Improving your future

Is there such a thing as a dead-end job with no future prospects? We look at ten jobs commonly labelled "dead end" and find surprising opportunities and exit strategies.

Car groomer

It might seem like glorified housework, but car grooming helps people to develop attention to detail, work ethic and self discipline. Many car groomers work a 40-hour week while they scope out other employment.

True story: The enthusiasm, interest in technology and work ethic of one Auckland car groomer so impressed a television executive he employed the young man as a studio technician.

Checkout operator

Blip, blip: That noise, together with rude, ignorant customers is enough to convince you that you're in a dead-end job. But many retail giants were founded by people who started as checkout operators and worked their way up through the industry.

True story: Stephen Tindall founded the Warehouse with $40,000 after 12 years with retailer George Court and Sons.

Letterbox stuffing

Delivering pamphlets from an old pram in the midst of a howling gale gives this job its dead-end reputation. But true letterbox-stuffers - including posties - know the bad days are outnumbered by the good.

Courier, postage and freight forwarding companies are impressed by people with a reliable home delivery record, and the self-paced nature of the work allows time for plenty of other interests or study.

True story: Famous American Benjamin Franklin was once a master letterbox stuffer. Franklin served as city deputy postmaster and joint deputy postmaster for the American colonies in the mid 1700s.

Cleaner

Probably the most famous of dead-end jobs, cleaning nevertheless performs a vital service and has self-employment opportunities.

True story: Darren ended up buying his own carpet-cleaning business and invested some of his earnings into a radio station. Now able to semi-retire, Darren still cleans carpets because he says the people he meets are so entertaining.

Fast food cook

This may be one of the least dead-end jobs there is. Large fast-food chains such as McDonald's, Pizza Hutt and KFC have provided first jobs for many of the world's future students, artists, business leaders and entrepreneurs.

True story: McDonald's franchisee operations employed 6500 in New Zealand in 2004. Its communications manager Joanna Hill says fast-food industry experience is attractive to hospitality industry employers.

Production line worker

Production line jobs require people to repeat the same task over and over again, but they also require strict adherence to health and safety rules, the ability to follow procedure, punctuality and self discipline and may lead to management or supervisory roles.

Some workers use the job security of production line work to further their education in their spare time.

True story: New Zealander Adon Kumar, a former production line worker for a rubbish bag factory, is now a tertiary ESOL lecturer at Unitec.

Road worker

Although they are exposed to the elements and gawked at by motorists, road workers who ignore both end up observing the roading and construction industry up close. Special machine operator licences and construction career paths are open to former road workers.

True story: According to Roading NZ, the roading workforce has grown by 50 per cent over the past five years, and in 2004 the industry took on around 1000 new employees.

Security guard

They stand around and they're not armed - isn't that boring and dangerous? Actually, a career in security is so varied there are tertiary courses that support it - the National Diploma in Security is one example.

As for standing around, security guards tend to patrol an area by foot or in a vehicle. Good security guards can be snapped up for other protection roles including those in the military and police.

True story: Pat, a former security guard decided to train in martial arts to help him to stay safe on the job. He then encouraged kids he saw wandering inner-city streets to train in martial arts and eventually became a fulltime martial arts instructor.

Taxi driver

Taxi driving is a top networking opportunity. Who have you got in your taxi? What do they do? How did they do it? Listen and learn.

True story: British Asian Amjad Baig went from English taxi driver to property dealer to mobile phone tycoon after using his ears and an "an eye for opportunity" while driving. Baig is now a retail millionaire.

Waiting tables

Waiting tables involves long hours and usually doesn't pay well, but waiters develop formidable people skills. Who cares? Well, employers in hospitality, tourism, sales and marketing industries do.

True story: American Suze Orman has sold 1.5 million books on financial planning and is a contributor to the NBC News Today show and the Oprah magazine. Yet Orman once limited her career goals to waiting tables.

"I had a speech defect, so I couldn't speak and I had mild dyslexia, so I couldn't read. I thought I was dumb," she said.