Summary

The article outlines five unconventional career paths that allow individuals to get paid while learning, emphasizing the potential for personal and professional growth.

Abstract

The article "5 Ways You Can Get Paid to Learn" presents an alternative perspective on education and career development, suggesting that certain jobs inherently facilitate continuous learning while also providing financial compensation. The author argues that becoming a writer, starting a podcast, teaching as a professor, coaching, or working for a company like Walmart can lead to substantial learning opportunities. Each role requires research and interaction with knowledgeable individuals, which contributes to one's education. The article encourages readers to view their careers as avenues for lifelong learning and to recognize the hidden educational value in various professions.

Opinions

Writing is more about learning than the act of writing itself, as it involves extensive research.
Podcasting is seen as both a learning tool and a platform for engaging with experts, although it requires effort to monetize effectively.
Being a professor is valued as a traditional and respected way to continuously learn and contribute to academic research.
Coaching, in sports or other fields, is viewed as a learning experience where one gains knowledge through studying strategies and learning from team interactions.
Employment at companies like Walmart, which offers training and educational programs, is presented as a practical way to learn while earning.
The author challenges the stigma against college education by highlighting the benefits of becoming a professor and engaging in lifelong study.
The article suggests that learning is an inherent part of every job, implying that any career can be an opportunity for personal growth.

5 Ways You Can Get Paid to Learn.

Why Pay to be Taught, When These Jobs Will Pay You to Learn?

1.) Become a Writer.

The idea of writing does not strike a whole lot of us as something that is fun to do, or something that we want to do.

However, writing is really less about writing and more about learning. Once I came to realize that, I started enjoying it a whole lot more.

If you start working as a freelance writer (or even as a writer for a company) you are going to find that the bulk of your job is to do research. In other words, you are essentially getting paid to learn about (hopefully interesting) topics, and then push that information forward.

2.) Start Your Own Podcast.

Okay fine, maybe podcasting is overrated at this point, but it really is a way for you to learn a lot about just about anything.

For this matter, listening to podcasts will help you with the learning part too (except you likely aren’t going to get paid to listen to podcasts).

When you start your own podcast, you are creating a platform for yourself to have guests on. It is one of the best ways to learn from other people, and actually, get those people to sit down and have a real conversation with you.

I go more into detail about why having a podcast is one of the most efficient ways to really learn from others in this article here.

Keep in mind that starting your own podcast in and of itself is not going to get you paid, and it is not going to make you learn.

You have to have the intent of learning from the guests or the research that you do in order to run your show, and you have to do a lot of work in order to monetize it.

However, when done correctly, you can make a killing just learning from other people.

Case in point… Look at Joe Rogan.

3.) Become a Professor.

I’ll call this the most “traditional” method of turning learning into your career.

There is a growing stigma anymore that college is bad, no one should go, and it is just one big scam. I don’t disagree.

However going all the way through college will give you the opportunity to join the elite learners of society, and will give you the opportunity to get paid to do so.

I cringe every time I find someone that has the idea that professors are just taking some predetermined course material and regurgitating it to their classes.

In most cases, the reason that a professor became a professor is that they love studying in their field, and they want to be able to continue to study, develop, and grow that field for the rest of their lives.

As a professor, you will also be doing a ton of research, and you will have the opportunity to share what you learn with your students, and perhaps inspire them to contribute to also doing the research. It is a fantastic job if your passion lies in learning.

4.) Coach.

Similarly, becoming a coach of any variety can be another great way for you to get paid to learn.

Think of a sports coach for example. Their job is to teach, manage, and support their team.

In order to do that, they need to equip themselves with the proper tools and the proper knowledge to help their team win.

In order to do THAT they will need to study other teams, other businesses, other experts, etc.

They will also learn from the feedback that they get from their team.

Do you think that Bill Belichick has ever learned anything from Tom Brady?

The same concept goes for coaches outside of sports too.

5.) Get Yourself HIRED.

The last and most vague way to get paid to learn is to simply get yourself a job that you want to do and want to learn about.

Most jobs are going to provide you with training, and with training you will learn.

Walmart, for example, has “Walmart Academy” where they send their associates for training for different levels of management. This also provides some of its associates the opportunity to teach classes in the Walmart Academy.

On top of that, Walmart along with other major companies has implemented various scholar problems to help their associates attend actual universities for slim to no cost.

The idea here is to allow you to work full time while also getting an education. So even if you are still paying a small amount for the education, your employer is providing you with a job, and the opportunity to keep working while you go to school.

As far as I’m concerned, that is paying you to learn.

Conclusion

Opportunity is around every corner if you just look for it. I know that a lot of us have a passion to learn, even if it isn’t something that we tell our friends about because it makes us sound dorky.

Think about what your real opportunities are though in your career. You are going to learn something in every job that you ever do. So really there is an endless list of “ways to get paid to learn.”

Pick whatever you are the most drawn to and go for it.