Arts, Audio/Video Technology, & Communications

Cultural and leisure activities help us balance our work and personal lives. In Arts, Audio/Video Technology and Communications, a great variety of workers give us movies, paintings, music downloads, books, and museums. Actors, artists, musicians, and writers obviously make their living in jobs that are part of this cluster. Less evident are the employees who work in the background at occupations like set designers, agents and business managers, audio and video equipment technicians, and print binding and finishing workers.

As in many clusters, technology has required workers to learn new skills. Lighting and sound systems are quite different than they were even a decade ago, providing new multimedia options for staging performances and exhibits. Publishers now use technologies to create e-books that are far different from those used for print versions.

Several Arts, Audio/Video Technology and Communications cluster careers are likely to have strong growth over the next decade. Among them are technical writers, telecommunications line installers and repairers, and audio and video equipment technicians. Approximately two-thirds of the careers in this industry require postsecondary education, especially a bachelor’s degree. Industries that often have employment for this cluster’s workers include wired telecommunication companies, newspaper publishers (print and electronic), commercial printing companies, television stations, and electrical contractors.

 

Core Skills

The following Core Skills are necessary for success in these occupations.

  • Operations Analysis - Figuring out what a product or service needs to be able to do
  • Coordination - Changing what is done based on other people's actions
  • Time Management - Managing your time and the time of other people
  • Persuasion - Talking people into changing their minds or their behavior
  • Writing - Writing things for co-workers or customers
  • Negotiation - Bringing people together to solve differences
  • Speaking - Talking to others
  • Reading Comprehension - Reading work-related information
  • Social Perceptiveness - Understanding people's reactions
  • Active Listening - Listening to others, not interrupting, and asking good questions

 

Fields of Study in Arts, Audio/Video Technology, & Communications

 

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