Find a Job You Really Want In
Summary: There are many different types of jobs out there that most people haven’t even heard of. While most people are content in their jobs, doing something out of the ordinary can be an important learning experience, as well as a way to find a career that you truly love and excel at. And the jobs on this list even have the benefit of paying a good wage.
Key Takeaways:
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Some of the best paying unique jobs are genetic counselor, dental ceramist, and hacker.
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Well-paying, unique jobs typically require at least a bachelor’s degree, but there are a few, such as a diver, a veterinary acupuncturist, or a dental ceramist, that can get by with an associate’s or certification.
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Having a unique career can have the benefits of allowing you to follow your passion, be a specialist, have different experiences than most people, and be an interesting conversation starter.
12 Unique Jobs That Pay Well
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Average Annual Salary: $69,000
While being an acupuncturist is an interesting enough career path, you can also become one for veterinary medicine – or an animal acupuncturist. It’ll certainly be a conversation starter, as well as a potential way to help animals that don’t respond to traditional medical treatments.
As a veterinary acupuncturist, you will perform acupuncture treatments on veterinary patients. It requires knowledge of the practice of acupuncture, as well as animal anatomy, physiology, and behavior. You need to be able to keep the animal calm, perform acupuncture treatment, and communicate with pet owners.
Education Requirements: In order to become a veterinary acupuncturist, you’ll likely need an associate’s degree. Some veterinary acupuncturists will have a higher level degree, but there are associate’s degrees focused on the field.
Some states also require certification with the American Board of Animal Acupuncture, but having a certification is likely to help your career either way.
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Average Annual Salary: $52,000
A lot of people don’t really even know what an inspector does – they just know it’s a safety-related requirement. Inspectors, however, perform a vital job, as they make sure that buildings are up to code and people stay safe. A job like this requires a lot of travel and meeting different people, as well as explaining why something is wrong repeatedly.
Being a bridge inspector is an extremely detail-oriented job, as you’ll be responsible for making sure that bridges are safe for public use. This involves checking for signs of stress, wear, or structural damage that could lead to a collapse. You will spend a lot of time outdoors studying bridges and blueprints, along with doing calculations.
Education Requirements: Bridge inspectors need to be highly familiar with bridges construction, the load rating analysis system, and civil engineering. More than 50% of bridge inspectors have a degree in engineering or civil engineering, and some form of a college degree is essentially required, as 95% have at least an associate’s degree.
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Average Annual Salary: $74,500
Considering the fact that the job title of a genetic counselor isn’t well known, it makes it an unusual job. Genetic counselors are highly specialized in genes and gene-related disorders and spend most of their time explaining them to their clients. That means you have to know your field and be willing to explain it over and over.
Genetic counselors spend most of their time talking about genes and how they affect people. A lot of this is related to genetic disease, and genetic counselors are often consulted if a couple is afraid of passing down a genetic disease to their child. They are specialists in both genetics and effective counseling techniques.
Education Requirements: while a genetic counselor is a medical professional, being one doesn’t require that you become a physician. More than half of genetic counselors have a bachelor’s degree, while another 40% have a Master’s degree, typically in either counseling or biology.
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Average Annual Salary: $36,000
It’s true that there are still farriers working in modern times. As there are still horses and they’re still shod, having a farrier is a necessity for horse owners. And while the median salary isn’t spectacular, highly skilled smiths can make up to $100,000 per year.
Farriers’ primary duties involve shoeing horses. Shoeing a horse involves caring for the horse’s hooves, making sure they’re properly trimmed, fitting the horseshoe to their hoof, and then nailing it on. As this is a niche market nowadays, they usually work with the same clients on a regular basis.
Education Requirements: Having a college degree isn’t a requirement to become a farrier. In the United States, you aren’t even required to be certified to be one.
However, there are horseshoeing schools that will teach the necessary skills required to be one – such as horse anatomy, smithing, and business management. Apprenticeship is also highly recommended.
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Average Annual Salary: $62,000
Being a ghostwriter is peculiar if you think about it. You write someone else’s story, don’t take credit for it, but still get paid. It’s also an opportunity to meet interesting people and tell their stories – be they celebrities, politicians, or someone who lived through a life-changing event.
Ghostwriters need to be excellent writers. That means that a lot of time will be spent on your craft and putting words on paper. But you also need to be a good communicator, patient, and willing to make changes to suit both the publisher and the person you’re ghostwriting for.
Education Requirements: The majority of ghostwriters have a degree, with about 70% of them having a bachelors. Typically this is something writing-related, such as English, creative writing, or journalism, but depending on the type of ghostwriting you do, different degrees could serve you better.
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Average Annual Salary: $74,000
Have you ever wondered how crowns, bridges, and dentures are made? Well, dental ceramists are the ones who put in the work to create these artificial teeth. It’s an important specialty but not one that most people think of when talking about dentistry.
As a dental ceramist, you’d spend a lot of time in the lab creating fake teeth to specific dimensions from ceramic, metal, and plastic. Dental ceramists typically don’t interact with patients and instead spend their time working on creating prostheses.
Education Requirements: Unlike a dentist, a dental ceramist doesn’t need to get a medical degree. A plurality of people in the profession has an associate’s degree, while 21% have only a high school diploma.
