By Nkem Ndem
“I need a job!” That is a line you are bound to hear from droves of young professionals and fresh graduates fresh in Lagos today. Thanks to the natural consequence of the dark economic times we are trudging, there is a high rate of unemployment and people are desperate for job. The good thing about this difficult time is that it now pushes job seekers to think outside the box. They find themselves employing creative manoeuvres and unorthodox tactics…and surprisingly, when they do, they are greeted with opportunities they have never thought existed before. Some of these opportunities result in professions that are not normally viewed as common; however, they pay quite a lot.
Wondering what these unusual employment opportunities may be? Jumia Travel shares 5 uncommon vocations that can earn you a living in Lagos.
Voice-over artiste
So many adverts are shown on TV and radio on the regular with voice overs from different people. Who do you think are behind these voice overs? Celebrities? Not necessarily. Ad agencies and companies regularly hire and pay voice-over artistes for such tasks as dubbing for the television and audio productions, creating online books and audio files amongst other things. These artistes can actually make as much as N50,000 for just 5 minutes of recording. If you have a great voice and you love reading from books and other textual matter, you can try this out.
Personal Shopper
Lagosians love fashion and no matter how broke they claim to be, a majority of the city’s residents will still shop till they drop. The thing, though, is that most of these people who can afford to shop so much, do not have the time or the skill per say to go out shopping for what they need to create the style they are looking for, they instead need personal shoppers to do the task for them. Personal Shopping, though uncommon, is one of the easiest jobs to have in Lagos. The job is probably for people who like to shop all the time and it pays good money too.
Toll Booth Collector
Nobody ever thinks of this job when seeking for employment really, but if you don’t mind sitting in a cramped tin room and collecting money from people all day long, this certainly can be a dream job. From the highways to shopping malls and centers, toll booths are found all over Lagos and all a toll booth collector has to do is sit around in the tiny room, collect money from people driving off to better places. The perk is that you could get tips from people who want to brighten up your day. The good thing is you can even just decide to work just night shifts and do something else in the day time. While this seems like a lazy job, it pays quite handsomely for the little work you do.
House-Sitting
This job which literally involves babysitting a house, mostly luxury homes, may seem far-fetched for Lagos, but it really is not. A number of people who own houses within the city either live in other countries or travel a lot and need people to tend to their houses while they are away. It is not common to find houses in Ikoyi area and Banana island, including VGC being occupied by house-sitters. The responsibility of a house sitter is such that he/she ensures that when the homeowners are away, they safeguard the space, most times, living in their home like it is their own and getting paid for it.
Dog walker
Lagosians, especially those who live in highbrow areas like Ikoyi, Victoria Island, Lekki and VGC, usually have a lot of things on their plate and barely have the time to groom, train or walk their pets. They employ dog walkers to help tackle that responsibility for them. While the mere mention of a dog walker as a source of real money will come as a joke to many, there are people who do earn a living out of this job in Lagos and making good money. Keep in mind though that this job is basically best suited for people who are in love with animals and have the patience required.
Nkem Ndem is a PR Associate at Jumia Travel.
Adedapo Adesanya