| Important Core Job Duties (in order of importance) For the Top 5 most important - How can you build experience and skill doing these? This will help now, to begin preparing for this type of occupation. |
|
| Importance (%) | Description |
| Importance: 100 (%) | Description: Write fiction or nonfiction prose, such as short stories, novels, biographies, articles, descriptive or critical analyses, and essays. |
| Importance: 100 (%) | Description: Revise written material to meet personal standards and to satisfy needs of clients, publishers, directors, or producers. |
| Importance: 100 (%) | Description: Prepare works in appropriate format for publication, and send them to publishers or producers. |
| Importance: 100 (%) | Description: Conduct research to obtain factual information and authentic detail, using sources such as newspaper accounts, diaries, and interviews. |
| Importance: 100 (%) | Description: Confer with clients, editors, publishers, or producers to discuss changes or revisions to written material. |
| Importance: 100 (%) | Description: Attend book launches and publicity events, or conduct public readings. |
| Importance: 95 (%) | Description: Develop factors such as themes, plots, characterizations, psychological analyses, historical environments, action, and dialogue to create material. |
| Importance: 95 (%) | Description: Choose subject matter and suitable form to express personal feelings and experiences or ideas, or to narrate stories or events. |
| Importance: 91 (%) | Description: Plan project arrangements or outlines, and organize material accordingly. |
| Importance: 86 (%) | Description: Follow appropriate procedures to get copyrights for completed work. |
Theater Careers and Jobs
Select, Find and Prepare for Theater Careers and Jobs - all on one page
For theater-minded people who want to understand the full range of careers beyond performing on stage. Use the tools below to see which theater roles fit your background and goals.
Theater careers extend beyond acting into directing, stage management, design, and technical production, and often combine multiple roles. Use the tools below to explore Theater-related job titles sorted by growth rate, salary, or required education. You can start with entry points like Stage Crew Member, or look ahead to advanced roles such as Director or Theater Company Artistic Director. Along the way, you will see specific certifications, such as None formally required; audition/portfolio-driven field, that can help you move up the career ladder.
Here is a short Helper Video 
This page will take you through 4 steps to (1) Select from Theater careers/jobs, (2) Find Theater job listings, (3) Prepare for Theater careers, and (4) Provide Theater career-specific resources.
Step 1: Select a Career/Job: This page starts with 4 ways for you to identify and select from listings of Theater careers/jobs:
A) Fastest Growing Theater Careers - 2023 to 2033 (est.)
These listings are based on job growth estimates and helps you to identify the fastest growing and evolving Theater careers. Some careers may not initially seem related to Theater, so relevant Theater jobs are listed alongside each listing. This can also help us to identify which careers (bottom of the listing) may have negative growth - perhaps due to automation or planned obsolescence.
B) Median Annual Salary U.S. Theater Careers
These listings are sorted (descending) by median annual salary in the U.S. This may help us to identify our ideal career. We may not qualify at this time for the desired career, but this listing and the results provided can help us to explore job details, as well as learn how to appropriately prepare for the career.
C) Theater Career Ladders (Educational Requirements)
These listings will help us to identify Theater careers sorted by educational requirements (with the most difficult to obtain listed first). This may help us to identify career ladders (as we scroll down the list), and help us to get jobs that we qualify for now.
D) Select From a Listing of 98 Theater Jobs.
The list may be quite long. There are two ways you might like to use this list:
1) Filter - As you enter a word, you will filter (limit) the list of job titles
2) Browse the list (Don't Filter) - You can simply explore the list of job titles. There may be many that you might never have considered to be of interest.
Once you have identified a job title of interest, simply click on it.
Step 2: Find a Job: After you have selected a career/job title above, you will see a form asking for your location. You will see several radio selection choices to utilize the job search site of your choice.
