Need to get a job and make money but don’t want to feel like you’re giving up your summer fun? Turns out there are some jobs where bringing a sense of play is actually welcomed. Who knows, you might like the job so much that you make it a full-time thing! After all, most of us could afford to have a little bit more fun while we’re working.
Here’s a look at some jobs that career experts recommend for those who want to have a good time and still get paid.
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Have the Sweet Life as an Ice Cream Taster
There really is such a thing as a professional ice cream taster, so you could turn the pastime of summer into a career. “To guarantee the best possible product, you would be expected to assess new ice cream flavors and textures and offer ingredient input as a professional taster,” said Stephen Greet, CEO and co-founder of BeamJobs.
But there are some skills needed. “It takes sharp taste buds, the capacity to identify minute variations in tastes, textures, ingredients, etc., and the ability to keep thorough tasting notes,” Greet said.
According to Glassdoor, this tasty job could earn you between $36,000 and $54,000 a year.
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Enjoy the Great Outdoors as a Park Ranger
Thinking of going camping this summer? If you’re a park ranger, it’s like you’re being paid to bask in the forest in the nicest months of the year.
“One of the benefits of this type of work is that seasonal roles are often available, so you could fill your time and make some money in the summer, and then move on to something else if you’d prefer not to be outside in the cold all winter!” said Peter Duris, CEO and co-founder of Kickresume.
You’re looking at about $21 an hour on average as a park ranger, according to ZipRecruiter.
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Run Wild as a Dog Walker
If you love dogs, Justina Raskauskiene, the human resource team lead at Omnisend, said there is no better — or easier — job than being a dog walker. “This job is very easy, doesn’t require higher education and can be done even by school students. It can also be very fun for people who enjoy spending time around animals,” she said.
The average hourly wage for a dog walker is $17 nationwide, according to ZipRecruiter. With minimum wage being $7.25 an hour, that’s not a bad deal!
Explore the Town as a Tour Guide
Talk about a job that really makes you feel like you’re on vacation. “Because the job involves meeting new people and spending a lot of time outdoors, many people can find it fun to be a tour guide,” Raskauskiene said.
She added that it might take a little bit more work than other jobs on this list, but it’s an education that sticks with you. “Being a tour guide usually requires more knowledge and preparation, but it gets easy after doing the same tour a couple of times,” she said.
On average, tour guides make $19 an hour, per ZipRecruiter.
Get Paid To Work Out as a Personal Trainer
“Sociable people who love working out might enjoy being a personal trainer,” Duris said. “If you already have a good understanding of fitness principles and you like sharing your knowledge with others, training individuals could be a great fit for you.”
According to ZipRecruiter, a personal trainer tends to get paid around $29 an hour.
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Watch TV and Earn Cash as a Netflix Tagger
“Those who are passionate about movies and television series may find an intriguing career as a Netflix Tagger, sometimes referred to as an Editorial Insights Content Analyst,” Greet said. “The main responsibilities in this much sought-after position are accurately applying pertinent metadata tags to classify and describe different elements of the shows and movies and critically examining Netflix’s enormous content library.”
You could watch Netflix all day and earn $54,000 a year on average, per Gyfted.
Monetize Your Passion as a Content Creator
“Producing videos, blogs or even podcasts lets you express your creativity!” said Stanley John Kebite, a web coordinator at Adventure Entertainment. “It’s especially easy when you’re working on what you’re really passionate about.”
There are so many different avenues for you to be a content creator or an influencer that it’s possible to talk about anything. Once you get a following, you could make more than $116,000 a year, according to ZipRecruiter.
Make Money Partying as an Event Coordinator
For some people, planning is fun, and that hobby can be rewarded as an event coordinator. Being an event planner involves coordinating all types of events at every step of the process. Event coordinators work with different clients, vendors, etc., to ensure events go off without a hitch. They organize many details, including decor, location, catering and equipment, according to Workable.
How much can you make as an event planner or coordinator? On average, event coordinators make about $24 an hour, according to ZipRecruiter.
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Get Money Just for Having an Opinion
If you tend to have unwavering opinions, maybe the work of a product tester is for you. “A home product tester tests and reviews products from different companies. In return, the company either pays them or gifts them with more products,” according to Indeed. There are various types of products that can be tested, including beauty items, household goods, clothes, electronics and toys, Indeed noted.
Product testers make a nice $37 an hour on average, according to ZipRecruiter.
Get Crafty as an E-Commerce Store Owner
Do you make things in your spare time? Does it relax you to make a scarf or a painting? Raskauskiene said you can monetize the activity that already brings you so much joy.
“Many people establish their e-shops as a side business so it is a relatively easy thing to do. It can also be fun because it allows pursuing a hobby as a career by selling crafts online,” she said.
Once your business catches on, you could make more than $127,000 a year, according to ZipRecruiter.
Play Hard as a Professional Video Game Player
Yes, this actually is a job. “This profession is both fun and easy for anyone who enjoys playing computer games,” Raskauskiene said. “It can also be paid pretty highly if the player wins tournaments and competitions.”
Nationwide, you’re looking at earning $19 an hour on average, per ZipRecruiter.
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Eat for Free as a Food Critic
One of the best parts of being on vacation is the food, and you could get paid to eat if you write about it. Being a food critic typically means you consider yourself a foodie with an “advanced palate” and can translate tastes to the page. “This profession requires a lot of knowledge about the way food should be prepared, but once a person learns, their job is mostly to eat and evaluate,” Raskauskiene said.
According to ZipRecruiter, this job pays about $16 an hour on average.
Be Surrounded by Relaxation as a Spa Receptionist
Duris said that working the front desk at a spa might be the ticket to staying chill and getting some pretty nice employee discounts. “Working on the front desk at a spa is a great job for people who are friendly and welcoming, and who like the idea of receiving perks like discounted skincare products or treatments such as massages,” he said.
According to ZipRecruiter, this job pays about $18 an hour on average.
Earn Cash for Talking as a Voiceover Artist
If you enjoy speaking and want to profit from it, you could consider being a voiceover artist. According to Berklee College of Music, some skills needed to be a voiceover artist include enunciation, breath control, improvisation and vocal technique. As a voiceover artist, you can work on projects like commercials, audiobooks and video games.
It’s good work if you can get a lot of projects, as the average salary nationwide is $48 an hour, per ZipRecruiter.
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Bring In Money as You Spend as a Mystery Shopper
Get paid to spend money? Sounds like a dream. Plus, the title of “mystery shopper” has a bit of a James Bond mystique to it.
“Mystery shopping is a technique that marketing research companies use to observe the quality of customer service and the overall experience at an organization’s locations,” according to Indeed. Mystery shoppers are hired to “pretend to be a customer to gather specific information, such as the cleanliness of a facility or how its employees treat customers,” Indeed noted.
Mystery shoppers make about $18 an hour on average, according to ZipRecruiter.
Make the Internet Your Job as a Social Media Manager
If you’re already online all day, why not make money while you’re at it as a social media manager? “Social media managers are responsible for planning, developing, implementing and managing strategies for an organization’s social media accounts,” according to Forbes. The skills needed to be a social media manager could include writing, editing, an understanding of social media and design, per Coursera.
Across the country, social media managers earn about $65,000 a year on average, per ZipRecruiter.
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This article originally appeared on GOBankingRates.com: Want To Make Money AND Have Fun? 16 Jobs That Feel Like a Vacation