Open Post #9: Careers in Packaging

Some of my earlier blog posts only scratched the surface of packaging professions, so I decided to dig a bit deeper into that area. Learning about the possible careers for this major can not only help the audience understand the degree and field better, but give me, and other students of this degree, a taste of what our futures might look like. An earlier lecture from PKG101 class explained the professional world well, so I decided to look back over the material. I found that packaging professions can be put into two groups: packaging careers and packaging companies.

Packaging Careers: Integrated disciplines. These are the jobs that work on creating/altering/designing the package. The professionals might work for the company creating the product or a company that the product's company is reaching out to for packaging.

• Package and product design development
• Industrial design
• Graphic design 
• Sales and marketing
• Materials development
• Chemistry/Polymer science
• Engineering
• Management
• Business
• Production and manufacturing
• distribution and supply chain
• testing and regulation 

Someone working as a packaging chemist would do work on projects related to the package's different barriers, (discovering what chemicals the material reacts to, if the package lets in sunlight, gas, etc., etc.) just as someone working as a packaging graphic designer would work on the appearance of the package (creating labels, printing images, sketching models)

Packaging Companies: These are the suppliers/converters & end users. Basically these are what creates the parts of the package, and the later receivers of the package. 

• manufacturers (of various types of materials)
• label printers
• beverage companies
• food companies
• cosmetic companies
• pharmaceutical companies 

Someone working at a label printer company will create and print labels that are later exported to packaging or product companies. Someone working with packaging through a cosmetic company might work on things such as making substantial decisions about new package options for a perfume. 

It is safe to say getting a Bachelor's Degree in Packaging will guarantee a career. What's even better is how many options there are - packaging has ties with engineering, technology, business, graphic design, and many more. It is very reassuring to know that even if I change my mind about what kind of field I want to go down, packaging will be present somewhere.

Sources Cited
Koning, Paul. "History of Packaging." PKG101 - Lecture 2. 108 Bessey Hall, East Lansing, MI. 14 Jan. 2016. Lecture.