Know Some Offbeat and Promising Careers for your Child

Ethical Hacking¹
 

Is your child tech-savvy and spending hours decoding the mystery of the internet? In this age of relentless cyber frauds amidst the upsurge of digital activities, it’s the young and fresh minds that can form a cyber army. Ethical hackers are the ‘white hat hackers’ who are assigned to find faults, weaknesses, and loopholes in computer networks, systems, and applications to safeguard them from potential hacking or cyberattacks. They are in demand for high-profile businesses, offices with tight security systems, app makers, and public service sectors like education or healthcare. Ethical hackers earn quite a lot these days, making it one of the most lucrative among the unique career options.
 

How to start¹:
 

Ideal to begin the journey after 12^th. Information technology and computer science courses, followed by a certificate course like the Certified Ethical Hacker, can be helpful.
 

Food styling¹
 

In this world, where almost anything under the sun is Instagrammable, a lot of people love watching food videos and photos. But did you know, this love for curated food shoots has given a major boost to an unconventional career option of food styling? Food styling artists work in close coordination with the chefs at the hotels, restaurants, and cafes to create visual treats out of the platter. These people are especially hired to make the dishes look aesthetic and click-worthy for photoshoots, cookbooks, menu cards, and promotional campaigns. They're used for media coverages of food festivals as well as for social media posts by regular customers. So, if your child has an ‘eye for food’, enjoys culinary arts and loves food photography, this may be a well-picked offbeat career option for him/her.
 

How to start²:
 

A degree in culinary arts, photography or fashion styling will create a solid foundation. Post that, making a portfolio through workshops, internships at hotels, restaurants, eateries and by assisting established food stylers can help in kicking off this unconventional journey.
 

Voice-over artist³
 

With the splurge of digital content like reels, vlogs, podcasts, web series, audio books, e-tour guides and e-learning courses, the demand for good voice-over artists have risen too. Does your child have a great voice, a good command over its modulation, and a habit of mimicking others? Then he/she might land up a good career in the voice-over industry where the artists lend their voices to entertainment, infotainment, educational content, advertisements, games or animations. There’s quite a demand for these artists in the movies, television, radio and web platforms alike, opening up another interesting and creative career option.
 

How to start⁴:
 

A voice training is the stepping stone. Post that, getting the right equipment in a home studio setup, the knowledge and understanding of related software and making a good online presence can help your child get a strong foothold in this creative career option.
 

Pet groomer³
 

Does your child love pets and enjoy spending time with them? Then a career as a pet groomer might be an ideal choice. These days, with an increasing number of pets in nuclear families, the demand for pet groomers has risen too. In this unique career option, one can be hired in veterinary clinics, pet stores, animal shelters, or pet salons as well as provide personal home-services to clients.
 

How to start³:
 

A certification or diploma course in pet grooming followed by internships can make a good pathway to this career.
 

Image consultant¹
 

Everybody feels confident when they dress and look their best. And that happens when the appearance matches with their personality and career. Here comes the role of an image consultant, who works on a person’s image and appearance based on their body type and shape, personality traits, colour choices, lifestyle and career. Apart from looks, they also coach clients on body language, personalized styles of looks and talking, etiquette, and crafts a unique brand image. Hence, image consultants are often hired by top-notch professionals like CEOs or business leaders for a huge pay-packet making the career a creative option of recent times.
 

How to start⁵:
 

A course on fashion designing and accessory designing, followed by assisting established image consultants can be a good start. Great communication and interpersonal skill, attention to detail and creative mind are big pluses.
 

Food Taster³
 

From posh restaurants to glitzy cafes, eateries are anywhere and everywhere these days, each offering to treat your tastebuds with a specially-crafted menu card. But have you ever peeked behind the curtains? Before presenting a new dish or platter to the customers, often food tasters are called in to check whether it would be an instant hit. If your child enjoys his/her foodie self, it may be a great choice of unconventional career option to pursue.
 

How to startⁱ

Being just a foodie doesn’t help. culinary education, development of the sense of taste, and knowledge of food are needed too.
 

A Note to the parents
 

The world is evolving, so are the career choices. How about being a cool parent and support your child in pursuing creative career options? Planned savings, child insurance plans and strategic investments may help you well.