5 Unconventional Jobs that Can Be Very Lucrative
When choosing careers, most people would want to go for medicine, law, and management. But these are not the only careers that pay well. Abigail Gehring wrote a book called Odd Jobs, where she listed a hundred jobs that you can do with or without a degree. Most of these jobs do not involve sitting in an office from 8 to 5, and some of them pay well – $100,000 or sometimes more a year. If you choose any job below, you can check it out at the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Here they are:
Bed Warmer
Do you know you could rake in up to $200,000 a year warming the bed for someone? You are literally paid to sleep. You get in bed a few minutes before your employer gets to bed, do absolutely nothing, and your body warm will warm the bed. It takes as long as it takes you to get warm when you step into your bed.
Who do you work for? Someone who is extremely wealthy and cannot stand the few minutes of staying cold in bed will pay you to take the cold on their behalf. The only challenge with this job is that finding clients can be challenging. You might need to network for a while before you find enough clients.
Computer Hacker
Most computer jobs that seemed add, such as ghostwriting and medical transcription services are now mainstream. You do not have to go rogue to earn a living as a hacker. Today, ethical hackers or pen testers work for companies. You will be tasked with attacking a company’s computer network to find weaknesses that blackhat hackers (the criminals) might use to get into the system.
Pentesting helps companies protect sensitive data by sealing loopholes. As a penetration tester, you will earn up to $100,000. Unlike the first job, the technical skills needed to get proficient in this job might take time to master.
Body for Hire
This is not a specific job with a set of responsibilities. When offering body for hire, you can be transcribing for a doctor one hour, standing in as best man for a groom you just met, keeping children happy when the parents are busy and doing so much more. If you need a consistent and more stable career, this job might not sit well with you.
Depending on the clients you get and the responsibilities, you might make $1,000 or more per event. To make enough money, you need to find high-paying clients.
Human Mannequin
You can earn up to $100 per hour as a human mannequin. You will be working for designer shops and you have to be ready to pose for clients. Some clients need to see how an outfit looks when someone suits and when they stand, with arms raised, and in so many other poses. It is like modeling, but now you do not do it in a fashion runway but in a fashion shop.
Just like modeling, you need an excellent body to match the target market of the fashion shop. Be ready to stand a lot and maintain poses for a long time.
Embalmer
An embalmer prepares the bodies of the deceased to make them look like they are just sleeping. They do this by replacing their blood with embalming fluid, reconstructing the physical appearance if broken, and applying makeup. You have to have the heart to deal with tragedy and have a flexible schedule. It would help if you also were empathetic to help your clients pass their dark moments.
To start working as an embalmer, you need a two-year degree in mortuary science and get a license as an embalmer. There are so many accredited programs offering mortuary science degree. As an embalmer, you can earn up to $44,250 but some make up $71,920 a years. Do you have the heart to handle bodies?
Conclusion
You can take a conventional job as medical transcription, or you can risk with any of the unusual jobs above and maybe earn big money. Some of the jobs do not require a college degree, but for some, you need to study. There are many more odd jobs, and you can always check the Bureau of Labor Statistics to see how the job fairs against other jobs. If you are taking on a job that doesn’t require education and there is no formal structure, you need to be good at marketing your skills.