Lawyer, accountant, doctor, teacher. We need them all, of course, but they’re not the only professions in the world. If you’re one of those people who marches to the beat of her own drum and blazes a brand-new trail everywhere she goes, well…the standard-issue job title probably isn’t for you. Luckily, there are a ton of unconventional professional paths that you can take without compromising who you are.
We’ve compiled a list below of the coolest and most unique careers in the world for your consideration.
- Video Game Tester — In general, testing jobs are some of the absolute coolest. Who doesn’t want to test delicious fast food products or new Netflix shows all day? One of the most amazing testing jobs is the video game tester. These highly trained professionals spend their days trying out the latest and greatest new game concepts from the best game studios and rating them as they go. They also help identify bugs and loopholes that could compromise the quality of gameplay. And the work pays well, too — about $55,000 per year, to be exact.
- Crossword Puzzle Writer — If you’re a crossword puzzle enthusiast (side note: the technical term for you is a cruciverbalist), then you already know that there are borderline-famous crossword puzzle writers out there who have made very good livings for themselves. See: Will Shortz, famed puzzle-maker and editor for The New York Times. While Shortz is a genuine celebrity in the world of crosswords, publications and game development companies need puzzle creators, too! You’ve just gotta be a savvy, logically minded wordsmith — and a dedicated cruciverbalist, of course — to be a good candidate.
- Meme Maker — Some career advice for people who love viral content: become a professional meme maker! With companies around the globe leveraging entertaining and viral content for profit, there’s a real need for clever content creators who have a finger on the viral pulse. In reality, your job title will probably be something like “social media coordinator” or “creative marketing associate,” but let’s call it what it is: a meme maker, plain and simple.
- Food Styler — Have you ever seen those weird and borderline disgusting videos of how food stylers use stuff like shaving cream and cardboard to make food look good for pictures? You could do this for a living! Seriously, though, product stylers of all sorts are needed to create accurate, eye-catching images for online stores and social media. You just need a few skills in arts, crafts, design, and photography.
- Head of Brewing — Brewing beer sounds like all fun and games, but it’s actually a very complicated science involving concepts of chemistry and physics, not to mention sales, management, food service, and, most importantly, having a refined enough palate to know when a beer is good or bad. The great news is that if brewing is something that interests you, it’s still a good time to get into the industry with so many craft breweries expanding and breaking into retail at the moment.
- Food Tester — Food tasters seem to have incredible jobs, but it’s not all fun and games. In fact, there is such a thing as a human dog food taster, so don’t go thinking you’ll just be gorging on pizza and burgers all day with this profession. In truth, professional food testers are experts of quality assurance, flavor, cooking, and sensory experiences, so there’s more to it than just gorging from 9 to 5. With that being said, regular people can get paid to test new food products and write reviews on a gig basis, so keep your eyes peeled for any quick tasting jobs in your area.
- Animal Acupuncturist — Veterinary acupuncture involves performing acupuncture on animals in order to treat conditions such as inflammation, pain, respiratory problems, and allergies. While there’s no real proof that performing acupuncture on animals actually works (in fact, studies debunk it), professionals in this field can still help pet owners and they also get to spend lots of time with cute animals, so it’s definitely not a bad gig for the pet lovers out there.
- Golf Ball Diver — Yes, this is a real profession and, yes, you should pursue it. Golf ball divers are professional recyclers who dive deep into lakes, ponds, and rivers to harvest old golf balls. They then clean, repackage, and resell the balls to make a profit and to keep waste out of our waterways. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), professional divers make around $200 a day, so it’s not a terrible gig for those who love the water. The first step in becoming a golf ball diver is to learn how to dive and to get a commercial scuba diving certification.
- Hand Model — Has anyone ever told you that you have photogenic hands? If the answer is yes, then you could be sitting on a goldmine. Seriously, hand models are needed to showcase and display all sorts of products, including jewelry, accessories, small consumer electronics, and more. This is pretty easy work, though we can’t say whether or not there’s a ton of work available for hand models.
- Ethical Hacker — If you feel like you could hack into some of the world’s most secure networks without breaking a sweat, you may be a good candidate for a career in ethical hacking. These web-savvy pros may be hired by banks, retail companies, healthcare companies, government agencies, or cyber security firms to ethically hack networks for testing. The fact is that if companies are vulnerable to hacking, they risk their entire business, so they definitely need to make sure they can’t be easily compromised.
Think Outside the Box
Who says you have to pursue a typical career? Not us! If you’ve got a unique flair for something or envision yourself spending your professional life in a certain unconventional field, we salute you! The world needs offbeat, trailblazing workers to spice up the workforce, so don’t be afraid to seek out roles that are totally atypical.
For more career advice, visit Tallo, a digital platform that allows students to create a professional profile and list their bragworthy accomplishments, so they can connect with colleges, companies, organizations and more.
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