Get back in the Game

Five fastest growing professions you need to look at

The other day I phoned a friend and she was in Crete, Greece, shooting for a fashion brand commercial. The last time I’d spoken with her, she was struggling to get back into active work. Till she decided to go online, up her skills and take a course in digital marketing. That helped. Now she has this jet set job— marketing plus digital marketing. So, if you are looking to head back to work, and it seems tough, fear not.

Digital marketing

If you get a kick out of posting good content and garnering ‘likes’, digital marketing could be the profession for you. It’s booming and everybody, from the supermarket in your neighbourhood to designer boutiques and brands, need digital marketing. Generating sales leads and creating content for a brand is more complicated than uploading the latest pictures of your holiday, but it’s not that difficult.

You need to Sign up for a free course on digital marketing at Google or on Udemy. Start creating a portfolio of work through social media on the subject of your interest. If it’s running a blog on shoes, tweet, Facebook and Instagram on running and running shoes. If it’s food or cars or travel, do the same.

Work with a start-up

If you are interested in areas such as healthcare, finance and marketing, look out for a start-up. It gives you an entry into the sector that is likely to be growing whether it’s fin tech, ed tech, e-commerce or wellness. It can offer flexible terms and working schedules.

You need to Check job sites such as Naukri and Monster. A solid CV, good work attitude and the ability to hustle is often all you need to start work in a start-up. Once you gain some experience, use that as a springboard to take on more responsibility or go back to a larger organisation.

Social enterprises and not-for-profit foundations

The law now requires companies to spend a minimum amount on corporate social responsibility (CSR), and many companies are on the look out for talent to beef up their CSR departments. There are a lot of CSR jobs with company foundations. There are also social entrepreneurs who are looking for talented people as they use the latest technology to solve basic problems of water, healthcare and sanitation.

You need to Start pro bono or work for free in order to gain some experience.

Training manpower

Artificial intelligence is taking away thousands of jobs. But jobs which require empathy, communication, leadership and the ability to work as a team will always be in demand. If you are good at communication and enjoy working with people, training is a career option. It’s flexible and project based and can pay well.

You need to There are lots of companies that are already in the market from the biggies like the Hay Group and Dale Carnegie to start-ups like the Mumbaibased Work Better. Apply and start to work. Simultaneously or separately, go get that industrial psychology degree or do short-term courses in leadership development, in communication and negotiation skills.

Teaching

Education is booming and good teachers are in short supply. There are jobs for teaching in the classrooms and for developing educational content for online sites. There are jobs for training teachers and for working with the government on reforming public education. You could teach at an international school, where salaries, start your own tuitions, or work at a not-for-profit organisation like ‘Teach for India’ or the very inspiring Central Square Foundation.

You need to Get yourself retrained and reskilled as you teach either through a conventional bachelor of education (offline or online) or through short- term teachers training courses.