Deciding what you want to do for a living right after you have passed out of school must be quite a task. Unfortunately, most of the undergraduate courses offered in colleges today are looked at as means to land us jobs.
This process can be daunting if you don’t see yourself working the mainstream 9-to-5 jobs!
But fret not.
Got your results? Now check out some cool career options!
The job market is no longer what it used to be five to ten years ago. Digital disruption has made it possible for you to follow your passion and make it a viable career option to pay your bills with.
Here are five such offbeats professions that did not exist five years ago:
Diving:
If you can imagine yourself spending your whole life interacting with the deep sea and its denizens, how about considering ‘diving’ as a profession?
There are multiple career options that optimise your passion for diving: scuba diver, snorkeler, professional diving instructor, researcher or even underwater photographer.
The salary is different for each, so is the risk factor involved.
What you need?
A certificate from either PADI or SSI based on the guidelines set by World Recreational Scuba Diving Council. Also, to be able to train and certify other divers, you'd need a master-diver’s certificate.
There are several institutes across India, especially along the coastal cities of Goa, Netrani, Bangalore, Pune, Pondicherry, Delhi, Andaman Islands and Lakshadweep Islands, that offer the certificates.
Social Media Manager:
Imagine being logged in to Facebook, Twitter or Instagram the whole day to earn a living?
Sounds too good to be true, eh? Well, that's what social media managers do – day in and day out. And before you think it is a menial job that can be handled by anyone and everyone, let me clear your misconception. To be a good social media manager for a publication or a brand, a person needs to have a clear understanding of how audience behaviour works on each of these platforms.
Social media is a multi-billion dollar industry that has grown in leaps and bounds in the last 6-7 years. We are living in a time when advertising and distribution cannot be thought of sans social media. That is how important and demanding this industry has become in the last few years.
An entry-level social media manager makes roughly around 30k per month and with experience, the moolah keeps doubling.
With new social media courses in universities and industry internships, efficient social media managers are much in need.
ESports Person:
Turns out all those hours you have spent in front of the computer, punching away on the keyboard, clearing level after level of your favourite video game, wasn’t a waste of time after all.
Gone are the days when video games were not considered a ‘real’ sport. Esports will be a demonstration sport in Asian Games-2018, Jakarta (Indonesia) and a medal sport in Asian Games 2022, Hangzhou (China). It is also a sport recognised by the Olympics. Today, if pursued as a profession, an Esports person can make up to millions of dollars!
In India, however, the average industry salary was Rs 22,000 in 2017 as per this SportsKeera report.
What you need:
Since the industry is at a developing stage, there is no set eligibility criteria to join the professional teams. Passion for the game and commitment to work with limited resources is appreciated.
Mountaineering:
Love the mountains, have a knack for trekking and want to make a career out of this passion? Look no further!
Career options in mountaineering involve trek guides, climbing guides, climbing agency owners and even government-sponsored climbers.
Depending on the role that you specialise in, you can make from 1000 to 2500 INR a day. As mentioned in this blog by a professional mountaineer, the ones willing to innovate in this field make the most money.
What you need:
A university recognised certificate in mountaineering.
Institutes offering these courses:
- Nehru Institute Of Mountaineering, Utarakshi, in Uttarakhand
- Jawahar Institute of Mountaineering and Winter Sports, in J& K
- National Institute of Mountaineering and Allied Sports, in Arunachal Pradesh
- Himalayan Mountaineering Institute in Darjeeling, in West Bengal
Cosplaying:
If you’ve always aced fancy dress competitions, have an eye for detail, and are good at designing your own superhero costumes, then you must give Cosplaying a chance. Yep, cosplaying is a legit profession. Albeit at a nascent stage in our country.
That doesn't change the fact that there are professional cosplayers now who do this full-time and even make up to 25000 INR per event.
Most of these cosplayers have a loyal fan base they reach out to through social media platforms like Instagram, Youtube, Patreon, and Facebook, earning revenues in the process.
What you need:
Like esports, there is no eligibility criteria as such. Given the fact that there are few avenues to make money, the competition is pretty cut-throat if you want to go pro. Shadowing the pros is the best way to learn the tropes of the industry.
If you are considering an equally offbeat career option, or have already walked on unchartered territories and made a name for yourself, let us know in the comments below.
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