Cool Careers

My high school had a college and career center that wasn’t very large and unfortunately, didn’t provide much insight or visibility into many careers. I grew up in a smaller town in a suburb of a major city where there weren’t many “big” jobs — mostly factories, doctor’s offices, libraries, and restaurants. It wasn’t until I got a little bit older and had moved into a bigger city that I started to really see all of the career choices out there, and even more so all of the different industries to work in. I also started to realize that the job I would be best at was one that didn’t just match what I knew how to do but what my God given natural born talents were. We all have them, we’re all born with something that we’re innately talented at — maybe not enough to land a pro football career, but without question something that can be leveraged to land you in a good career that you can build on. I had a natural talent for writing and communicating, and a bit of fearlessness. It actually made me a very good fit for a specific career that has benefitted me and given me a good life for more than ten years. I know God had to have played a part in all of it. If you’re reading this today, then I bet He wants to help play a part in your direction too. It inspired this week’s post because there may be others who, like me, didn’t know what opportunities were out there, let alone which ones to work towards. Below are some really cool careers that are not too difficult to get into and the natural skills that fit them:

– Public Relations/Publicist — This is a cool job where you are responsible for contacting newspapers, magazines and television stations to tell them about a client’s news. It can be fun and exciting because every day is different and you are always kept busy, and you’re also working with cool people in the media. You spend a lot of time talking with people, building relationships, emailing and doing research on the internet. It can also include a lot of writing. It’s a great job if you’re a good communicator — great at talking, writing, charismatic, etc. You can learn a lot of the specific job skills you need by doing — offer to help a local business with their publicity one day a week and call the media on behalf of them to build up experience. You can see what a press release and other public relations materials look like online to learn how to write them. Colleges have classes and degrees in the field. The entry level is mostly research, finding contacts, etc. so there is plenty of opportunity to work your way up. Sites like Craigs List and Monster.com list public relations/publicity jobs. What’s cool is that there is public relations/publicity in most industries — healthcare, technology, music, TV, fashion, etc.

– Stylist — If you have good style and a flair for fashion, it can actually be a career. There are personal shoppers and private stylists that work with people, from celebrities to everyday people who need help finding what to wear. There are also stylists for magazines, who handle laying out all of the clothes, and stylists for TV shows and films. It can branch into merchandising, which is more in the retail industry but still relies on a keen eye for putting things together. Stylists work with a lot of e-commerce stores to help style and present items, so there can be opportunity there, too. It’s helpful if you attend a fashion school to make connections and learn the business, but you can get into it simply with talent. There are many personal shopper organizations and groups if you do a Google search. Stylist jobs are a bit harder to find but Craigs List in New York and Los Angeles often have them. Merchandising jobs can be found in the retail category on Craigs List or Monster.com.

– Writer/Blogger — Writing skill can be a career in a few different areas. The obvious ones are writer/blogger for newspapers, magazines and internet sites, which can range from writing short, fast articles about news to writing fun things about handbags or stereos, to longer articles reporting on a topic or issue. To get started, what is most important is to rack up as many published examples of your work — it may require that you write for free a bit to accumulate enough to land a paid or regular job. Other writing jobs can include copy writing, where you are hired to write things like product descriptions or marketing copy for companies. Again, offering to do some work for free can help build up your samples to ultimately land a paid job. The downside of writing is that it can pay poorly or pay great, depending on who you are writing for. Since magazines and newspapers are affected by how many ads they can sell, it can be a fickle career to write for magazines or newspapers. But, if you have a natural talent for writing, you might want to check it out. Writing jobs are listed on Craigs List and sometimes on Monster, etc.

What’s important regardless of whatever work you do is to keep the hustle on. I have mentored hundreds of people and watched dozens more operate in various jobs and careers, and the only difference between those who are successful and those who are not is ambition. Next week I’ll post a few more cool careers and how to get into them.

Lil Miss P

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