Tuesday, 6 January 2015

5 Jobs You Don’t Need An Office For In Nigeria, And Why They Pay Better

The hassle of rising very early every morning, the frustration of going through the rush-hour traffic, the stress of sitting in one (often boring) office all day usually results in exhaustion, burnout and a cannot-wait-to-quit or retire feeling sometimes. But you can avoid all that trouble in Nigeria and still earn good, even better money.
 
And if you are one of Nigeria’s many unemployed, unable to get a spot in the country’s clogged public service nor in the over-stretched private corporate establishments, perhaps it’s time to pause your frustrating search for job openings, stay back at home and make a great living.
Here are five selected ways many Nigerians are staying employed but without an employer, and working a good paying job from the comfort of their homes.
 
Freelance Journalism
Against everything you have heard about journalism being a low paying job, which is relatively not incorrect, being a freelancer can earn well above the average Nigerian remuneration. Aside the fact that a single story, especially for magazines, can fetch a freelance writer over a thousand dollars, by the nature of his job he could also work for as many media houses as his energy allows him to and get paid by all of them.
 
All these he does from the comfort of his home and at his own time. But to be a well-earning freelance journalist in Nigeria, you have to be very good at what you do; your journalism skill (particularly oral communication and writing skills) has to be top-notch coupled with an access to in-depth information.
 
Media houses, especially magazines in Nigeria tend to prefer freelancers and fall head over heels for the ones with amazing brains, “long legs” and “Pinocchio nose” for news. If you have got these attributes and want to avoid the 8-5 schedule of offices you could try freelance journalism, at least it guarantees you your freedom.

Make-up Artistry
Yes, A Make-up Artist is up there in the ladder. Take this in; a significant number of Nigerian middle–class ladies, or with middle-class companions, spend close to $1000 to hire a make-up artist for their wedding day(s).
 
Add this to what you have just taken in; Nigeria’s middle class is among the fastest expanding in the world -meaning an increasing customer base; most Nigerians often have two separate wedding ceremonies (the traditional rites and the Western (Christian) rites) – two opportunities to milk one customer; and tons of weddings happen every weekend in virtually every locality in the Nigeria- providing a portfolio of never ending jobs opportunities.
 
Weddings are however just the tip of the iceberg of money making avenues that make-up artists have; from broadcast TV presenters to actors in movie sets and artists in music video shoots, from models in fashion events and cultural festivals to ladies, especially celebrities, attending special occasions and celebrities, they all need the magic touch of make-up artists. Make-up Artists, the successful ones, also often organize seminars and workshops to train aspirants and those trainings often command an individual attendance fee of up to $500.
 
Though Make-up artists could have or work in salons, for many in Nigeria their office is their make-up bag and social media pages -Instagram, Facebook, Twitter and co- through which they showcase their skill sets and attract clients.
 
However, as in freelance journalism, you have to be really good to make a high earning from the make-up business, it’s all about beauty and trendiness, two things you have to always deliver to get the best clients. Do these and you can avoid the office stress and still make so much money, that’s why it’s called the make-up business.
 
Wardrobe Consultancy
Okay this is a little weirder than the above and a lot less popular in Nigeria. But in the big cities, particularly Lagos and Abuja, Wardrobe consultancy is as fast growing as the pay is exciting with consultants raking up to $2000 per consultation.
 
For those of you that don’t really know what Wardrobe Consultancy is all about;
A Wardrobe Consultant is someone that selects clothing and gives some specific people advice on what to wear. Wardrobe consultants have a lot to do with editorial features, print or television advertising campaigns, music videos, concert performances, and any public appearances made by celebrities, models or other public figures.
 
Apart from working with media and public figures, Wardrobe Consultants get invited by corporate organizations to “educate” their employees on “work dress culture”.
 
Neither of these job specifications requires an office, although a reputation as a fashion connoisseur and portfolio of high class clientèle plays a huge part in swaying more clients. It has to be said however that with clients coming from the minority elite class, it could be a tough occupation to crack. But if cracked, the fruits are well enriching more than the take-home pay of many regular office jobs.
 
Photography
In these days of Smartphones with high powered cameras, every phone owner feels like a photographer, this may feed the notion that professional photography is a dying occupation. In Nigeria, not only is that in the contrary, many are also taking to photography without a studio and still making a good living out of it.
 
All that is needed is a high quality camera, a very good knowledge of how to operate it, an impressive skill set of knowing the perfect shoot angles and positions, a CV of beautiful images that you have captured, and finding customers.
 
Finding the customers is the relatively easier aspect, with professional photographers courted for the many events that happen in the country ranging from wedding ceremonies to birthday parties and anniversaries, social and political occasions, fashion shoots and so on. Wages for the coverage of any of these events could be as high as $5000 for a day’s job. With the average take home pay at around $1000 for one day’s job is actually a lot better than the average of Nigeria’s office jobs which is closer to $900, and that’s for a month.
 
There is also the freelance photo-journalism, which is similar to freelance journalism only difference being that the concentration is on providing photographic content for media outlets. Such freelancers could be under a contract with several magazines, newspapers or broadcast outlets or just capture great images and pitch them to the media houses.
 
In both types of photography, an office or workplace can be avoided. Thus your schedule remains yours and the money still comes in; picture it, it’s beautiful, it’s Photography.
 
Cyber-preneur
You are probably thinking of who a cyber-preneur is? it is simply the combination of two words ‘cyber’ and ‘entrepreneur’. A cyber-entrepreneur is someone that promotes himself by using an electronic brochure called a home page on the internet to promote brands and products to an online audience or market. You can see he doesn’t need an office.
 
A few Nigerians have emerged from this space and are commanding healthy incomes, sometimes dwarfing attractive 5- 9 jobs.
 
And of course.........................MC/Comedian... Sure you know this.

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