Hipster is not a real job

Last summer, the government of British Columbia posted billboards that read, “Hipster is not a real job.” But down here in America, there are actually quite a few career options for the coolest of the cool.

While hipsters might seem like this generation’s hippies or flower children, Wikipedia defines hipster as “a subculture of young, recently settled urban middle class adults and older teenagers that appeared in the 1990s.”

Whatever, hipsters still need jobs. The first thing that comes to mind for the career-minded cool kids, is a job in a coffee shop that is not Starbucks or a bookstore that is not Barnes & Noble. If you’re a hipster with some cash in your pocket, buying a food truck and creating some sort of nouvelle cuisine grilled cheese sandwich or Bumbleberry tart is a way to go.

John Altman moved from San Diego to Portland, Oregon two years ago and bought a food truck and began selling gourmet chili.

“The recipes came from my dad and my grandfather, but I put some new touches on them,” he said. “The first year was a struggle, but we started a Facebook page and we tweeted our locations and specials and we now have a decent following. We’re not rich, but that was never the point.”

The good news about a food truck business is that it’s significantly cheaper than leasing a space and hiring staff and all the other headaches that restaurant owners deal with daily. You’ll likely need financing from a bank or private investors. A used food truck can cost between $20,000 — $40,000. A new food truck can be as much as $100,000. Loans for food trucks are hard to come by in these times, but credit unions are a great source for this type of loan according to the Credit Union Times.

If you’re not a foodie-hipster and you like working with your hands, there is a need again for skilled welders. While becoming a blacksmith might be hipper, it’s not as profitable. Underwater welding gigs are high-paying and offer a chance to travel to remote locations to weld bridges, for example. But be sure to have your diver certification. If you can’t swim, you can also bring your welding tools to oil pipeline, or get on board with ship building repair, or perform military support work.

Welding is one of the very few skills that can earn you a six-figure income without a college degree. Highly skilled welders that are willing to travel and work in hazardous conditions can earn well over $100,000 a year according to the American Welding Society. Traveling industrial pipe welders earn anywhere between $50,000 and $185,000 a year. Under water welders can earn $100,000 to over $200,000 a year. Military support welders can start at $160,000 to more than $200,000 a year in the Middle East. The American Welding Society site, aws.org, is the place to find more information about this groovy career.

The forestry service is another hip career choice. You can wear flannel, sport a scraggly beard, and live in the wild. It’s the greenest of green jobs. You can live in a log cabin, cook over a campfire, and kick back in the forest. According to the Forest Service, they offer positions for both permanent and temporary employees. Permanent positions are for full-time employees and provide a flexible range of Federal government benefits. Temporary positions are for part-time or seasonal employees and provide benefits that vary with the position and the location. To learn more about these jobs that Mother Jones and Mother Nature would approve of, go to fs.fed.us.