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Body Part Model
Average Annual Salary: $75,000
While this may conjure up gruesome images, all it means is that they model a specific part of the body. Hand models are one of the most common, but there are also a lot of foot models (particularly for shoes), hair models, chest models, and so on. There are also several body part modeling agencies.
This type of modeling is most often for commercial purposes, such as selling clothing. Having models that fit into display-size shoes helps with display pictures, and many hand models will model nail polish or hold an item in an ad. It involves a lot of networking, taking direction, and patience.
Education Requirements: Modeling doesn’t require an education, though as most models freelance, it’s not a bad idea to be familiar with running a business. A lot of modeling gigs are gotten through networking, and getting an agent helps with getting more jobs and being better paid for them.
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Average Annual Salary: $104,000
Cybersecurity is a major business, which means that many industries (such as banking) will hire hackers to try to breach their security. If the hackers find a way in, they warn their clients. So, essentially, you’re getting paid to break and enter.
Despite how it’s portrayed on TV, hacking requires a lot of skill in coding, familiarity with security systems, and expensive equipment. It involves spending a lot of time alone trying to figure out how to breach someone’s security. You’ll also need to be able to communicate if you find a weak point and explain how you broke in.
Education Requirements: The majority of hackers have a bachelor’s degree, with almost 40% of them being in computer science or computer engineering. While no degree is officially required to be a hacker, the majority of them have one, and it’ll make you much more appealing to potential employers.
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Salvage Diver
Average Annual Salary: $53,500
It makes sense that ships, airplanes, or cargo that end up underwater will have people that want to retrieve them, but most people don’t consider what goes into it. Salvage divers are the people on the front lines of that, diving down to retrieve vehicles or cargo that ended up underwater.
To be a salvage diver, you can’t just jump in the water and haul stuff back out. It requires understanding how the water affects different items and if they’ll be salvageable, knowledge of the heavy equipment used to haul them up, and the underwater conditions. Different water conditions will affect the salvage, you, and the equipment.
Education Requirements: While no degree is required to become a salvage diver, you will need a diving certification. That will require some book learning, controlled practice diving, and open water dives. Diving is a dangerous profession, which means that your employer will want you to have experience in diving.
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Food Critic
Average Annual Salary: $53,500
While this isn’t a job that people aren’t familiar with, it does fit into a niche. Food critics are paid to eat out. In return, they review both the food and the restaurant. If you’re a gourmand, then this is a dream job. But it’ll require eating out alone a lot, and dealing with unhappy restaurant owners.
Food critics spend a lot of time in restaurants. Not only do you have to have a refined palate, but you need to be able to write. A lot of a food critic’s job is writing down their impressions and sharing them with their readers.
Education Requirements: The majority of food critics work for a newspaper or magazine, which means that a bachelor’s degree in journalism is the most common education.
It’s also an excellent idea to be familiar with food preparation and different cuisines, which allows for both intelligent commentary and ways to compare different dishes.
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Average Annual Salary: $53,000
Ever dreamed of embracing your inner child as a way to make a living? There’s a career that focuses on dreaming up ideas for new toys. While, of course, a necessary position – the idea for toys has to come from somewhere, after all – it’ll allow you to embrace your creativity and stay up to date with popular toys.
Toy designers draw up toy designs, create prototypes, and work with engineers and safety experts to create a safe and appealing toy. Part of your job will also be convincing other members of your team of the appeal of your toy. Many toy designers are also somewhat involved in the marketing and promotion of their designs.
Education Requirements: Almost every toy designer has at least a bachelor’s degree, usually in graphic design. Being familiar with CAD drawing is an important skill in the field, as it’s vital in the design process.
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Hippotherapist
Average Annual Salary: $52,000
Just the job title of a hippotherapist is enough to puzzle people. However, the hippo part in hippotherapist refers to “horse,” not hippopotamus. That means that you get to work both with people who are in need of therapy, as well as therapy horses.
Hippotherapists are familiar with both therapy techniques as well as horse behavior. Their primary function is to use horses as a means of therapy. Care, riding, and bonding with them are used as treatment methods for their patients.
Education Requirements: To be a licensed hippotherapist, you need to be a licensed therapist. Once you’ve had a few years of experience, you can become a hippotherapist. That means you need at least a bachelor’s degree – usually in psychology – and a therapy license.
Benefits of Unique Jobs that Pay Well
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Following your passion. If you’re seeking out an unusual job, then it’s likely something that very much interests you. Finding a different and rewarding career is a huge boost to your overall health and wellness.
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Being a specialist. As a general rule, if it’s an unusual job, not a lot of people do it. That typically means it’s specialized and difficult. That makes you an expert in the field and in one that not many people work in.
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Conversation starter. While not precisely a reason to pick a job, saying that you’re a salvage diver or hippotherapist is going to interest people. It’s a great icebreaker at social gatherings, especially if you’re passionate about the work you do.
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Different experiences. Most people work similar types of jobs, which means that a lot of people have similar experiences. Having someone with different experiences and perspectives is important for society and can help you in your everyday life.
References
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American Board of Animal Acupuncture – Certification
Author
Di has been a writer for more than half her life. Most of her writing so far has been fiction, and she’s gotten short stories published in online magazines Kzine and Silver Blade, as well as a flash fiction piece in the Bookends review. Di graduated from Mary Baldwin College (now University) with a degree in Psychology and Sociology.
