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Last Updated on November 21, 2018 by Work In My Pajamas
There are many careers that require workers to be highly skilled; and without people choosing to build those skills, the necessary jobs would remain unfilled and the world would be lacking essential components.
Here are 4 jobs that require magnificent skill honed over years of hard work, which can sometimes go overlooked. If you are considering a job in any of these fields, keep working on improving your skill, and you’ll soon be the best in the business.
- Art & Design
Art-based subjects at school and college are often described as ‘Mickey Mouse’ vocations, but this dismisses the vital need for entertainment, esthetic and creativity in our culture and society. Whether you’re a musical artist, interior designer, or an artist in the traditional sense, it takes years of developing style and perfecting skill to become an industry-leader in your field.
Artists today should make full use of the internet to display their work – it’s a massively useful tool for getting hired. You never know where it could take you: UK-based leather painter Elizabeth Ilsley got commissioned to paint jackets for the Kardashian-Wests through her online portfolio. Keep working on your skills and putting them out there, and you could reap big rewards.
- Building Contractor
It takes years of schooling, apprenticeship, mentoring and hard work to become a professional building contractor. Whatever your trade, it takes a long time and working with good leaders to build a great reputation for the standard of work you provide, so that you benefit from repeat business and hugely important word of mouth.
In the US, contractor’s licenses can be obtained through the website from Contractors Institute, which directs people to the correct license for their state. Regulations for contractors vary between states, so it is integral that contractors study the correct legislation for where they plan to work.
Licenses are invaluable for adding to your reputation as a tradesperson; they signify that you have undergone high levels of training and are qualified to carry out expert work. Contractors who are licensed can command higher rates of pay and can set up their own companies, providing flexibility of work and working on your own terms.
- Environmental Health
Health and safety, hygiene, and noise and air pollution are sometimes put down to common sense: but in actual fact require those in the industry to be highly skilled and educated. People who work in environmental roles must have a superior grasp of all sciences, especially physics, and excellent mathematical skills that have been carried far beyond what we all learned (and struggled with) at school.
People in these jobs gain a salary far beyond the national average due to the technical nature of the job. They have to do the stuff everyone else fears – namely math, equations, graphs, risk assessments – so are often handsomely rewarded for their troubles! Alongside all of this they’re expected to attend client meetings, conduct scientific experiments and research and are responsible for public health – it’s hardly a simple common-sense job at all.
If you are interested in public safety and are enthused by numbers, environmental health is a field that encompasses many different paths to explore.
- Administrator
The skill of administrators is quite often underplayed – but their multi-tasking abilities, communication skills and organizational prowess is unparalleled in every industry. While you don’t necessarily need higher education to work in administration, the on-the-job training and vital skills are developed as you go along, often on a self-teaching basis.
People in these roles take on a mediation role between bosses and the rest of the business, needing to effectively communicate with everyone and manage any issues. They must be expert organizers, keeping track of every small factor, and must input and analyze data with acute precision. Administrators become highly qualified with a multitude of transferable skills – even just starting out your career in administration as a springboard to other roles in the future is a great idea. You’ll come out of it with expertise in many areas that are valued elsewhere in other industries.
