Starting your first full-time gig is a huge shock to the system. Trust us, you’ll never experience exhaustion close to that of the first month in this position. It doesn’t matter how much sleep you cop, or how much coffee you drink, you’ll earnestly believe that you’ll never know what well-rested means for the rest of your life.
After enduring this experience, you start to recognise why your ‘rents, teachers and mates have been endlessly banging on about the whole “doing something you love for work” thing. If you’re not digging what you’re up to, then peeling your body off your bed (particularly in the depths of winter) becomes that much harder.
How do you go about finding a role you’ll love 5eva? By researching what’s around, of course. Here are a few unique jobs that might just tickle your fancy – all of which are attainable with a couple of years of study and persistence.
COMPUTER HACKER
Love getting your geek on but not terribly game on becoming a felon? In an age where cyber crime is on the rise, governments and organisations need folks to give their technological defences a run for their money. Why? ‘Cos they’ve got a truckload of sensitive information stored with ’em. Like, imagine if someone had access to everyone’s credit card details registered with an online gaming service. Oh wait, there’s no need to imagine. That actually happened.
That’s where Ethical Computer Hackers come in. They cut their teeth by cracking into a whole host of different servers to ensure they’re locked up tight. One of the bonuses of this career path is that you act like a bonafide criminal, while actually being an entirely law-abiding citizen. Oh, and the cash is pretty bloody decent for those who can hack anything proposed to ’em.
ZOOLOGIST
Love animals? Like, not just dogs/cats? Then embarking on the pathway to become a Zoologist could be the trajectory for you. Zoology is the study of animals and their respective behaviours – be it in a controlled environment or in the wild.
They do this to protect and understand different species so we can learn everything about them we possibly can. This might include monitoring migration patterns, how they interact with other beings, how habitat impacts might be affecting them, as well as their reproductive patterns.
DATA SCIENTIST/ANALYST
The information era has brought about numerous opportunities to us youngsters, but none so more than those available in the field of data. Think about it: every day you use your phone, lappy, social media and more to make decisions. The Big Brother component aside, there’s a wealth of data being created by your actions – data that can be utilised by businesses to make your online/offline experiences all the better.
Data Scientists/Analysts collect this heap of messy information and use their prowess to clean, organise and structure it to reveal its secrets.
ART THERAPIST
Sure, we imagine you’ve heard of traditional therapy, but have you heard of art therapy? Given the testing times we live in, we’re exploring new ways to help people feel better across the board, and art therapy is a great way of achieving that.
The Australian and New Zealand Arts Therapy Association defines this practice as:
[Therapies that] are a form of psychotherapy utilising creative modalities, including visual art-making, drama, and dance/movement, within a therapeutic relationship to improve and inform physical, mental and emotional well-being.
If you’re keen to help people and have a creative ~flair~ then becoming an Art Therapist might just be the gig for you.
PATENT EXAMINER
People, as we’re sure you’re aware, have this great ability to come up with these things called ideas. When someone has an idea for a new and revolutionary product/technology, they can submit a patent to secure no one can come along and swipe their brilliance and produce it for themselves. The tricky part, however, is submitting the patent to ensure that you’re not earmarking an idea that’s similar to one that’s already pre-existing, or too broad that it would prevent the submission of future patents. Patent Examiners are the ones who oversee the submissions and make judgement calls on whether they’re a-okay.
The main perk of the job is that you get to see game-changing tech months, sometimes years, before it’s released to the public. Essentially you know the 411 on the future’s direction before everyone else, which ain’t nothing to be sneezed at. Given you’ll need a high level of technological and legal literacy, the gig pays very well.
Money aside, getting yourself into a job that you love is incremental to achieving happiness across the board. Sure, figuring out what exactly that job is isn’t a walk in the park – but putting in the hard yards up front is your best bet to landing on a decision.
Once you’re there, the only thing stopping you is your qualifications. Check out La Trobe University‘s courses HERE to get that CV up to scratch for any of the above jobs, and thousands more.
