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Unusual Careers: Jobs You Never Knew Existed

BOSTON (CBS) -- If you are unhappy or bored in your career, there may be something out there you never knew existed that perfectly fits your passion.  That's what happened when Tamra Carhart of Brighton discovered the world of graphic facilitation.

Her job is to visually record the flow of ideas in group meetings.  We recently caught up with her at the MIT media lab where hundreds of people were gathered to figure out how to make breastfeeding easier for women.  She stood at an easel at the front of the room and sketched images that matched what people were talking about. "I listen to people talk and I draw what they say in real time," she said.

Tamra Carhart - graphic facilitation
Tamra Carhart sketches out ideas as people talk at a meeting (WBZ-TV)

Carhart is an artist, but she says it's not a requirement of the job and that the hardest part is actually processing the information quickly.  "I had no idea this job existed until I stumbled upon it," she said. "It's absolutely different every day."

If computers are more your speed, how about an ethical hacker? Rather than stealing money or information, these experts hack into a company's computer system to identify and fix security flaws.

Love social media?  How about a chief listening officer?  They monitor external and internal communications on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Snapchat to improve relationships with their customers and their employees.

Wondering what to do with that psychology degree?  You can become an industrial psychologist. These specialists get paid to study human behavior in the workplace.  They identify and solve problems as well as improve productivity and job satisfaction.

Greg Walsh - 3D graphic artist
Greg Walsh working as a 3D graphic artist (WBZ-TV)

As a 3D graphic artist, Greg Walsh helps to sell furniture at Boston-based Wayfair by showing customers what items would look like in a fully designed room. "It's kind of like setting up a dollhouse," he said.

He had some background in graphics, but stumbled onto this opportunity and got the job after teaching himself the software. "I never knew this existed until a year ago," he said.

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