Remember when engineering, medicine, law, and government jobs were where the line was drawn when looking for a job? With the advent of technology, the market space has truly opened up, birthing a wide array of new age career options that are not only interesting but quite lucrative as well.

Many careers aren’t dictated by subject/course choices made in school and college, and may even involve transforming hobbies into a profession. Here’s a simple walkthrough of some of the available opportunities.

1. Ethical Hacking – Ever seen the movie Blackhat where a convicted hacker helps an organization take down another hacker? In this modern day, data is wealth. Many organizations have huge amounts of data that hold immense value. With value comes the fear of data being stolen or misused, and this is where ethical hacking comes into the picture. An ethical hacker ensures the safekeeping of data and prevents it from getting into the wrong hands.

2. Video Game Design – Everyone knows about Minecraft, ever think about how it came to be? Who’s late night thoughts

structured the adventures, the setting, and Steve or Alex’s persona? The method of developing the content and rules of computer games in the pre-production stage and the gameplay, setting, plot, and characters in the production stage is known as video game design. In several aspects, the creator of a game is similar to the director of a film. The designer is the game’s genius who is in charge of the game’s creative and technological elements to ensure that their vision is achieved.

3. Data Science – This is amongst the most promising fields in the market today. A data scientist takes data that has been collected via customers, social media, etc. and analyses the same to help organizations take decisions and solve problems. With an exceptional growth of over 5 times a year, the demand for data scientists will only grow.

4. Digital Marketing – Why do users prefer one toothpaste over another? Ever wonder how a new product in the market gains traction? Why do some items sell more than others? Today, success is primarily determined by how you present your product, and this is what digital marketers do; digital marketers promote brands and services through online channels by optimizing their reach in a cost effective way. Not just in India, but this field has opened up amazing avenues throughout the world, and one can provide their services remotely as well and earn quite well.

5. Blockchain Developer – Cryptocurrencies. Sounds cool right? From Bitcoin, to Litecoin, to Dogecoin, and Ethereum, all cryptocurrencies are secured by cryptography, making it impossible to counterfeit. Blockchain just helps with the same; Blockchain is a decentralized ledger that keeps track of a series of transactions known as blocks that are interconnected and encrypted using cryptocurrencies. Since the distributed documents are decentralized, no one person or company can access or track them. They are responsible for the front-end as well as back-end development of Dapps/ decentralised applications. They also supervise the stack that runs the Dapps. Some movies you can watch to make this clearer are Trust Machine: The Story of Blockchain, Banking on Bitcoin, Deep Web, and more.

6. UI/UX – When you open the Swiggy app to browse for today’s dinner, or see ‘Netflix’ pop up when you access the website, why do you keep coming back? What hooks you to using that particular website or app? How does your brain automatically lean towards some sites when a certain topic is brought up? User interface or user experience is by far the most important aspect of any website, software or application. In a world dominated by sites and apps, the need for talented professionals who can create amazing UI/UX is becoming more and more apparent.

In essence, owing to the latest buzz in industry, careers in technology have opened up various avenues for many. In addition, no matter where your interests lie, in this modern age, be assured that you would find jobs that match your passions. Be it photography, music, writing, web designing, paths have opened up for everyone.

Be great at what you do to make what you do great!