What Barbie Can Teach Us About Careers
Simply Hired Staff
The term “career” is often associated with desks, offices, filing cabinets and secretaries. Careers are synonymous with the proverbial “desk job,” complete with a watch at retirement.
But that isn’t always the case. There are a great many people who do bizarre, interesting, exciting things for a living. In real life and in popular culture we have a few individuals who time and time again land exceptionally fascinating jobs. One such character is Barbie, the iconic doll. Over the years she has developed quite a diverse resume.
Here are some of Barbie’s best and most interesting jobs.
Ocean Treasure Explorer
Of all the job titles Barbie has held, this is by far the most interesting. Ocean Treasure Explorer Barbie came complete with scuba diving equipment and a reef to explore. Normally when we publish job lists we provide a link to the job listings. Unfortunately, Simply Hired doesn’t have a single ocean treasure explorer job in its database. This is a career you happen on your own, and Barbie knows this.
Photographer Barbie comes complete with a tripod and camera equipment. Photographer Barbie is specifically a fashion photographer, but with the skill set and equipment Barbie should be able to take on a host of different photography gigs. Maybe even underwater photography.
Average salary: $30,000 per year
Chef Barbie has cooked in a variety of different niches. She’s been a pastry chef, a pizza chef, a pancake chef, etc. Each of the chef Barbies comes with a kitchen appliance, utensils and some food. Of the various career Barbies, working as a chef has been one of her top occupations.
Average salary: $40,000 per year
Male pilots are more common, and Pilot Barbie set out to change that. Although pilot Barbie doesn’t include an airplane for her to fly, she does have a traditional captain’s uniform and rollaway suitcase. Of course pilot isn’t the only job Barbie has taken in the skies. She’s also spent some time as a flight attendant.
Average salary: $61,000 per year
Astronaut
Barbie has been to space! Maybe not literally, but she has worked as an astronaut for years. At times her space uniform was a bit silly. There was a point where she was wearing a pink space suit. However, more recently Barbie has decided to go more traditional. Today she can be seen wearing a white NASA-style space suit.
Of course Barbie spent some time working in the medical field, both as a nurse and a doctor. But back in the 1970s Barbie also spent some time as a surgeon. Costuming wasn’t so exciting for this Barbie though, just the simple blue or green scrubs. Unfortunately she also lacks any serious surgical instruments or someone to operate on.
Average salary: $99,000 per year
Although always a big advocate for fitness, Barbie had not spent time working in yoga. That all changed in 2012. Although Yoga Teacher Barbie is not extra bendy, she does come with a yoga mat and little dog.
Average salary: $42,000 per year
Little kids love dinosaurs. So it was only a matter of time before Mattel figured out that of all the advanced science jobs, paleontologist is the only ones kids know by name. Thus Barbie spends some time digging up dinosaurs.
Average salary: $33,000 per year
As you consider possible directions you can take in your own career, grab some inspiration from Barbie and remember the sky (or the ocean) is the limit!
