In the digital age anyone can take agency of their passions and find resources and opportunities to monetize them. But how many of us really do? If it’s because you didn’t know of the options, then here are 7 unusual career options you may want to explore…because, things only get bigger and better once we put our minds to it.
1. Personal shopper/Stylist
If you are someone who has a keen eye for fashion and has an excellent aesthetic sense then this is a great option to explore! A personal shopper, or in Bollywood parlance a fashion stylist, is someone who provides one-on-one shopping help to clients. Your job is to give advice on what to shop and what looks best, source various combinations and outfits from designers and retailers and help the client decide on the ones he/she wants to buy.
Read the book Career Rules: How to Choose Right and Get the Life You Want (Rs 188) for all the motivation you need to pursue your dream job.
2. Video game tester
As a kid, this was probably every gamer’s dream! Well guess what? It can come true! Irrespective of what you have graduated in, if you are someone who has been a gamer all their life and has a knack for playing any game that comes your way then this is the job for you. This requires you to play the games designed by the hiring company and give them feedback with respect to the ease of understanding, the difficulty level, the smoothness and other parameters.
Get this PS4 console (Rs 27,975) and get practicing!
3. Mystery shopper
This is the most exciting job for someone who loves to shop! Various market research companies or watchdog organizations employ you to go and shop from a specific brand or outlet. You are given a certain budget which you have to use to shop and then come back and report your experience. You may have to fill a few questionnaires which will contain basic questions about your experience. It could be anything from a haircut to shopping outfits. And more often than not, you get to keep all the goodies you have bought!
This four door wardrobe (Rs 9,999) is perfect for all the goodies you’d be carrying around!
4. Chief happiness officer
Yes! You read that right! The role of a chief happiness officer may vary from company to company but broadly speaking, it is to make sure that a healthy work environment is maintained for employees to work in.
To prep up and deal with different kinds of people, you need to do a lot of reading yourself. Take a course on Powerful Mental Tools To Help You Master Tough Subjects here on Coursera.
5. Pet sitters
A shout out to all animal lovers! And you really just have to be kind and patient with animals to ace this job. Pet sitters are people who can look after other people’s pets when they are out of town or away for a few hours and have no one to watch the pet. You can do it on your own or enroll yourself with an organization that provides pet sitters. Check out this website.
6. Voiceover artist
If you have a commanding voice and proper diction, this is the right job for you. There are just too many places where voiceover artists are needed. Right from plays, to videos, films and advertisements, the scope is huge. You can check out various job websites and Facebook groups like media jobs daily to find opportunities for this profile.
7. Baby proofer
Yes that is actually a real job. A lot of people who have a newborn child are looking for someone who can baby proof their apartment or house. All you need to do is get your hands on some basic baby proofing stuff which is easily available online, and get started. To know more, check out this website.
You can start by buying this safety guard cushion (Rs 299) so that a child is protected against all the sharp edges in the house.
8. Food taster
A food taster’s job involves trying small bites of food to make sure they taste appetizing and consistent. You are judging the food on factors like presentations, smell, consistency, etc. Food and beverage companies usually employ food tasters to test their products before they are being launched in the market. So, you can be on the lookout if this sounds like a career option for you!
9. Blogger/ Vlogger
If you like documenting your life’s experiences – be it through the places you travel to, the books you read, the poetry you write or the outfits and beauty products you can’t do without, you could start a blog or a YouTube channel to speak about the things you are passionate about. Bloggers are the new-age influencers who get a lot of attention from brands and audiences alike to put out original content in their own unique voice. Go ahead and get some inspiration from the Plixxo Superbloggers who are acing the game like no other!
For a kickstart in this direction, you should totally read How to Be a Bawse: A Guide to Conquering Life (Rs 399) by the extremely popular YouTuber Lilly Singh.
GIFs: Giphy
