One of the trials of adulthood is trying to attain a successful career that leaves you fulfilled and nets you an income high enough to pay for your daily living expenses and have enough left over for leisure and savings.
No two career paths are the same. Some people may stay within a single line of work and see success that way. Others, however, have better luck moving between different jobs throughout their lives. It’s all about finding what works best, both emotionally and financially.
When most people think about rewarding careers, they think of “typical” jobs such as office work, health care, and law enforcement. However, plenty of people have hit the career jackpot in unusual lines of work. And if you have the aptitude for it and know what you’re doing, you, too, can find success in an unconventional field.
The Basics of Any Career
Offerings for nontraditional jobs are everywhere, but success in an atypical field requires more than just working hard daily. Different jobs will have different paths and requirements to meet to achieve prosperity, but there are a few qualities you’ll need if you want to get your foot in the door of any of them:
- A strong work ethic
- The ability to adapt
- Good at picking up new skills
- Not giving up in the face of failure
- Being able to think and work for the long term
- Strong research skills
- Handle well in professional social situations
If you have or can learn these qualities and abilities, you can rise to the top in whatever you do. However, looking at unconventional career paths that people have flourished in and seeing what it takes to prosper in those fields can help you understand what jobs you would be suited for and how to find fortune in those. Read on below to see some atypical jobs you can make it big in, with tips on maximizing your success based on what’s worked for real people in those fields.
Voice Actor
Generally, a voice actor’s primary responsibility is to bring an animated role to life. While on-screen actors can convey their characters’ expressions and emotions using their facial expressions, gestures, and body language, voice actors convey expression and emotion using vocal control and tone.
However, voice acting encompasses opportunities beyond lending a voice to animated characters. Several well-known and successful voice actors have built up their careers by taking on unique opportunities:
- Melissa Disney has done voice-over for advertisements for clients like McDonald’s
- Mark Moseley is Eddie Murphy’s official vocal double, voicing Murphy’s characters in television series and video games
- Japanese voice actress Saki Fujita is the voice provider for Hatsune Miku, a voice bank for VOCALOID, a program that lets musicians synthesize sung vocals
- Dee Bradley Baker is best known for providing animal and creature noises for cartoons and games
Vocal confidence, acting knowledge, and networking with people in various media production industries are good first steps to beginning a solid voice acting career. Starting small and frequently auditioning is also essential; casting directors for high-profile projects will be more interested in someone with a veritable career and plenty of references than somebody new to the industry.
Cruise Ship Entertainer
There’s nothing that can compare to a cruise. A sea vacation is a unique experience that’ll leave you with truly unforgettable memories. If you’ve ever been on one, you know that cruise liners come with no shortage of fun activities and amenities, including live entertainment.
Cruise ship entertainment is a broad category of work and encompasses anyone who performs for a cruise liner’s audience, from singers, comedians, or people with unique shows and acts.
Successful entertainers who started as cruise ship entertainers or have brought their acts to ships include:
- Claire Sweeney, musical actress, singer, and soap opera star
- George Lopez, comedian, actor, and producer
- Taylor Swift, superstar singer-songwriter
- Chris Maloney, singer, former contestant on The X Factor UK
Naturally, being comfortable on the sea for extended periods will make cruise lines more interested in hiring you. If you can bring multiple talents to the table (for example, being a skilled singer and a comedian), that’ll boost your chances of success, too. However, what’s especially crucial is having the mental and physical energy to perform multiple times a day.
Food Stylist
Ever wonder how food in advertisements, shows, and movies looks so good? The answer is that a skilled food stylist is behind each visually appealing meal in media.
Food stylists use a combination of cooking knowledge, aesthetic knowledge, and a well-stocked toolkit to make on-screen food look good enough to eat. To list a few notable food stylists:
- Ben Boxall, worked with Sainsbury’s, Subway
- Alyssa Sarfity, worked with Bojangles, McDonald’s, Chili’s
- Deborah Logan, worked on The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey
To make a living as a food stylist, you must continually expand your skill set. Constantly try baking new things, and learn how different ingredients play different roles in recipes and how they can affect the look of your food. Always network with other food stylists so you can learn from a different perspective, make connections, and earn references.
Conclusion
These are only a few of the unconventional careers you can take on. If you know where to look, you can find opportunities for everything from ethical hacking, data recovery, commercial diving, personal shopping, biologists, and more.
No matter what career you’re eyeing, always do deep research into the job’s requirements and what your duties will be. Look up interviews from people in the field you’re looking at to get an idea of the experience, and always be open to a change in direction.