Step 3: Prepare For a Career: In this section you will gain access to detailed information to help you prepare for the chosen career. Information may include (not every career choice includes all of the elements below - updates occur quarterly):
Core Duties: Lists the primary worker-related tasks performed in this occupation
Supplemental Duties: Lists additional tasks that are performed but are secondary to the core duties
Work Activities: Summarizes the broad types of behaviors and actions related to this career
Specific Work Activities: Provides more granular day-to-day activities tied to the work performed
Essential Skills: Provides foundational skills that are core to performing this specific occupation
Transferable Skills: Provides career-portable skills that can be applied across multiple occupations and industries
Day-in-the-Life Summaries: Provides a snapshot of the key activities performed on a typical workday in this career
Knowledge Required: Provides the requirements regarding the acquisition of facts and principles
Software Skills: Lists software tools commonly used in this occupation, organized by category and priority
Preparation Required: Provides a summary of the required experience and education
Education Required: Detailed breakdown of the education required
Training and Experience Required: Detailed breakdown of the training and Training and Experience Required
Local Salary Information: Provides national and local salary ranges
Certifications: Provides appropriate government and private-sector certifications and/or credentials that may be required
Professional Associations: Provides professional associations that are related to the career selected
Job Listings: Provides links to active current job listings for the selected career, along with multiple similar job titles to explore. All information appears on this page without navigating away.
Related Careers to Consider: Lists up to 20 careers that might be of interest to you (related to your initial choice - what they do, what they know, and what they're called), ranked by best fit.
** If you clicked on a link from section D (as described in Step 1 above), you will see one or more links to an occupation that is usually a bit more general than your initial job selection - the link(s) is directly related to the specific job you identified through your prior selections.
*NOTE: It is possible that there may not be a career path identified for the specific job you selected in Step 1. If this is the case, scroll up the page and click on a different career/job.
Step 4: Career-Specific Resources (detailed and constantly updated): Continue to scroll down the page and you will find tabs that provide detailed (updated) links specific to the career you selected. This information includes:
Videos: Provides a listing of video links related to this career. A great way to get a quick overview of the occupation.
Resumes: Sources for resume materials and techniques. This can help to get you started.
Job Description: Sources that provide job descriptions, which are vital to resume and interview preparation.
Interviews: Provides links that can help you to prepare for and successfully complete the job interview. Can also assist with coffee chats.
Step by Step: Provides links to resources that can help to organize the career search process.
LinkedIn: One of the best professional social media sites that provides links, opportunities, and networking specifically for careers and career development.
Step 1 of 4: Select a Career/Job
30 Theater careers are listed below (sorted by Percentage Change in Total Job Openings - 2023 to 2033 est.). Theater-related jobs specific to each career are also provided. This shows which careers are emerging and growing the fastest. Please Scroll and Select below:
| Occupations | U.S. Job Openings 2023-2033 (% change) | Theater-Related Jobs |
33 Theater careers are listed below (sorted by U.S. National Median Salary). Theater-related jobs specific to each occupation are also provided. Please Scroll and Select below::
| Occupations | National Median Salary | Theater-Related Jobs |
33 Theater careers are listed (sorted by Education/Preparation Requirements - descending) to provide career ladders. Theater-related jobs specific to each career are also provided.
|
Education/Preparation Categories: 5 = Usually requires graduate school (e.g., Master's degree, Ph.D., M.D., or J.D.) 4 = Usually requires a four-year Bachelor's degree 3 = Usually requires vocational training, related on-the-job experience, or Associate's degree 2 = Usually requires a high school diploma or GED, but not always Please Scroll and Select below: |
||
| Occupations | Education/Preparation | Theater-Related Jobs |
Scroll through the picklist (below). There are 98 specific Theater job titles listed. Select those that may be of interest - you will get active job listing links, along with detailed resources to help you prepare for a career related to that job.
You can use this form two ways:
Filter - As you enter a keyword, you will filter (limit) the list of job titles below
Browse the list (Don't Filter) - You can simply explore the list of job titles. There may be many that you might never have considered to be of interest.
OR - leave blank and scroll through the choices:
Select a Job Title (Scroll and Select) :
Step 2 of 4: Find a Job
Find Job Listings:
Poets, Lyricists and Creative Writers.
Step 3 of 4: Prepare For a Career
Poets, Lyricists and Creative Writers
Description: Create original written works, such as scripts, essays, prose, poetry or song lyrics, for publication or performance.
