s computers don’t crash.

There are many variations and therefore many different fits for different types of tech geeks. You don’t have to work for a major corporation to enjoy an IT job. You might really love simply running the computers for a local high school. If you do, do that.

Social Media Manager

Social media is new (well, not really, but it is to the major mainstream) and it’s booming. Twitter, Facebook, having an iPhone app for your companies, they are all the rage, and even small companies are hiring people with social media expertise.

Do you know how to chat, how to tweet, how to run a basic website or have experience blogging? You’re a brand new asset. Yes, I know that every job out there is competitive right now, but for those savvy enough in this area, there are a lot of jobs that other people just aren’t going to have the right experience for. Take this opportunity while it is still fresh.

At my current job I have even been using Twitter as part of my daily tasks, tweeting about the benefits of my company’s website and helping people in their job search. It’s a great tool for marketing in general, for communication, networking, and even job searching.

If you are not part of the blogosphere, or Twitter, or on Facebook, you should be. Just don’t be one of those people who check those sites every two seconds.

Digital Marketing

Along those same veins but a more commonly seen method is digital marketing, or promoting products and services using digital mediums such as the internet, chatting, using mobile devices (like iPhone apps, again), and other interactive methods that do not have to involve a call center or even in-person communication.

These types of positions require more customer service and sales skills, though I would argue that any job is going to demand some of that on even a small level if you ever deal with clients, whether directly or through a geeky method like Twitter.

An example of a job like this would be working for a company that monitors their clients’ websites, sees when there is traffic and then chats with the person visiting their site to see if they can be of assistance, tell them about promotions, and maybe lead that person toward contacting an actual sales person.

You are not the sales person, you are simply helping the customer, and supplementing sales for the client.

Making/Running Websites

This can be easy and not easy. Depends on if you are a geek with the right skills, but there is a demand and it can pay well, even freelancing.

Start with family. Friends. My husband helps his uncle with a company website for extra cash. There are so many bad websites out there that, really, the demand should be larger for help in that area than it is. Companies need people to manage their sites. You could be one of those people.

Try craigslist.

Retail

If you want to be around geek things on a regular basis, work in a geek store. You might only start at minimum wage, but there is potential to eventually manage if that is what you want to do.

You can work in Geek Squad. At an Apple store. For a comic book store. Maybe a costume shop. GameStop. If you enjoy it, those jobs are there, and they do not have to be dead-end or just temporary.

Sure, they usually only require a high school education, but experience in retail can prepare you for entrepreneurial opportunities that might even push you to start up your own shop some day.

I am also a firm believing that everyone should have a job in retail, customer service, or as a waiter/waitress at some point in their lives to gain important life skills.

I worked at a movie theater. I loved it. But, man, some days some people made it difficult, and that is why it was an important experience. Grace under pressure is a learned skill.

Give retail a chance. You might even make a worthwhile career out of it.

Product Reviewer

If you’re a gadget lover, the type who researches dozens of digital cameras or cell phones before you buy one, this could be the job for you. Also good for writers, a product reviewer for technology products researches and tests everything from HDTVs to iPods. They then write up which brands are the best and worst, along with the reasons why for companies and consumers.

Love phones? Know a lot about what’s out there? Find yourself constantly telling your friends how awesome your brand of touch screen is compared to theirs? You just might have a career you never knew existed.

I hesitate to put this one on the list, because it can be difficult to get this type of job without the right education and skills, but that’s true of everything. If you’re a geek with a degree in computer science (not just communications or marketing) and you know about gadgets, you have a chance for a career in this field, certainly more than you do to get a job at Microsoft.

Conclusion

There are a lot of good jobs out there that any of us geeks with an education and basic skills in a particular vein of our choosing can get without too much trouble (aside from the current unemployment crisis). It’s daunting out there, though, and sometimes we don’t realize all the opportunities available.

Most of us are still waiting to magically land that dream job someday, like selling our sci fi movie for millions or inventing the next new gadget that everyone will own as emphatically as we all have cell phones today. But for many of us that will never happen.

Don’t misinterpret me, I do not think any of us geeks should stop dreaming, because you never know what might be around the corner, and losing our dreams chips away at our very humanity. But, please, don’t sit around waiting either. Find that great geek job today, one you can enjoy but that is still feasible for you to attain.

The jobs I have listed are not the only ones that exist for geeks, but hopefully I helped some of you think of some possibilities you might not have given a thought to before. Find your own answer.

Hope is not yet lost, folks. After all, Dr. Horrible is on DVD, a Star Wars: The Old Republic MMO is on the way, and even if the Sci Fi Channel is the SyFy channel now, the geekdom has not yet fallen.

So to all my faithful readers, please, have faith, be proud of who you are, and, as always, live long and…well, you know the rest.

Monday I shall dare to take on a touchy subject, as it can be a horrible addiction, “The On-Again/Off-Again Love Affair with WoW”. You know what I mean. See you then.

Thanks for tuning in.

Images taken from:
http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2004/09/09/1094530769493.html
http://www.softpedia.com/reviews/windows/Microsoft-Expression-Graphic-Designer-Review-28332.shtml
http://gawker.com/tag/tim-the-it-guy/
http://www.biojobblog.com/tags/biotechnology/
http://www.russianhilldigital.com/
http://www.experiencesolutions.co.uk/blog/category/ali-carmichael/
http://blogs.zdnet.com/security/?p=1378
http://vanspw.ning.com/profile/goedym?xg_source=activity

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