Take a look at 'dull' jobs

When it comes to choosing a career it's easy to look at obvious choices - at jobs that easily come to mind. But there are plenty of careers that are interesting, offer good rewards and sit just below the career radar.

For example, imagine the satisfaction of a career that helps prevent loss of lower limbs to amputation? And no, we're not talking about medical surgeons, but podiatrists. Podiatrists do much more than tend ingrown toenails and bunions.

"Most lower leg amputations in New Zealand come from diabetes which affects the nerves and blood supply to the feet and the ability to fight infection and deformity. Podiatrists help limit infection and loss of limbs through preventative treatment," says Greg Coyle, who is programme leader of AUT's three year podiatry degree, the only one in New Zealand.

Experienced podiatrists also administer local anaesthetic and perform minor surgical procedures, as well as working with prosthetics. people with an interest in health and surgery, but not in years of medical training, may find podiatry a good alternative.

"We concentrate on a small area of the body, but we use a huge variety of treatment methods. Podiatrists treat pain and abnormalities in the foot and lower leg that are often symptoms related to diseases such as diabetes and arthritis."

If you value the mighty dollar, podiatry won't disappoint. Podiatrist graduates begin on $40,000 to $50,000 and around 70 per cent run private practices with 10 per cent employed in district health boards. All up there are currently just 173 practising podiatrists in New Zealand, says Coyle.

"We come in under the radar when people think of health career paths, yet podiatry offers huge scope for people who are good with their hands, like to use their brain, have empathy for people and want to work in a lucrative field."

Do you enjoy communicating and building client relationships? Want to earn a good income? Stereotypes of grey men in grey suits loom when accountancy is mentioned, but not if you're talking to 36-year-old Phillip Roth, partner of Polson Higgs in Christchurch and 2003 Young Accountant of the Year.

This guy is so enthusiastic about accountancy he could get even the most numerically illiterate interested.

"It is the challenges that I love. I never know what is going to come next."

Roth spends 15 to 20 per cent of his week doing traditional accounting work; tax returns, group sets of accounts, annual financial returns.

"But accounting is also about business planning, strategizing, change management. You can become a tax expert, insolvency expert, business analyst, business broker, corporate finance person, audit assurance expert, risk management expert..."

A vital skill, alongside fundamental accountancy, is the ability to communicate and build client relationships.

Remuneration is good and demand strong for experienced accountants. Graduates with four year accountancy degrees start on salaries around $35,000 to $45,000. Chartered accountant salaries begin at $65,000.

"Many of the Kiwis appearing in powerful business circles around the world come from accounting backgrounds. Yet often people have preset ideas of how an accountant walks, talks, smells - although not in the business community. For me it is a career that offers a lot of variety and challenges and I love it," declares Roth.

Would you love to be at the cutting edge of the information revolution? Keen to research anything from investments to current cancer research? Excited about hunting down information and organizing it for all and sundry? Then forget your stereotype of shushing librarians shelving dusty books in dingy corners and sign up for a library and information studies or science qualification.

Librarians play a pivotal role in dealing with the 21st century's huge explosion of digital and print information, says National librarian Penny Carnaby.

Also known as information specialists, knowledge analysts or business intelligence officers, librarians find work in a range of settings, including public libraries, museums, research companies, corporations, law firms and schools. Despite their increasing importance, librarians are not paid well with graduates starting on around $30,000.

Carnaby says the digital revolution has changed the role of library and librarian.

"You are not only dealing with all the tangible printed words on paper but also seeing an extraordinary revolution in the whole flow of information in a digital world.

This raises questions of information democracy, says Carnaby.

"Librarians care about the democratization of information, whether the user is a child, an academic, or a multinational."