Please click on a section below to expand and see detailed occupational information related to "Poets, Lyricists and Creative Writers":
Core Duties
Supplemental Duties
| Important Supplemental Job Duties (in order of importance)
For the Top 5 most important - How can you build experience and skill doing these? This will help now, to begin preparing for this type of occupation. |
|
| Importance (%) | Description |
| Importance: 86 (%) | Description: Teach writing classes. |
| Importance: 82 (%) | Description: Collaborate with other writers on specific projects. |
| Importance: 64 (%) | Description: Write narrative, dramatic, lyric, or other types of poetry for publication. |
| Importance: 38 (%) | Description: Write humorous material for publication, or for performances such as comedy routines, gags, and comedy shows. |
| Importance: 36 (%) | Description: Write words to fit musical compositions, including lyrics for operas, musical plays, and choral works. |
| Importance: 32 (%) | Description: Adapt text to accommodate musical requirements of composers and singers. |
Work Activities
| Important General Work Activities (in order of importance)
For the Top 5 most important - How can you build experience and skill doing these? This will help now, to begin preparing for this type of occupation. |
|
| Importance (%) | Description |
| Importance: 96 (%) | Description: Thinking Creatively: Developing, designing, or creating new applications, ideas, relationships, systems, or products, including artistic contributions. |
| Importance: 89 (%) | Description: Getting Information: Observing, receiving, and otherwise obtaining information from all relevant sources. |
| Importance: 79 (%) | Description: Organizing, Planning, and Prioritizing Work: Developing specific goals and plans to prioritize, organize, and accomplish your work. |
| Importance: 78 (%) | Description: Documenting/Recording Information: Entering, transcribing, recording, storing, or maintaining information in written or electronic/magnetic form. |
| Importance: 77 (%) | Description: Working with Computers: Using computers and computer systems (including hardware and software) to program, write software, set up functions, enter data, or process information. |
| Importance: 75 (%) | Description: Updating and Using Relevant Knowledge: Keeping up-to-date technically and applying new knowledge to your job. |
| Importance: 74 (%) | Description: Making Decisions and Solving Problems: Analyzing information and evaluating results to choose the best solution and solve problems. |
| Importance: 69 (%) | Description: Developing Objectives and Strategies: Establishing long-range objectives and specifying the strategies and actions to achieve them. |
| Importance: 67 (%) | Description: Establishing and Maintaining Interpersonal Relationships: Developing constructive and cooperative working relationships with others, and maintaining them over time. |
| Importance: 66 (%) | Description: Selling or Influencing Others: Convincing others to buy merchandise/goods or to otherwise change their minds or actions. |
| Importance: 65 (%) | Description: Interpreting the Meaning of Information for Others: Translating or explaining what information means and how it can be used. |
| Importance: 63 (%) | Description: Identifying Objects, Actions, and Events: Identifying information by categorizing, estimating, recognizing differences or similarities, and detecting changes in circumstances or events. |
| Importance: 63 (%) | Description: Scheduling Work and Activities: Scheduling events, programs, and activities, as well as the work of others. |
| Importance: 62 (%) | Description: Processing Information: Compiling, coding, categorizing, calculating, tabulating, auditing, or verifying information or data. |
| Importance: 61 (%) | Description: Performing for or Working Directly with the Public: Performing for people or dealing directly with the public. This includes serving customers in restaurants and stores, and receiving clients or guests. |
Specific Work Activities
| Important Specific Work Activities
How can you begin to build experience and skill doing these? This will help now, to begin preparing for this type of occupation. Specific Work Activities appear below: |
|
| Collaborate with others to prepare or perform artistic productions. | |
| Conduct research to inform art, designs, or other work. | |
| Coordinate artistic activities. | |
| Determine presentation subjects or content. | |
| Discuss production content and progress with others. | |
| Edit written materials. | |
| Obtain copyrights or other legal permissions. | |
| Promote products, activities, or organizations. | |
| Train others on work processes. | |
| Write material for artistic or entertainment purposes. | |
Knowledge Required
| Knowledge Required (in order of importance)
For the Top 5 most important - How can you build experience and skill doing these? This will help now, to begin preparing for this type of occupation. |
|
| Importance (%) | Description |
| Importance: 92 (%) | Description: English Language: Knowledge of the structure and content of the English language including the meaning and spelling of words, and rules of composition and grammar. |
| Importance: 79 (%) | Description: Communications and Media: Knowledge of media production, communication, and dissemination techniques and methods. This includes alternative ways to inform and entertain via written, oral, and visual media. |
