Most Indian students aspire to become doctors and engineers from a very young age because they aren’t aware of the other opportunities that exist or aren’t supported to venture away from what is considered a ‘safe’ path. On our 13th anniversary, we bring to you a few careers that can help you carve a unique journey of your own while also having great scope in India!
Don’t Just Log In, Blog In
A blog is a website containing a writer’s or a group of writers’ own experiences, observations, opinions, and often having images and videos. Blogging has become a rage in the last few years with people blogging about a variety of things ranging from food and fashion to travel and lifestyle.
Blogging, as a career option, has taken off after the social media boom. This is especially true in a country like India, which has one of the largest chunks of internet users. Today a blogger can earn anything from a few thousand to more than a lakh for a couple of posts.
Aashna Shroff from the Snob Journal, an award-winning fashion blogger based in Mumbai, started blogging because she was passionate about fashion and beauty. Today she is a top blogger with a community of almost half a million following her work.
Just like her, most people pursue blogging because they are passionate about a certain thing and they want to display their passion on social media sites. Even though blogging is a relatively new career, it is maturing and has great potential in India as more and more brands are looking to tie up with bloggers.
According to Shroff, the Indian audience is more inclined towards visual display, “videos are more popular than blogs and texts.”
When asked what she likes and dislikes about blogging, she said, “I get to meet amazing people, travel, and work with the brands I never even imagined being associated with. But it does come with criticism, as there are often people who pass negative comments especially when they don’t understand our work and think it to be really easy work. If you’re an emotional person, the negativity can get to you.”
What may seem like a random photo on a blogger’s page is, in fact, far from random. “I plan my day to a T. The photo may seem like a candid one but a lot of thought goes into it — every flower, colour theme, dress, pose is a well-thought effort.”
Not just a regular bread and butter job
A food stylist is a creative professional who prepares food to look more appealing and fresh, for photographs, television or even everyday plating. Alok Verma is a professional food stylist who has been practising the art since the past two years. When asked about its scope in India, Verma says, “It’s a niche concept in India. There are only 10-15 odd people in our country who are practising it professionally and the demand is only increasing.”
Many food stylists work as freelancers, and so does Verma. “At the beginning, I worked with people on a few shoots, gained experience and then started out on my own.”
When asked if there are any courses that one can take to learn food styling, he says, “There are online courses by photographers all over the world, but nothing in India right now. No institution or proper syllabus is there to refer. When I started out, I referred to a lot of YouTube tutorials, online books and Pinterest.”
The pay is quiet good. Verma adds, “If you’re working with cafes and restaurants on a small scale you can earn Rs 8,000 per day. If you work with larger restaurants, you can earn up to Rs 25,000. So when you add up the number of shoots you can do per month, it’s an amazing amount!”
When asked what he enjoys about the profession, Verma is quick to say, “The greatest thing about food styling is that you get to be creative as it’s not a regular 9 to 5 job. That said, if I have to mention one thing that I dislike, it would be the long hours.”
So what’s the scope of food styling in India? Is this profession here to stay? Verma signs off saying, “Restaurants are now realising the importance of food styling. It’s not just about getting a camera and taking pictures. Instead, it involves doing an entire set-up so that each picture looks unique.”
Yes, Professional Bridesmaids Is An Actual Career!
The wedding industry is one of the fastest growing industries in India as we are a country that loves to celebrate weddings in the grandest way possible. Even though the concept of professional bridesmaids originated in the West, it is soon catching up in the urban areas of India. When asked how this career option made its way to India, Himanshu Kapsime, CEO at ShaadiSaga says, “Brides nowadays are always on the go with multiple things to handle at once. Most parents do not prefer hiring a wedding planner and end up creating a havoc which ultimately leads to the bride taking the majority of the wedding-related responsibilities. And that’s where the need for a professional bridesmaid comes in.”
While the scope for this career is immense, most people still don’t know about it. Today quite a few wedding companies are looking to hire for this role but not finding the right people. One way of educating the masses about this field is by giving them information on what the job is. Kapsime elaborates, “The job of a professional bridesmaid is to be a good personal assistant, problem solver, social director and handle the friends, family, relatives and social media of the bride.”
What’s the best part about this profession? You don’t need certificates. You just need great peoples’ skills. He further says, “It’s a fun and creative job. It is extremely satisfying to help calm a bride and be by her side on the most important day of her life!”
You Can Now Hack Legally
Ethical hacking is locating weaknesses in information systems by trying to think and act like a bad hacker. According to Sandeep Sengupta, managing director of the Indian School of Ethical Hacking, “Ethical hacking is a legal way to find out whether any software or network is hackable. The company owner assigns hackers to hack into the system to check its strength.”
“A decade ago, there wasn’t much scope in the field of ethical hacking but the landscape has changed today. With a rise in cyber crime, now, every company is in need of ethical hackers to check their system. As per a Nasscom survey, we need five lakh cyber security professionals but we have only 50,000. Sengupta says, “While freshers earn a starting salary of Rs 6 lakh per annum, the sky is the limit for experienced professionals in this field.”
One needs the certification of learning network basics (CCNA), a little bit of linux (RHCE), and VAPT (vulnerability assessment and penetration testing) to become an ethical hacker. When asked if ethical hacking is here to stay, he replies, “As long as the cyber world will stay, ethical hacking will stay too!”
Today, the field is experiencing a lack of talented professionals because of which companies are hiring even B.Com graduates with good knowledge about this field. In conclusion, ethical hacking as a career is a booming field which is making new headway every day!
Make a Career While You Taste the Finest Liquor
Wine tasting refers to the sensory examination and evaluation of wine. It is a niche community as there are not more than 270-280 master of wines and master sommeliers, each in the world. India, currently, has no master sommelier and only one master of wine, Sonal Holland.
Head of Beverages and Sommelier for ‘The Table’, Colaba, Harish Acharekar, says, “A sommelier is a translator of wine, explaining the liquid from the bottle to the guest, having the onus to create enjoyable experiences for the guests about how food and wine interact.”
Ashuli Saini, award winner at the Indian Sommelier Championship and Assistant Manager at GCC Hotels says, “There are courses like WSET and CMS which help you become a professional wine taster or sommelier. They can be expensive but they can definitely bump up your pay check by a couple of lakhs to start with and open up an interesting choice of careers.” A ‘Master of Wine’ writes books, blogs, thesis, and does wine commentary. Sommeliers work on the floor, design wine experiences and beverage programmes for restaurants.
While opportunities in India are definitely increasing with Acharekar himself trying to fill six vacancies; Saini mentions that opportunities abroad are a very lucrative.
Acharekar who has been ‘Sommelier India 2015’ signs off saying, “Being a sommelier is a very glamorous job because all the wines sent to the country are first tasted by us. But you need a lot of discipline too. It is not as simple as sipping a luxury drink every day. You need to taste a lot of wines to understand its true essence. You need to control your diet habits, not have spicy food or smoke to keep your palette active. If you have the knowledge of wine but cannot explain the same to your guests, your talent is a waste because using jargons will not help.”
— Shronit Ladhani
(In association with careerninja.in)
