There are plenty of jobs that are often talked about, and most of us know people in those roles (think nurse, teacher, or engineer, for example). However, there are many career paths that are more unusual and that many people don’t even know exist. These unusual jobs range from those that require no experience to those that demand a master’s degree or more.
Read on to learn about some unusual but reasonably paid jobs, along with qualifications needed and average salaries.
Unusual jobs that pay well
Below are 10 unusual jobs that will allow you to earn a comfortable living.
1. Video game designer
If you love playing video games, designing them might be a perfect career for you. Working as a video game designer, you’ll spend your days developing and testing games on different systems. You could be involved in any aspect of the game design process – for example you might enjoy creating storylines, or you may thrive on coming up with key objectives and gameplay to make a gripping experience for players.
To become a game designer, a degree in computer science or software engineering might be helpful. However, a genuine passion and interest in gaming, along with strong analytical skills and attention to detail, are probably just as important.
Game designers can earn around £50,000 per year.
2. Ice cream taster
Yes – this is actually a job! For those of you who flock to the freezer compartments in the supermarket and enjoy trying different flavours when on holiday, a career in ice cream tasting could suit you down to the ground.
Tasters are employed to help ice cream companies research and develop new flavours that will make them a lot of money in retail. Could you help find the next big flavour?
While a degree in food science might help you land this dream job, research skills and an obsessive attitude to ice cream might be all the company is looking for.
In addition to tasting ice creams all day, this job pays around £45,000 per year.
3. Costume character actor
Do you enjoy dressing up and entertaining people? If so, this could be a great move for you. Costume character actors are hired by tourist attractions and events – they dress up as famous characters or historical figures to interact with, entertain, or scare guests. You could find yourself playing a ghoul at a Halloween ball, or dressing up as Jane Austin at a literary fair.
To do this job, you’ll need energy and confidence, and great interpersonal skills. Some background in acting – and particularly improvisation – would certainly be handy for this job, though a playful nature and physical fitness alone could get you this job. Remember that for certain characters, there might be certain height or appearance requirements, and the hours for this type of work can be long.
You don’t need any formal qualifications to work as a costume character actor, but if you’re working with children or vulnerable adults, you may be asked to pass a DBS check.
This role could earn you up to £30,000 per year, and even more if you specialise in a particular character and hire yourself out on a self-employed basis.
4. Art therapist
If you love creativity and working with people, a job as an art therapist would allow you to merge these two passions. You may work in hospitals, schools, prisons, or private clinics, supporting people to express themselves and find comfort in art.
To start work as an art therapist, you will likely need a postgraduate qualification in art therapy or a related discipline. You will also need top-class people skills – both listening and communication. You’ll need to be open minded and compassionate.
An art therapist earns anything from £32,000 to £55,000, depending on their experience and qualifications.
5. Golf ball diver
Each year, roughly 20 million golf balls are lost in lakes and other bodies of water on British golf courses. Considering this, maybe it’s not surprising that there’s now a massive business around finding them and selling them second hand.
Golf ball divers are certified and insured divers, and either be employed by a company or golf course, or can work on a self-employed basis. To become a golf ball diver, you’ll need relevant diving qualifications. You’ll also be physically fit and happy to work in difficult underwater conditions. A golf ball diver will often earn around £150 or more per day.
6. Sterile services technician
Sterile services technicians generally work in medical and healthcare environments. As the job title suggests, they spend their days meticulously cleaning and decontaminating medical equipment.
The equipment you’ll work with is reusable, hence the need to be cleaned to ‘as new’ standard before it is used on another patient. Examples include endoscopes and orthopaedic drills.
There are no formal qualifications for a sterile services technician. Instead, you’re likely to learn on thew job and work your way up. An experienced sterile services technician can earn up to £50,000 per year.
7. Sommelier
Are you a wine geek? Do you bore your friends at dinner parties, mulling over the intricacies of the desert wine? If so, this job could be just up your street. Put simply, a sommelier is a wine expert. In this role, you could work in a restaurant advising guests on which wine to choose with their meal. You might also advise restaurants and bars about the types of wines they should be buying. Remember that in addition to the qualifications, you’ll need excellent interpersonal and serving skills.
It takes years and high-level training to becoming a sommelier, making it only suitable if you’re serious about it as a career. However, an experienced professional could earn around £50,000 per year.
8. Beekeeper
Beekeeping is a great job for anyone who loves nature and – more specifically – insects of the buzzy kind. As a beekeeper, you’ll be managing hives and caring for colonies of honeybees, enabling them to produce honey, wax and royal jelly.
To do this job, you’ll need to know a lot about bees and their needs. You don’t need any specific qualifications as you can learn a lot from reading and speaking to experienced beekeepers. Patience and confidence in lone working are just as important.
Once competent, beekeepers can earn around £38,000.
9. Professional queuer
In the UK, we just love a queue. Sometimes, we even invent a queue where there needn’t be one. If you’re happy to entertain yourself in a queue, sometimes for hours or days, you could take it up professionally.
Some people want to take full advantage of Black Friday, or days of new Apple releases, for example, but aren’t able (or don’t want) to queue. They will employ a professional queuer to stand in line on their behalf.
You don’t need any qualifications for this job – just reliability, and a willingness to wait around. As a professional queuer, you could earn around £100-£150 a day.
10. Chief listening officer
A chief listening officer trawls Facebook, X, and other social media platforms to monitor what people are saying about the brand they work for.
The job is more highly skilled than it might first appear – a suitable candidate would have experience in marketing, business, public relations, and communications, or at least some of these. Ideally, you’ll have a postgraduate degree in one of these areas. A solid understanding of social media is also required.
Although qualifications are required for this job, it’s likely to pay off. Chief listening officers in the UK are earning up to £61,000 per year.