| Importance: 66 (%) | Description: Computers and Electronics: Knowledge of circuit boards, processors, chips, electronic equipment, and computer hardware and software, including applications and programming. |
| Importance: 64 (%) | Description: Administrative: Knowledge of administrative and office procedures and systems such as word processing, managing files and records, stenography and transcription, designing forms, and workplace terminology. |
| Importance: 63 (%) | Description: Sales and Marketing: Knowledge of principles and methods for showing, promoting, and selling products or services. This includes marketing strategy and tactics, product demonstration, sales techniques, and sales control systems. |
| Importance: 61 (%) | Description: Fine Arts: Knowledge of the theory and techniques required to compose, produce, and perform works of music, dance, visual arts, drama, and sculpture. |
Essential Skills
| Essential Skills (in order of importance)
These are the foundational skills most central to success in this occupation. For the Top 5 most important, how can you begin building experience and confidence using these skills now? |
|
| Importance (%) | Description |
| Importance: 79 (%) | Description: Writing: Communicating effectively in writing as appropriate for the needs of the audience. |
| Importance: 71 (%) | Description: Reading Comprehension: Understanding written sentences and paragraphs in work-related documents. |
| Importance: 64 (%) | Description: Speaking: Talking to others to convey information effectively. |
| Importance: 62 (%) | Description: Critical Thinking: Using logic and reasoning to identify the strengths and weaknesses of alternative solutions, conclusions, or approaches to problems. |
| Importance: 62 (%) | Description: Active Learning: Understanding the implications of new information for both current and future problem-solving and decision-making. |
| Importance: 60 (%) | Description: Active Listening: Giving full attention to what other people are saying, taking time to understand the points being made, asking questions as appropriate, and not interrupting at inappropriate times. |
Transferable Skills
| Transferable Skills (in order of importance)
These are skills that can transfer across occupations and industries. For the Top 5 most important, how can you strengthen these skills now so they support both this career and future career flexibility? |
|
| Importance (%) | Description |
| Importance: 54 (%) | Description: Judgment and Decision Making: Considering the relative costs and benefits of potential actions to choose the most appropriate one. |
| Importance: 52 (%) | Description: Social Perceptiveness: Being aware of others' reactions and understanding why they react as they do. |
| Importance: 52 (%) | Description: Complex Problem Solving: Identifying complex problems and reviewing related information to develop and evaluate options and implement solutions. |
Day-in-the-Life Summaries
| Day-in-the-Life Summaries These summaries show the main types of activities you are likely to perform on a regular basis in this occupation. How can you imagine your typical workday — using these examples to see if this type of work fits you? |
| Activity: Communicate with others about specifications or project details. |
| Activity: Coordinate artistic or entertainment activities. |
| Activity: Develop news, entertainment, or artistic content. |
| Activity: Edit written materials or documents. |
| Activity: Maintain current knowledge in area of expertise. |
| Activity: Obtain formal documentation or authorization. |
| Activity: Present arts or entertainment performances. |
| Activity: Promote products, services, or programs. |
| Activity: Train others on operational or work procedures. |
| Activity: Write material for artistic or commercial purposes. |
Software Skills
|
Software Skills These are examples of software tools commonly used in this occupation, organized from most to least important for your career preparation. How can you start learning or practicing the highest-priority tools so that you feel confident using them on the job? |
||||||||||||||
| Emerging Tech Skills | ||||||||||||||
| Desktop publishing software: | ||||||||||||||
| Adobe InDesign | ||||||||||||||
| Document management software: | ||||||||||||||
| Adobe Acrobat | ||||||||||||||
| Graphics or photo imaging software: | ||||||||||||||
| Adobe Creative Cloud software Adobe Illustrator Adobe Photoshop | ||||||||||||||
| Office suite software: | ||||||||||||||
| Microsoft Office software | ||||||||||||||
| Presentation software: | ||||||||||||||
| Microsoft PowerPoint | ||||||||||||||
| Spreadsheet software: | ||||||||||||||
| Microsoft Excel | ||||||||||||||
| Web page creation and editing software: | ||||||||||||||
| Facebook WordPress | ||||||||||||||
| Word processing software: | ||||||||||||||
| Microsoft Word | ||||||||||||||
| General Software Tools | ||||||||||||||
| Cloud-based data access and sharing software: | ||||||||||||||
| Google Drive | ||||||||||||||
| Desktop communications software: | ||||||||||||||
| Skype | ||||||||||||||
| Office suite software: | ||||||||||||||
| OpenOffice.org | ||||||||||||||
| Text to speech conversion software: | ||||||||||||||
| Text to speech software | ||||||||||||||
