There are a number of new jobs cropping up, thanks to technology. Additionally, there are some jobs that aren’t so new, but that can now be done away from the office. Telecommuting is becoming more popular, and it is possible to find a niche doing something that you might enjoy more than sitting in a stuffy office. Here are some of the opportunities popping up, thanks to technology:
Social Media Consultant
If you love your Twitter and Facebook, and if you know how to build a following on other social media web sites, you can get paid for your clout and knowledge. You can be a social media consultant, helping companies improve their profiles, and helping them gain traffic via social media web sites. There are people who are paid to submit items to various social media sites as well. (I’ve been offered money to submit to Tip’d, but so far I don’t accept payment for such submissions.)
On top of that, there are some companies that will pay for you to post on Twitter. If you can build up a reasonable following, you can get paid to post on Twitter, twitting about products and brands. You can even find jobs that include Twitter. Type “Twitter jobs” into Google, and you end up with a whole list of Twitter jobs on Indeed.com.
App Developer
Mobile apps are all the rage right now. With smart phones becoming increasingly popular, companies know that it’s important to have applications that people want to use. Whether they are offered for free, or for a small fee, mobile apps are big. If you can actually develop applications for mobile phones, you could be in demand. According to CNBC, the demand for mobile app developers exceeds supply, so if you have that ability, you could really do well. And, you may not even have to go into the office every day.
And, of course, there are still opportunities for Web developers. If you are talented at Web site development and design, you do these jobs on a freelance basis, from your own home. Freelance software development is another opportunity that can allow you to work from home.
Video Game Design — And Testing
My brother in law designs video games. He freelances, designing and texturing backgrounds. He has actually worked on some reasonably high profile games (think games related to Disney movies). When he’s not designing video games, he’s teaching about it, part time, at a local college. Not bad. He doesn’t have to go into an office for hours a day, and he can do something he enjoys.
If you aren’t good enough to design video games, though, you can still test them. You can go to Games : : Tester and learn a little bit about testing video games. Sometimes you have to go to a location to test, and other times you can do it from home. You do have to be willing to keep playing and playing so that you can find glitches, problems and even determine if the game is too easy to beat.
Can you think of other jobs that didn’t exist before, but do now?
This post was included in the Family Finance Carnival
Miranda is freelance journalist. She specializes in topics related to money, especially personal finance, small business, and investing. You can read more of my writing at Planting Money Seeds.