LISTEN: From 'mermaiding' (it's real work!) to gaming, the job market is changing

Just about every activity and hobby you can think of, people have turned into well-paying jobs.  

The Drive with Thando team on 947 talks more about it. 

Listen below.

The world of employment is changing and more traditional jobs aren’t all there is out in the market.

From influencers to hotel reviewers and even ice cream testers, there are many jobs people didn’t know existed, some paying well.  

“I met someone the other day who was a water sommelier… pairing certain things with certain foods, high-end water… there’s a whole job around this.”

- Matt Flax, Drive with Thando

You can even become a full-time, well-paid mermaid. 

Owner of MerSchool Izelle Nair speaks to the team about her training academy which teaches people how to swim and become professional mermaids.

MerSchool offers Mer-Fit (classes focused on mermaid fitness), and even a Mermaid diving course (a 10-metre dive with a tail).

“We do perform… people hire mermaids for events and we do offer those courses as well. And we also make and design mermaid tails.”

- Izelle Nair, Owner – MerSchool 

Julia Robson turned her hobby of being a Twitch streamer into a full-time job with her organisation, DNMK eSports.

“I do have a later start than most, about 10 am. My gaming sessions do end very early hours in the morning.”

- Julia Robson, Gamer 

“There is also a lot of behind-the-scenes work [with DNMK eSports]… we host BYOC events, bring your own computer or console… I clock out at 4 pm and get into some warm-up games. Start my streams at about 8 pm and finish at around 2 am.” 

- Julia Robson, Gamer 

Ironically enough, Robson says gaming competitively itself doesn’t make her a living, it is being an eSports personality that does.

“Posting online and being active on social media brings traffic to my streams and ultimately helps me bring the brand image to my new business.”

- Julia Robson, Gamer 

Scroll up to the audio player to listen to the discussion.