Alternative careers for graphic designers, mapped by transferable work

If you want to keep using the same skills

The occupations whose transferable-skills requirements overlap most with graphic designers, measured from O*NET importance ratings.

• Agents and Business Managers of Artists, Performers, and Athletes100% skills overlap
• Writers and Authors72% skills overlap
• Public Relations Specialists63% skills overlap

A high overlap describes the work, not an employer's willingness to accept your background as evidence of it.

If you want the day to look similar

The occupations that share the most work activities with graphic designers — what a person actually spends the day doing.

• Interior Designers81% work overlap
• Public Relations Specialists61% work overlap
• Search Marketing Strategists58% work overlap

Similar activities are not a similar job. Pace, autonomy, caseload and who you answer to are in no occupational dataset.

If you want to keep using what you already know

The occupations whose subject-matter knowledge requirements overlap most with graphic designers.

• Art Directors83% knowledge overlap
• Film and Video Editors67% knowledge overlap
• Photographers62% knowledge overlap

Knowledge overlap is usually the gap formal study closes, and it moves independently of skills overlap.

If you want to avoid more formal study

Occupations BLS records as typically entered with the same level of education as graphic designers, or less.

• Agents and Business Managers of Artists, Performers, and AthletesBachelor's degree
• Writers and AuthorsBachelor's degree
• Public Relations SpecialistsBachelor's degree

Typical is not required. It describes what most entrants hold, not what any employer demands, and it says nothing about licensing.

If you want a higher national median wage

Occupations whose BLS national median annual wage is above the $62,960 recorded for graphic designers, wage year 2025.

• Art Directors$114,850 (+82%)
• Agents and Business Managers of Artists, Performers, and Athletes$82,890 (+32%)
• Search Marketing Strategists$78,760 (+25%)

The median is the midpoint for people already in that occupation. It is not a salary you would be offered, and entrants typically start below it.

If you want a stronger employment projection

Occupations BLS projects to grow fastest between 2025 and 2035.

• Agents and Business Managers of Artists, Performers, and Athletes+9.7% projected
• Search Marketing Strategists+7.0% projected
• Art Directors+4.2% projected

A projection is for the occupation, not for you. Fast growth often means more competition, and a flat occupation can hire constantly through turnover.

If you want the largest number of openings

Occupations with the most projected annual average openings, 2025 to 2035.

• Search Marketing Strategists82,000 a year
• Public Relations Specialists23,000 a year
• Art Directors12,200 a year

Openings mostly replace people who leave rather than representing new roles, and an opening is not an offer.

What jobs can former graphic designers do?

O*NET and BLS data map 9 occupations that share measurable requirements with graphic designers. The three closest on transferable skills are Agents and Business Managers of Artists, Performers, and Athletes, Writers and Authors and Public Relations Specialists. They are not interchangeable: they differ in how much retraining they imply, what they pay, and how much of the day would feel familiar.

What careers use graphic designer skills?

Measured against O*NET importance ratings, Agents and Business Managers of Artists, Performers, and Athletes shares 100% of its transferable-skills requirements with graphic designers, followed by Writers and Authors at 72%. The capability doing most of that work is Communications and Media. Overlap describes the occupations, not whether an employer will read your record as proof of it.

Can graphic designers change careers without going back to school?

BLS records 9 of the 9 mapped occupations as typically entered with the same level of education as graphic designers or less, including Agents and Business Managers of Artists, Performers, and Athletes and Writers and Authors. "Typical" describes what most entrants hold rather than what any employer requires, and it says nothing about licensing, which is often the real gate.

What can graphic designers do that pays more?

Against the $62,960 national median BLS records for graphic designers, Art Directors has the highest published median in this map at $114,850, with Agents and Business Managers of Artists, Performers, and Athletes at $82,890. A median is the midpoint for people already in an occupation, so it is not an offer and not a starting salary.

Which of these occupations is growing?

BLS projects Agents and Business Managers of Artists, Performers, and Athletes to grow 9.7% between 2025 and 2035, the fastest of the 9 mapped from graphic designers, ahead of Search Marketing Strategists at 7.0%. Growth is a forecast about an occupation's size, not a measure of how easy it is to be hired into it.

What is the hardest part of leaving graphic designer work?

Across these 9 occupations the requirement that most often has to be newly evidenced is Operations Analysis. Even the closest destination, Agents and Business Managers of Artists, Performers, and Athletes, is a genuine change rather than a lateral step. The obstacle is usually not plausibility — it is that one requirement with no obvious proof in a graphic designer record.