Featured: Wild careers with crazy pays

Bartending and hairstyling are no longer careers that fall in the 'out of the box' careers list. From tattoo artist, potter, to deep sea diver, Priti Salian has put together a list of five out-of-the ordinary careers that can actually help you earn a living

1. Pottery
Do you like the idea of playing with clay and creating unique stuff? Try your hand at wheel pottery and convert traditional art into your signature creation. New-age pottery is all about breaking boundaries and creating wares and artefacts that go beyond just cooking and serving ware. Bonsai pots, table lamps, bathroom accessories, coasters, and funky artefacts, you can use the wheel to mould just about anything you fancy. The good part is that it can actually help you earn a good load. You can hold exhibitions or operate through the online space and word of mouth to bag commissioned work, in turn getting your objet d'art to become a style statement for hotels, malls and homes. "To earn a good buck, you could also run classes at schools or hold private sessions," says Mr. Vinod Dubey, a well-known potter who runs a pottery studio called Mitty in Mumbai. Think innovative and you'll go places.

2. Deep sea diving
Explore ship wrecks, inspect a ship or give first aid to a patient under water. You could do all this and more as a deep sea diver. Undeniably one of the most paying professions, deep sea diving can help you earn a crore per annum once you are experienced. Depending on the nature of your job you could also earn anywhere between Rs. 5,000 to Rs. 40,000 in a day. But the profession is not risk-free. Staying deep inside water can cause problems in your ear and vocal chords and a single mistake can cost you your life. Go for it only if you are lionhearted!

3. Tea/Coffee appreciation
Assist those who feel strongly about their morning cuppa, by being a tea/coffee connoisseur, and you could easily earn at least 40,000-50,000 per month for consultancy. "A tea/coffee connoisseur educates people about the various types and brands available and helps them make changes in the way they drink their beverage," says Nikhil Agarwal, Director, All Things Nice. You talk to groups of people and teach them different styles of preparation, showing them how to derive maximum pleasure from their drink. You could either work with coffee and tea producers, food and beverage professionals or quality oriented hotels and restaurants for training their staff.

4. Tattoo designing
If you are passionate about sketching and love dabbling in crazy designs, you could be a tattoo artist. From teenagers to grandfathers, people of all ages are falling for the tattoo fad today. For professional training, you will either have to go to the UK, US or Thailand or work with an established artist in India or abroad for a couple of years. Once you have adequate practice, couple it with communication skills and loads of patience for a better understanding of what your client desires. You are now good enough to open your own tattoo parlour or work in partnership with someone. Established tattoo artists are known to make Rs. 5000 to Rs. 10,000 per hour. Just remember, hard and innovative work pays here!

5. Ethical hacking
With cyber-crime on an all-time high, organizations like airlines, hotels, banks, telecom companies, police departments and many others are looking for ethical hackers to check breach of cyber security, find its origin and prevent it. So, if you have an analytical mind and a responsible attitude get trained as a professional ethical hacker. "As an independent freelance consultant, an ethical hacker can earn up to 6-7 lakhs per month," says Ankit Fadia, Ethical Hacker and Cyber Security Expert. "When working with an organization, somebody with 3-4 years' experience can earn around 1.5 - 2 lakhs per month," he adds.

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