| Video creation and editing software: | ||||||||||||||
| YouTube | ||||||||||||||
| Web page creation and editing software (scroll table below): | ||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||
| Word processing software (scroll table below): | ||||||||||||||
|
Preparation Required
| Preparation Required - How much preparation is needed to obtain this type of job? |
| Job Zone Four: Considerable Preparation Needed |
| A considerable amount of work-related skill, knowledge, or experience is needed for these occupations. For example, an accountant must complete four years of college and work for several years in accounting to be considered qualified. |
| Most of these occupations require a four-year bachelor's degree, but some do not. |
| Employees in these occupations usually need several years of work-related experience, on-the-job training, and/or vocational training. |
| Many of these occupations involve coordinating, supervising, managing, or training others. Examples include real estate brokers, sales managers, database administrators, graphic designers, conservation scientists, art directors, and cost estimators. |
Education Required
| Education Required - by frequency of educational attainment This shows you details about the level of education most commonly held by workers in this occupation. How can you begin planning the educational pathway that will prepare you best for this type of work? |
|
| Frequency of Attainment (%) | Level of Education |
| Frequency of Attainment: 31.8 (%) | Level of Education: Bachelor's Degree |
| Frequency of Attainment: 27.3 (%) | Level of Education: Some College Courses |
| Frequency of Attainment: 13.6 (%) | Level of Education: Less than a High School Diploma |
| Frequency of Attainment: 9.1 (%) | Level of Education: High School Diploma - or the equivalent (for example, GED) |
| Frequency of Attainment: 9.1 (%) | Level of Education: Master's Degree |
| Frequency of Attainment: 9.1 (%) | Level of Education: First Professional Degree - awarded for completion of a program that: requires at least 2 years of college work before entrance into the program, includes a total of at least 6 academic years of work to complete, and provides all remaining academic requirements to begin practice in a profession. |
Training and Experience Required
| Training and Experience Required - by frequency of training and work experience attainment This section shows you how often different types of training and work experience are required for this occupation. How can you start gaining the kinds of experience and training that are most common for this type of work? |
|
| Frequency of Attainment (%) | Level of Training and Work Experience |
| Frequency of Attainment: 23.8 (%) | Level of Training and Work Experience: Over 1 year, up to and including 2 years |
| Frequency of Attainment: 19.1 (%) | Level of Training and Work Experience: Over 2 years, up to and including 4 years |
| Frequency of Attainment: 19.1 (%) | Level of Training and Work Experience: Over 4 years, up to and including 6 years |
| Frequency of Attainment: 14.3 (%) | Level of Training and Work Experience: Over 6 months, up to and including 1 year |
| Frequency of Attainment: 9.5 (%) | Level of Training and Work Experience: None |
| Frequency of Attainment: 9.5 (%) | Level of Training and Work Experience: Over 6 years, up to and including 8 years |
| Frequency of Attainment: 4.8 (%) | Level of Training and Work Experience: Over 3 months, up to and including 6 months |
Local Salary Information
Select a State (scroll and Select) :
Please select a State to see State and National Salaries
Certifications
| Certifications These are examples of certifications that may be important for this occupation. How can you begin exploring which certifications fit your goals and what steps you would need to take to earn them? |
|
|
|
|
Certified Applied Poetry Facilitator
| |
|
Certified Poetry Therapist
| |
Job Listings
| Job Listings and Similar Occupational Titles - scroll and click to identify common requirements, keywords, and skills in current job listings |
Related Careers to Consider
Step 4 of 4: Career-Specific Resources
This section contains detailed external resources appropriate to "Poets, Lyricists and Creative Writers". Explore these resources to start learning more. Links are constantly updated, so bookmark this page.
Videos
Here is a listing of videos related to this career. A great way to get a quick overview of the occupation.
Resumes
Here are resources that allow you to see example resumes for this occupation. It may be helpful to see examples from others who have this type of experience.
Job Description
Here are resources that provide job descriptions, which are vital for resume and interview preparation.
Interviews
There are many great resources that can help guide you through the interview process. These links provide help in preparing and performing an effective interview, specific to this occupation.
Step-by-Step
Here are links to help guide you, step-by-step, to become a(n): Poets, Lyricists and Creative Writers
LinkedIn®
Here are links to various posts and groups from LinkedIn ® that relate to this occupation. Great way to start building professional contacts in the field that might be most appropriate for you.
Developed by Dr. Ralph Jagodka © 2026 About This Page
© 2026 - Disclaimer - Privacy