Transferrable Skills: How Cosplay & Twitch Shaped My Career Endeavors

I have always been weird, to say the least.

I went to school ultimately to become a pharmacist, and all I thought was:

"This looks like a stable job! Four years in school and six figures at a chain pharmacy or hospital after passing just a couple tests seem promising!"

When it was a few months out from graduation, I knew that I wanted to pursue a path that was non-traditional. I chose medical communications since I loved writing and creating clinical content that is meaningful.

But I still wanted to pass those exams so I can be licensed and work in those conventional areas.

This was my thought process:

This was my “foolproof” method in case my original path wasn’t successful.

Spoiler alert: I hate tests. My failure attempts proved me that.

So just like a video game side quest, I had to pivot and find colorful ways to find work. I won’t bore you on the actual details but there was one thing from my personal life that ended up being handy.

“What do you mean? I can use my past four years as a cosplayer and streamer to help me get work?”

Those were the words I kept asking myself whenever my mentors asked why I omitted that experience from my resume. After all, I fought tooth and nail to keep my content creator persona separate from my profession. My Filipino culture and the principles of clinical professionalism made me think that they couldn’t be the same person.

So let’s break it down. Would you believe me if I told you that I was…

• Interviewed by Dexerto for my Tataru Taru cosplay from FFXIV
• Acknowledged by franchises such as Square Enix and Nickelodeon
• A co-panelist for a discussion about equity and diversity for cosplayers
• A co-host for a cosplay and convention themed podcast
• A leader for several, large scale fandom community-driven projects
• A content creator who gained her following through my advocacy for mental health, stance on social issues affecting the online community and lastly— making people smile

I also picked up Twitch during the last quarter of my year in pharmacy school. The idea of talking constantly to an audience was daunting at first. However, by that time I was already giving clinical presentations to pharmacists, doctors, nurses and other healthcare professionals at my rotations. Even as an ambivert leaning towards the introverted spectrum — there was something exhilarating from talking to others about my personal topics of interest and educating them about it.

Regardless, no one would have guessed that the quiet pharmacy student that was learning about drug interactions with grapefruit (there is alot) and appraising ten clinical trial studies was secretly an online content creator.

“What are the transferrable skills that cosplay and Twitch has given me?”

• Audience-based Writing and Speaking
• Advocacy Outreach
• Stakeholder Engagement
• Project Management
• Content Creation and Strategy
• Social Media and Marketing
• Time Management
• Pitching Ideas

Once I started to intertwine both my professional and content creator experiences into my networking as a freelance medical writer:

More people started to reply back to me with career-related opportunities.

Since then, I was given two paid freelance gigs, three internal referrals for (pending) agency applications and an internship in communications through a two hour conversation with a health organization director.

The moral of this story is that you might have more eggs in your basket than you thought. Consider ALL of your life experiences as long as they are applicable to your long-term career goals. This was an unconventional approach compared to what I was told would happen to me after pharmacy school. 

But as I said before…

I am a bit of a weirdo.