One of the trials of adulthood is trying to attain a successful career that leaves you fulfilled and nets you an income high enough to pay for your daily living expenses and have enough left over for leisure and savings.
No two career paths are the same. Some people may stay within a single line of work and see success that way. Others, however, have better luck moving between different jobs throughout their lives. It’s all about finding what works best, both emotionally and financially.
When most people think about rewarding careers, they think of “typical” jobs such as office work, health care, and law enforcement. However, plenty of people have hit the career jackpot in unusual lines of work. And if you have the aptitude for it and know what you’re doing, you, too, can find success in an unconventional field.
The Basics of Any Career
Offerings for nontraditional jobs are everywhere, but success in an atypical field requires more than just working hard daily. Different jobs will have different paths and requirements to meet to achieve prosperity, but there are a few qualities you’ll need if you want to get your foot in the door of any of them:
- A strong work ethic
- The ability to adapt
- Good at picking up new skills
- Not giving up in the face of failure
- Being able to think and work for the long term
- Strong research skills
- Handle well in professional social situations
If you have or can learn these qualities and abilities, you can rise to the top in whatever you do. However, looking at unconventional career paths that people have flourished in and seeing what it takes to prosper in those fields can help you understand what jobs you would be suited for and how to find fortune in those. Read on below to see some atypical jobs you can make it big in, with tips on maximizing your success based on what’s worked for real people in those fields.
Voice Actor
Generally, a voice actor’s primary responsibility is to bring an animated role to life. While on-screen actors can convey their characters’ expressions and emotions using their facial expressions, gestures, and body language, voice actors convey expression and emotion using vocal control and tone.
However, voice acting encompasses opportunities beyond lending a voice to animated characters. Several well-known and successful voice actors have built up their careers by taking on unique opportunities:
- Melissa Disney has done voice-over for advertisements for clients like McDonald’s
- Mark Moseley is Eddie Murphy’s official vocal double, voicing Murphy’s characters in television series and video games
- Japanese voice actress Saki Fujita is the voice provider for Hatsune Miku, a voice bank for VOCALOID, a program that lets musicians synthesize sung vocals
- Dee Bradley Baker is best known for providing animal and creature noises for cartoons and games
Vocal confidence, acting knowledge, and networking with people in various media production industries are good first steps to beginning a solid voice acting career. Starting small and frequently auditioning is also essential; casting directors for high-profile projects will be more interested in someone with a veritable career and plenty of references than somebody new to the industry.
Cruise Ship Entertainer
There’s nothing that can compare to a cruise. A sea vacation is a unique experience that’ll leave you with truly unforgettable memories. If you’ve ever been on one, you know that cruise liners come with no shortage of fun activities and amenities, including live entertainment.
Cruise ship entertainment is a broad category of work and encompasses anyone who performs for a cruise liner’s audience, from singers, comedians, or people with unique shows and acts.
Successful entertainers who started as cruise ship entertainers or have brought their acts to ships include:
- Claire Sweeney, musical actress, singer, and soap opera star
- George Lopez, comedian, actor, and producer
- Taylor Swift, superstar singer-songwriter
- Chris Maloney, singer, former contestant on The X Factor UK
Naturally, being comfortable on the sea for extended periods will make cruise lines more interested in hiring you. If you can bring multiple talents to the table (for example, being a skilled singer and a comedian), that’ll boost your chances of success, too. However, what’s especially crucial is having the mental and physical energy to perform multiple times a day.
Food Stylist
Ever wonder how food in advertisements, shows, and movies looks so good? The answer is that a skilled food stylist is behind each visually appealing meal in media.
Food stylists use a combination of cooking knowledge, aesthetic knowledge, and a well-stocked toolkit to make on-screen food look good enough to eat. To list a few notable food stylists:
- Ben Boxall, worked with Sainsbury’s, Subway
- Alyssa Sarfity, worked with Bojangles, McDonald’s, Chili’s
- Deborah Logan, worked on The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey
To make a living as a food stylist, you must continually expand your skill set. Constantly try baking new things, and learn how different ingredients play different roles in recipes and how they can affect the look of your food. Always network with other food stylists so you can learn from a different perspective, make connections, and earn references.
Conclusion
These are only a few of the unconventional careers you can take on. If you know where to look, you can find opportunities for everything from ethical hacking, data recovery, commercial diving, personal shopping, biologists, and more.
No matter what career you’re eyeing, always do deep research into the job’s requirements and what your duties will be. Look up interviews from people in the field you’re looking at to get an idea of the experience, and always be open to a change in direction.
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