It’s hard to earn any degree. You can spend decades studying one field and still not be an expert. You will also incur lifelong debt and dedicate a large portion of your youth. Additionally, you might change your mind about where you want your career to go when you graduate.
Fortunately, you can put a degree to use outside the field you studied because most skills are easily transferred to other professions. This means you can still use the knowledge you gained in meaningful and valuable ways, such as consulting, teaching, and blogging for a living.
Blog and Become a Brand
Blogging is an excellent way to divulge the knowledge you have. For example, not many families can afford the care they need. Therefore, you could blog about social issues based on the child and family services degree you earned at college. This way, people can find free help based on your blogs. You can also monetize your blog and make the money you need using methods like affiliate links, product promotion, and paid content posting to make money online.
Consider Professional Writing
Further to writing a blog, you can use your expert knowledge for professional literary contributions such as journals and magazines. While it is believed that print is a dying art, magazines, newspapers, and periodicals often seek experienced contributors to their published articles.
Therefore, you can manage your skills through a creative outlet while getting paid for your time. Some publications, such as the New York Times, pay very well and offer jobs to knowledgeable professionals. Nigella Lawson is a prime example with her food column.
Identify Transferable Skills
There is vast knowledge involved in earning any degree. And with knowledge comes skills. Many skills can be transferred to other lines of work where they might help you excel. For example, a change in direction could mean using your knowledge as a chef to become a city-employed food health and safety inspector. Holding a culinary-related degree is beneficial to these sectors and could see you perform both jobs simultaneously if necessary.
Consider Consulting
It is common for video games, movies, and TV shows to hire consultants for their productions. Again, this is because the producers and writers generally don’t have the time to research many subjects. But, again, this is typical because of budget and schedule constraints. Fortunately, you can use your knowledge to contribute to a TV show or movies like former SAS soldiers Andy McNab and Chris Ryan. Both of these regularly consult on reality shows and fictional dramas alike.
Pass on the Knowledge by Teaching
Teaching is done by those who want to, not those who can’t. We all learn from somewhere, and you can make the most of your knowledge with the noble pursuit of passing it on. Unfortunately, around 10% of graduates pursue a career other than the one they studied for. Yet, obtaining a degree means you are qualified to teach others. However, it is usually required to further research teaching to get certified as a qualified teacher for an educational establishment.
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