Sometimes, it’s easy to forget that the way things are now isn’t how they’ve always been.
In a year where you can order almost any sort of food from your couch or catch up on a TV show on your commute, there are countless career options that didn’t have the slightest possibility of being profitable a few years ago. We’ve gathered a few of the more intriguing ones for you:
Uber Driver
Catching an Uber is a popular Plan B for anyone who’s had a little too much to drink, or even someone who just doesn’t want to drive or take public transport. Back in 2008, just a year before Uber launched, the ideal option would’ve been to call a taxi – now, almost anyone can work from the comfort of their own car.
Image: Omar Lopez/Unsplash
Youtuber
Youtube was in its early days in 2008, just three years after launching in 2005. It was already formidable platform, appearing on a Time Magazine ‘Person of the Year’ cover and being acquired by Google in 2006, but it had nothing on the mega-empire that it is today – where Youtubers can often earn millions a year.
Image: Felix Russell-Saw/Unsplash
Chief Listening Officer
A little higher up than a social media manager, the CLO stays up-to-date with trends and talk, figuring out what audiences like to talk about and using that knowledge to help their brand’s image. They also need to quickly respond to mentions of the company on any form of media, and to customer complaints and inquiries. Backtrack 10 years, and it wouldn’t have been as encompassing or pressing a role, but it’s vital today.
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UI/UX Designer
The internet is entirely more refined than it was 10 years ago, and there’s been a steadier concentration on how to use it to connect, influence, and reach people for a variety of different reasons. Making the user experience more enjoyable is a must, in the new digital age, so there’s plenty of work in this field.
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AI Chatbot Copywriter
In a more unique take on the fast-growing AI field, there’s an opportunity ripe for the taking for anyone looking for a career in writing. If you’ve ever communicated with a brand-based bot in your attempts to order food from Facebook Messenger, you’ve come across the work of these wordsmiths. Back in 2008, however, this would’ve been the stuff of science fiction.
SEO
Ten years ago, when Google wasn’t a verb, SEO wasn’t an acronym people would commonly recognise. Today, however, it’s a buzzword like no other. Search Engine Optimisation is a great boon for any business getting their name out there, and there are a bunch who are chomping at the bit to get a dedicated professional in.
Image: Domenico Loia/Unsplash
Content Moderator
Shifting through content to see what’s appropriate seems like a perfectly viable option for at least part-time work, in the influx of everything that floods the web. However, back in 2008, there wasn’t as much content to shift through, and the idea of censorship wasn’t as dense and pressing as today.
Image: Miguelangel Miquelena/Unsplash
Social Media Manager
Back in 2008, Instagram didn’t exist, Youtube was more middling than monolithic, and tweeting was more commonly associated with birds than trending online topics. But these days, maintaining a brand’s good reputation via social media channels is essential, and a social media manager is the one to do it.
Image: Jakob Owens/Unsplash
Virtual/Remote Assistant
When someone mentions the term ‘personal assistant’, the mental image that pops up is one of a harried individual with armfuls of folders and a perpetual look of panic on their face. But that’s not necessarily the case – many people make a living by managing off their laptop. In 2008, though, you’d have to have actually been there, but in 2018, the slew of online tools that help someone manage and schedule important tasks mean a personal assistant can pretty much work from anywhere.
Image: rawpixel/Unsplash
