Some of the highly rewarding and fast-growing career opportunities are underrated.
Why?
Maybe it’s because; they are just in our faces and easily accessible, so we take them for granted; Or that there isn’t much awareness about them. Or maybe it’s because they haven’t always been associated with fat paychecks and phenomenal growth opportunities. But, if you’re looking to boost your career in the coming year, you’ll do yourself a favor to consider these opportunities.
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Today, we bring you 7 underrated opportunities in the world you should take advantage of. Many of these are easily within your reach. It’s usually because they are easily within reach that people take them for granted.
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Table of Contents
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Let’s begin…
1. Teaching with technology
There are many ways schools and teachers can use technology to better interact with and impart to the students. While some schools and teachers are already taking advantage of the opportunity in technology, most still have a lot of catching up to do.
For instance, teachers don’t have to repeat the same lecture in class to a different batch of students every single year. With the amount of free and affordable technology easily available today, teachers can bring more excitement to teaching and stop wasting time doing the same thing over and over again.
Instead of teaching the same technical stuff, teachers can record some of these repetitive classes; and have their students access it in class and after class at their convenience. The teachers can then spend more time getting to know and impacting the students.
On the other hand, a good number of professionals and hobbyists are turning to the internet to teach what they know. Thereby building authority in their respective fields. There is a huge opportunity here for everyone.
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2. Big Data
Imagine that someone knows when you wake up in the morning, what food you love to eat, what kind of restaurant you love to visit, where you love to vacate to, what time you go to work and return home, what traffic route you take, what brand of item you buy, almost everything about your life. Now imagine that the same person has similar information about one billion people. Now that’s power. It may interest you or scare you to know that some organizations already know most of these things, maybe more about you. Google, and Facebook; know a good deal about you.
The point here is that insight from Data is the new gold. Who has the data has the control. The demand for knowledge in the fields of data analytics, business intelligence, and data science will continue to grow and evolve. If you love numbers and are analytical, you’ll want to consider a career in data-related fields.
3. Agriculture
Agriculture is one of the oldest human professions and it’s another career opportunity that is underrated in the world today. Most people associate agriculture with tattered farmers with crude tools. But agriculture is fast moving past that narrative. About 23 percent of Africa’s GDP comes from agriculture. Yet the potential in the agricultural sector in the continent is yet untapped.
According to McKinsey, “Rising urbanization and the growth of urban middle-class consumers in Africa could lead to $645 billion in growth in consumer spending between 2015 and 2025. Of that growth, $167 billion could be in food and beverages; and a majority of that would come from sub-Saharan African countries. In simpler terms, demand will continue to grow in the agric sector for many years to come. This represents nothing but huge opportunities in agriculture.
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4. Video Marketing
Video marketing is also another career opportunity underrated in the world today. Remember those days we had to wait for webpages to load; not to mention the frustration of streaming videos. Today, you can easily go to YouTube and watch as many videos as you want. This goes to show how far internet technology has come.
As of 2019, the second largest search engine in the world, after Google, is YouTube. And almost one-third of all internet users are on YouTube. You probably haven’t thought about the enormity of this opportunity. If you have you’ll be screaming right now. You can market your business, share your expertise, and reach a wide audience with video content. This opportunity is helplessly underrated.
5. Blockchain technology
When you mention Blockchain technology, for most people Bitcoin quickly comes to mind. But that’s a very narrow understanding of this technology. Here is how to look at it. As Facebook and Twitter are types of social media; Bitcoin and Ethereum are just different types of cryptocurrency. And just as social media, e-commerce, and search engines are just some of many technologies on the internet; cryptocurrency is just one of the possibilities of Blockchain technology.
The keyword synonymous with Blockchain technology is decentralization. We are hearing more and more about fintech, virtual tokens, digital assets, cryptocurrencies, smart contracts, and initial coin offerings. These concepts apply to Blockchain technology. The potential applications of Blockchain technology are growing exponentially because almost anything involving transactions or digital assets can be put on the technology. Our digital lives will likely develop to rely on Blockchain technology without many of us even being aware of it.
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6. eCommerce
Here is the true life story of Katty, a work-at-home mum with two kids. Katty sells items on local ecommerce websites, like Jumia and Konga. But she owns none of the items she sells. She’ll reach out to different vendors selling specific items, and upload pictures of their products on the e-commerce platforms with marked-up prizes for her profit. Orders come in for these items online, she notifies the vendor to deliver the order. The buyer gets what they want, the vendor makes additional sales, and Katty keeps her profit. She started this business with no capital but today earns more than she did from her previous banking job. The appetite for consumption is continuously on the rise. People will continue to buy things. One advantage of the e-commerce landscape is that anyone can step on this opportunity and start earning from any level.
7. Audience
Facebook was not extravagant in acquiring Instagram for one billion dollars and Whatsapp for 21.8 billion dollars. Neither were they dumb to offer to buy Snapchat at some point. These companies understand the power of attention.
You can have attention without having a product and be multiple times richer than those who have the product. Don’t agree? Ask Uber, AirBnB, and so on. These companies have an audience; what they sell is your attention.
Conclusion
Once upon a time, you had to be a movie or music star to have a fan base. But today, anyone can have access to an audience you can reach in a heartbeat. Unfortunately, most people underestimate the value of having access to an audience. Your attention is constantly on sale. You can either remain the pawn or start playing the game.
In summary, there are many career opportunities to look forward to in the coming year. Some of these opportunities are obvious while some are underestimated. You just have to figure out what’s already within your rich and start taking advantage of them. What are other underrated opportunities out there? Share with us in the comment section. If you are yet to subscribe to After School Africa, now is a good time to subscribe. Until next time, YOUR SUCCESS MATTERS!
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