In this quick guide let's talk about the top 12 virtual reality jobs you can get into as a career. This list includes things you can start on your own or work for others.
Check it out:
Note: Pay goes up when skill is in high demand, and salary may be significantly more based on bonuses, dividends, and other passive income sources.
Coding
Average salary: $50K - $120K a year
Coding is the basic skill for any tech job. Even jobs in virtual reality require coding knowledge include:
- Game engine scripting
- VR apps coding
- Debugging code
- Javascript for web development
- C, C++, java, Python
- VR software development
- Many more...
You may work for a small company or you can do this on your own by teaching people how to code to earn money. You don't necessarily need to know everything about VR, but the coding skills will do you a huge favor in the tech industry as well as other fields if you decide to change your career.
Website Developer
Average salary: $50K - $120K a year
As VR technology improves, more and more web-based VR applications will emerge. Web developers not only know how to build websites, but they also master skills to strive in coding, IT, government, health, energy, and many other fields.
Many people choose to work for small startups or just build websites on their own for clients while earning a 1099 income. It's one of the most popular jobs for anyone looking for remote work.
When things break, everyone will find a web developer to help them fix the problem, and that's a lot of money to be made if you're good
VR Development
Average salary: $90K - $150K a year
Industry leaders are already starting to notice that VR technology has the potential for significant change in many industries.
The military, education, and healthcare sectors have all seen how VR can be used as an educational tool or aid with patient care while also providing therapy when patients lack physical access; these uses could benefit millions of people around the world.
VR development will incorporate various skillsets to make software, training tools, haptics feedback and other interactive applications to support various career fields, and they need talented people to make that happen. This can also lead to freelance work or consulting.
Animation
Average salary: $40K - $70K a year
3D animation is a hot career for game developers, filmmakers, and VR developers to get into. It's very hard to find talented people that can do this job. Everything in VR must look smooth and extra detailed to make it immersive, and if you do this job, you will have a lot of projects and clients wanting to work with you.
This is also a job you can do at home and sell your animation such as character animation, motion tracking, physics simulation, and many more.
UX and UI Designers
Average salary: $120K - $150K a year
The UX field offers many opportunities for those who are just starting out, then expanding into various other things.
These skills include:
- User experience
- Visual design
- Color theory
- Typography
- Layout
- Wireframes
- Info architect
- many more...
New designers can find their footing in entry-level positions, while others might wish to advance through related fields like graphic design or UI Design before finally making the transition over into user experience (UX) work full time.
Qualified professionals can stick with the technical work or move on to different levels of sales and marketing if your personality fits the type.
3D Artists
Average salary: $20K - $120K a year
3D modeling will be huge for the VR industry. If you're a 3D talented person that can draw and create models for games and engineering projects, then this is the field you should get into.
Your job is to create detailed 3D models and texture them based on what the clients want. So knowing AutoCAD, Solidworks, NX and other CADing software will give you a head start if you're thinking about transitioning from the boring engineering career fields.
You don't always have to work for a company on a salary, in fact, you can work as a freelancer selling 3D models online for various VR and game projects.
Unity Developer
Average salary: $50K - $110K a year
Games will most likely be the largest market share in VR. Unity is one of the most popular game engines people can use to build games. It's so much easier than before but it still requires talented developers to work the magic.
If you want to build games, this is a field you can get into for yourself or work for others.
If you are already experienced with JavaScript or C#, then you will have a head start doing this job, and it can be very rewarding when you master the skills to create cool games other people can experience!
Sound Engineering
Average salary: $40K - $130K a year
Audio engineers can make or break a VR experience if the sound doesn't work right. Even in the real world, sound engineers must be skilled to work with various audio equipment and also understand the physics of sound.
Sound engineers play a vital role in the music, game, TV, and many entertainment industries. Anyone who ever has been to a concert and was impressed with the clarity and overall quality of the music can thank a talented engineer for controlling that sound.
The surround sound you hear on the Oculus Quest 2 that makes you feel like you're in the environment is the work of art of talented sound engineers.
If you like music and anything audio-related, this is the career for you.
VR Sales and Marketing
Average salary: $80K - $200K+ a year
As long as there are people, services, and products, sales and marketing will always be here, and it's gonna follow into the VR world. Sales have always been the highest-earning career for people to get into.
VR advertising and marketing are about to evolve into another dimension, and it's going to open the door for new marketing talents around the world in ways we have never seen before.
If you're good at:
- SEO
- Voice search
- Video editing
- Copywriting
- Presentation
- Many more...
This might be the career for you. You don't have to master VR completely, but your job is to elevate what already works in the physical world in VR.
Viewers can experience marketing and advertising in a whole new way such as hologram product demonstration, volumetric VR video ads, showing nonverbal elements to give that final emotional push to close the deal, and much super creative marketing.
Cinematography
Average salary: $60K - $120K a year
Virtual reality opens up the door for video game designers and filmmakers in ways that may change the way we play games and watch movies.
Instead of viewing on a screen, now the audience can feel like they are in it. If you like making videos and storytelling, cinematography skills will make you a very valuable person in the industry.
Content Creation
Average salary: $20K - $200K+ a year
Content is the oxygen of the internet. Whether you're building a blog for a website or YouTube, content creation in the right niche makes money via affiliate marketing, Adsense, CPA, PPC, eCommerce, and other revenue streams.
Just like a normal website that generates traffic via SEO and social marketing strategy to increase its value, the same thing can be done in VR as an online asset when the traffic brings in money.
VR content can turn into online assets, and they can very much be turned into VR real estate and NFT.
Note: If you want to earn more as a freelance content creator, you must start your own business and involve affiliate marketing to the mix
