Today’s millennials want more out of their careers than just a regular 9-5 job and decent pay. Gone are the days when traditional career paths like engineering, banking, teaching and accountancy held sway and were sought after by everyone. Chartering the unconventional route is the latest norm for anyone who dares to think out of the box or wishes to create a niche space for themselves in the world. Here are 10 alternative career options that are not just super interesting but can promise a good pay package too!
1. Podcast Production
Who it suits: creative people with good sound editing and research skills, problem solvers
With the millennials turning to podcasts to listen to information, podcast producers are the hottest people in town. A podcast producer is in charge of managing, recording, editing and transmitting a podcast. What’s more, the producer generally hosts the podcast too, so if you want millions to tune into your voice every day, this may be the job for you!
2. Pet Grooming
Who it suits: Animal lovers and those with excellent social and communication skills
Many middle-class and upper middle-class households in India are also pet owners and every pet parent is ready to shell out heavy bucks to keep their adorable pets in prime shape and good health. Look for a professional course for pet grooming at one of the scores of veterinary colleges across the country.
Salary: A fresher in the field can earn a minimum salary of ₹10,000 to ₹25,000 per month if he/she gathers a strong client base. Remunerations for good qualified pet groomers can run into lakhs.
3. Crime Investigation
Who it suits: People who are curious, have a sense of adventure and a basic understanding of human psychology.
If solving crimes interests you, then this may just be the career for you. Beware, though. A job as a criminal investigator may sound exciting, but can be very challenging, often requiring superb dedication, time and energy. Currently, it is also not a field that hosts a crowd of people. Usually, military experience or degrees in fields like psychology, forensics and criminology can help get a foot in the door.
Salary: The average salary of private detectives can range from anything between ₹1.25-2.5 lakh per year
4. Wine Tasting
Who it suits: An interest in the area of food and wine, a good tasting palette, good administrative skills and excellent communication skills.
A Sommelier is far more than just the guy serving you wine in a restaurant; the job involves figuring out which wines to serve and travelling around the world at times to source them. The work also involves a certain amount of business management, as sommeliers also manage costs and staff. You can connect with Sommelier India for more information.
Salary: A newcomer can hope to make around ₹3 lakhs every year. This can go upto anywhere between ₹70-80 lakh per year, depending on a person’s expertise and abilities.
5. Professional Hacking
Who it suits: People with great IT Skills and a sense of adventure, a strong sense of responsibility and ethics
A wide range of organizations need the expertise of professional hackers to secure data and money, and keep their systems safe. The job comes with a high sense of responsibility and needs a self-motivated, dedicated person with exceptional ethics. Certification courses are offered by organizations like the EC Council and other private organisations.
Salary: According to CISO, the annual salary of ethical hackers averages ₹5,70,000. That of Chief Information Security Officers can range from ₹12 lakh to ₹80 lakh a year, with an average of ₹23.7 lakh a year.
6. Professional Scuba Diving
Who it suits: Someone who loves swimming and has a sense of adventure
You’ve heard of scuba diving instructors teaching in places like Hawaii and as far as Phuket in Thailand, and you always thought of it as a crazy yet exciting idea. But it’s not all that impossible. If you are serious about an underwater professional life, you can make it happen with training and certification from institutes like the Professional Association of Dive Instructors (PADI) or the National Association of Underwater Instructors (NAUI).
Salary: As per payscale, commercial divers and underwater welders have an average hourly wage of $26.32, while the mean annual wage is approximately $54,750 (₹3.6 lakh approx). Additionally, the best divers make approximately $93,910 (₹6.2 lakh approx) or more.
7. Radio Jockeying
Who it suits: A music lover, someone who loves to research stuff and talk to strangers.
If you are blessed with the gift of the gab, then Radio Jockeying may just be the job for you. All you need is to be an entertaining and enthusiastic communicator. A good voice and a sense of humor can be an added advantage. There are many Institutes like Xavier’s Institute of Communication, Mumbai, Academy of Radio Jockeying, Delhi that offer RJing courses.
Salary: Radio jockeys can rake in about ₹10,000 a month while starting out. This can go upto ₹50,000-₹1,00,000 based on expertise.
8. Fitness Training
Who it suits: People who are social, interested in sports and can motivate others to pursue fitness as a goal.
Many people today have personal fitness trainers and believe me when I say, this job ain’t going out of vogue for a long time. With most gyms in the country running their own fitness trainer programs, all you have to do is find a programme you love, and you are set to help people around you get the body they want.
Salary: The pay depends on area/place of work in and the amount of experience. A newcomer can expect to make anywhere between ₹25,000-₹35,000 per month in a gym for one shift and ₹1000-₹1,500 per hour for a personal training session.
9. Cafe Owner
Who it suits: A love for coffee, a streak for experimentation and great social skills.
If you are a coffee lover who likes to experiment with different combinations and flavors, this is the job for you! You can head over here to kickstart your career as a coffee taster or maybe start your own cafe.
Salary: Good coffee tasters can easily make Rs 1 lakh per month. If you decide to open your own cafe, then sky is the limit, of course!
10. Water Slide Testing
Who it’s for: People interested in product development and well, waterslides.
I kid you not this is a real job! Tommy Lynch has travelled over 27,000 miles for his job testing holiday resort waterslides. You definitely need a lot of luck and slide-power for this one though. I’m not sure where you can learn this skill in India (or if it can be taught for that matter). But, if you ever find out, do let me know!
If you are looking to chart the unconventional path, I hope these options will give you something to consider. After all, where there’s a will, there’s a way!
*Information about salaries in this article has been curated from multiple sources, meant to provide readers with a general idea about income range in the said professions.
Yashasvini Mathur is an intern with Youth Ki Awaaz for the batch of February-March 2017.