Alternative Career Paths for the Professional Weirdo

Are you at one with the weird? Seeking jobs that won’t stifle your passions? Maybe you can have your black glitter career cake and eat it too…

What does it mean to be a weirdo? Maybe you’re into the darker side of things, and you enjoy true crime or morbid stories. Maybe you love anatomy, bones, and blood. Maybe you read tarot cards and find peace in meditation. Maybe you’d rather spend time soaking up positive vibes in the outdoors than being inside staring at your phone. Maybe you’re fascinated with death instead of being fearful of it, or you research serial killers in your spare time. Maybe you enjoy art and expressing yourself, or you’d describe your thinking as an odd mix of creativity and logic.

Weirdness is subjective, and everyone has a little weirdo inside of them. For those who tend to overwhelm the weirdness scale, it can be difficult to find a professional career path that suits them. Fortunately, there are some careers that cater to the weirdos instead of stifling them.

Forensics careers

This is a broad term meant to describe scientific techniques used in connection with detection of a crime, but it’s also a career path with a ton of options for the weirdo in all of us. Forensic accountants study financial records that would indicate foul play or embezzlement, digital forensics involves analyzing electronic evidence — a booming field today, and forensic nursing combines medical knowledge with legal knowledge. These are just a few of the more modern fields of forensics; others include working with autopsies, in labs, and studying postmortem evidence. There are also jobs in forensic toxicology, psychology, botany, and archeology. For weirdos who are interested in crime and science, there is bound to be a forensic field to fit their interests.

PLUS: It was thanks to Frances Glessner Lee, a woman denied entry to law school, that forensics and police science is what it is today. Find out why her miniature crime scenes changed everything.

Careers in the Death industry

Death can be an uncomfortable and creepy thing for many people, but there are some who find careers in death to be beautiful and fulfilling. Undertaker, coroner, funeral director, and mortician are sometimes terms that can seem interchangeable. Basically, these careers involve overseeing autopsies, embalming bodies, and arranging funeral services. The people drawn to these positions have a great respect for life lost, may enjoy time to themselves, and take pride in making things easier for the loved ones of those who have died. If you are interested in the morbid side of life, a career in death might just be the perfect career.

EXTRA: Fabulous Past Mortems author Carla Valentine talks to Mookychick about how to become a mortuary technician. It’s a great entry job into a career in the death industry.

Natural and Spiritual Healing careers

Yes. You absolutely can become a professional witch. Those who find peace in crystals, tarot readings, meditation, natural healing, and the spiritual side of life have so many options in terms of a career path that can speak to their own weirdness. Whether it’s teaching meditative practice, making incense, selling crystal jewelry, creating natural soaps, offering tarot readings, or working in massage therapy, the environment and culture of these careers caters to the spiritual and natural weirdos out there. Learning the art of yoga and holding wilderness retreats, teaching people about the powerful magic of the outdoors, or making a living by creating natural products can also be career paths in natural and spiritual healing. Some weirdos aren’t meant for an office, and there are many nontraditional careers for those that find peace and positivity in other venues.

Journalism careers

Journalism has changed a lot. Journalists aren’t just people that work for newspapers and report on crime or politics; these days journalists are everywhere. Journalists collect and prepare facts, news, ideas, and information for others to digest. Journalism can mean working for a news organization or website, or it can mean writing a blog or a podcast. The content that fuels your news, ideas, and information can be about anything your weird heart desires — true crime stories, serial killers, scary stories, paranormal events, or ghost hunting adventures. You can talk about spirituality, reading tarot, or gothic art. If you’re into the darker side of things or obsessed with true crime, you can look into crime reporting or writing books based on crime. If you watch a lot of crime documentaries (I know you do), many of the people interviewed about these cases are journalists who have done extensive research and information gathering about the topic.

Art Careers

Modelling, painting, drawing, writing, music, dancing, photography, pottery, and sculpture are just a few of the seemingly limitless areas of art that anyone can use as a weird outlet. Artists take their feelings and allow others to see it in the form of their choosing. Being an artist is a difficult career path for some as many creative outlets don’t have many sustainable options. However, tattoo artists, graphic designers, and art teachers are all artists that have found a way to turn their art into their career path. Since college tuition has risen so much for the millennial generation, 272% higher than the 1920-1940 generation, many artists choose to forgo college and use their art as a business on their own terms. Art is an extremely freeing and creative outlet for one’s weirdness and for some, it’s the only outlet that allows them to feel like themselves.

SEE MORE:

• Artist Nicola Hebson on becoming a vegan taxidermist
• Miss Chris looks into the details of how to become a tattoo artist
• Roswell Ivory, Anita De Bauch and Violet Magenta on how to become an alternative model
• James Clark on how to become an alternative make-up artist
• Flavi J on how to become a food photographer

At the end of the day…

Everyone is a little weird. Being weird is what makes us unique. When our weirdness is a little much for the norm, it can be a little discouraging. Many people are fine with putting their weird away in terms of their career choices, but for others it’s the jumping off point. Hearing that someone is a forensic pathologist, coroner, yoga instructor, crime writer, or gothic painter may sound a little weird for some, but there’s no denying the draw to such an odd and wonderfully strange career choice for the weirdo in all of us.

More help for alternative job hunters on Mookychick

• Self-care – these job hunting tips will help you be kind to yourself
• Job hunting tips for those with tattoos, piercings and dyed hair
• Advice on piercings in the workplace

You can see plenty more alternative job ideas on Mookychick. PLUS: if you’re working in a field you’d like to encourage other women to get into, please do get in touch. We’d love to hear from you.