Off the Beaten Path: 7 Unusual Career Options in the UK

While some students pick their degree based upon a pre-established career plan, many of us haven’t thought that far ahead (or find we’ve changed our minds by the time we graduate).

If you fall into this latter category, there’s no need to worry. With a decent degree and a good grasp of English grammar, you could become a proofreader. But if that doesn’t appeal, maybe another career will, such as one of the following…

1. Golf Ball Diver

With many frustrated golfers losing balls to unfortunately placed water hazards every day, it shouldn’t be a surprise to learn that an entire industry has evolved to recover them.

Golf ball diving isn’t the most glamorous job in the world – sifting through silty water and pond weed to recover small dimpled spheres isn’t exactly the same as scuba diving in beautiful tropical waters – but it might beat a nine-to-five in the office if you like an underwater lifestyle.

2. Lego Sculptor

If you’ve been to Legoland, you might have wondered who makes the giant Lego sculptures there. Well, that would be one of the Master Model Builders. A grandiose title, yes, but you try making a massive monkey out of tiny Lego bricks and then see if you think they deserve it.

3. Professional Bridesmaid

Planning a wedding can be stressful for the aspiring bride-to-be, so supportive bridesmaids are essential. And given this, why not employ a professional?

And if you’re always asked to do this by your friends anyway, why not make a living out of it?

4. Professional Mourner

If weddings aren’t your thing, maybe a career as a professional mourner is more up your street.

On the one hand, it’s good that there’s a service available for when turnout is expected to be low at a funeral. On the other hand, it’s a bit sad that there’s a market for this in the first place.

Still, a job’s a job, right? Right? OK, we’ll move on to something a little jollier.

5. Wolf Boy (or Girl)

Have a variety of circus skills and an excess of body hair? Then you could make a career as a professional wolf boy! Or wolf girl, if it comes down to it, as long as you have ‘a minimum of 60,000 hairs’ growing on your face. We’re not sure who does the counting to verify this.

6. Dog Yoga Teacher

While we’re on a canine note, did you know that dogs can do yoga now? Or, to be more exact, humans can do yoga with their doggy friends, which is a bit different.

And if you like both meditation and pooches, you can train to be a dog yoga (or ‘doga’) teacher.

7. Breath Odour Evaluator

Got a strong stomach and a good sense of smell? Don’t feel weird about sniffing other people’s mouths? Then maybe you could become a breath odour evaluator.

We imagine this has more to do with testing the latest chewing gum and mouthwash flavours than it does checking for halitosis, but you’ll probably get the odd stinker now and then.