Careers
Pick by what you like making. Each one shows the honest day-to-day and a short project to try it for real, which is the only way to know if it fits.
Build & Code
make working software and tools
- AI Application BuilderThis is the fastest-growing job title in tech right now — building real products on top of AI models like Claude and GPT. It’s not inventing the models (that’s a different job); it’s making them reliably useful in something real, and the hard part is judging whether the AI’s output is actually any good.No degree rule — a portfolio of AI things you’ve actually shipped is the way in.
- Cybersecurity AnalystThe picture is dramatic hacking; the real entry-level job is patient defense — watching dashboards, triaging alerts, figuring out a real threat from a false alarm. Demand is huge, but the junior door is famously hard, and AI is now automating the exact starter tasks people used to learn on.Usually needs some IT background plus a cert (like Security+); the junior door is tight.
- DesignerIf you like making things both look right and work right, design is worth trying — but the real job is solving a problem inside someone else’s constraints, not making whatever you want. In 2026 AI handles a lot of the production, so the part that lasts is the judgment: framing the problem and deciding what’s actually worth making.No degree rule — a portfolio gets you in, and there are real junior roles.
- Game DeveloperIf you’ve ever wanted to make the games instead of just playing them, this is worth trying — but go in clear-eyed: studio jobs are in the worst hiring slump the industry has ever had, even though games themselves are doing great. The realistic way in now is making and shipping your own small thing, not landing a studio job.Studio jobs (now scarce), or make and ship your own — the indie door has no gatekeeper.
- Product ManagerIf you like deciding what gets built and why, product management is worth understanding — but two honest things: the day is mostly coordination and communication, not lone-genius vision, and you generally can’t start here. It’s a mid-career job most people grow into after years in engineering, design, or analytics.Usually a mid-career move (from eng, design, or analytics) — very few junior PM doors.
- Software EngineerIf you’ve ever wanted to build the thing instead of just using it, this is the one to try first — and in 2026 the job is shifting from typing every line to directing AI and judging whether what it hands back is any good.Degree helps, but isn’t required.
Create
make video, music, and visual art
- FilmmakerIf you live for telling stories on screen, this is one to try — but go in clear-eyed: the real day is long hours and a lot of editing, paid film and TV jobs are genuinely shrinking, and in 2026 AI can generate footage from a prompt, which is moving the work from big crews toward solo creators.No degree or gatekeeper — you get in by making your own work.
- Illustrator/AnimatorIf you make characters and worlds people remember, this is worth trying — but two honest things up front: most of the real work is to a client’s brief, not your own free drawing, and in 2026 AI generates the images, so the part that lasts is authorship — inventing who the character is and what happens — not the rendering.No gatekeeper for illustration (mostly freelance); animation has studio junior roles.
- Music ProducerIf you hear a track and want to shape how it sounds, producing is worth trying — but the honest day is mostly alone, endlessly tweaking and mixing, not making hits in a glamorous studio. The money splits two ways: a steady, growing job in audio engineering, or the artist-producer dream, where a few do great and most don’t.Two doors: a real studio/engineering pipeline, or self-start as a bedroom producer.
- PhotographerIf you see the world in frames, photography is worth trying — but the honest day is mostly editing and running a small business, not jetting around shooting. Phones and AI now do the easy shots, so what lasts is having an eye and being there for the real moments a machine can’t fake.No degree needed — you get in with a portfolio and clients.
Write & Report
write, investigate, and tell stories
- Author/WriterIf you live in words, writing is worth trying — but the money splits sharply: steady commercial writing (copy, content, scripts) versus authoring books, where the typical author earns just a few thousand a year. And in 2026 AI drafts the generic stuff instantly, so what’s worth anything is a real voice and the judgment to direct it.Two doors: junior commercial writing roles, or just write and self-publish (no gatekeeper).
- JournalistIf you want to find out what’s true and tell people, journalism is worth trying — but be honest about the trade: newsroom jobs have shrunk for 15+ years, the same skills pay more in PR, and the day is mostly chasing sources and hitting deadlines, not dramatic scoops. The durable, valuable part is original reporting AI and PR can’t do — and increasingly you build that path yourself.A shrinking newsroom pipeline, or build your own audience (Substack, freelance, podcasts).
Start & Grow
launch and grow a business or audience
- Content CreatorAnyone can start — that’s the appeal and the trap. The honest picture: it’s a one-person media business where filming is the small part, almost everyone earns very little while a tiny few earn a lot, and now that AI can crank out content, what actually wins is taste and a point of view people care about.No gatekeeper — you just start posting. The easiest door, and the most crowded.
- FounderFounding a company isn’t really a job — it’s a high-risk bet you make on yourself. The draw is the upside and being your own boss, not the pay (most founders pay themselves little to nothing early), and the honest reality is doing every job at once while the odds say you’ll probably fail.No gatekeeper and no safety net — you just start. The most open door, and the most brutal.
Investigate & Solve
analyze data and solve hard problems
- Data AnalystIf you like finding the real story hidden in a pile of numbers, this is worth trying — but the honest day is a lot of cleaning data and writing the same reports, not constant "aha" insights. In 2026 AI can write the queries and build the dashboards, so the part that lasts is knowing which question is even worth asking.No strict degree rule — but you need real SQL and data skills, and the junior floor is being automated.
- Investment BankerThe pay is real and it comes fast — a first-year analyst straight out of college can clear $170K. But picture the day honestly: it’s building spreadsheets and slide decks at 80-hour weeks, not closing billion-dollar deals — that glamour belongs to the senior bankers. And in 2026, AI is taking over a lot of the number-crunching that used to be the whole junior job.No degree rule, but a narrow path that mostly runs through recruiting at certain schools.
- LawyerMost people picture the courtroom, but most lawyers barely set foot in one — the real job is reading, writing, and arguing on paper, under a clock that bills every minute. It’s a long road in (law school, then the bar exam), and in 2026 AI is taking over a lot of the grunt work new lawyers used to learn on.Law school (3 years) then the bar exam required.
- PhysicianIf you want work where the stakes are real and people genuinely need you, medicine is it. But there’s a catch worth knowing up front: years of school and training first, and a lot more paperwork than the TV version. In 2026, AI is showing up first in that paperwork — not the diagnosing.Med school, then residency — a long road in.