Imagine this. Your life will change in two months. Why? Because you are about to graduate and soon, you’ll find yourself surrounded by a stream of your age fellows, all engaged in the same thing: job hunt. Almost everyone you know will have the same routine; they’ll be sending in resumes, waiting on interview calls, and sitting for multiple exams to clear their dream career lines.
Career is a very dangerous word. Everyone dreams of it, yet everyone dithers from talking about it. Howsoever you feel about it, you work for it. It is for this very reason that today the topic in the spotlight for this article is a career path; because we want you to have better chances at survival in the squid-games of job hunts.
Therefore, we will be looking at consumer non-durables as a career option and attempting to answer questions such as how many jobs are available in consumer non-durables, what companies are in the consumer non-durables field, what do consumer non-durables job pay, along with explaining the career path in detail. Hence, if you are a freshmen or are looking for a career change, read away!
What is Consumer Goods?
Anything that you touch right now, your furniture, your laptop, the cup carrying your tea, that tea that it is carrying, your coke, its can, literally everything that comes in the use of a functioning (meaning alive) human being is a consumer good.
If you are more into big words, then consumer goods are tangible commodities produced and thereafter purchased to satisfy the current wants and perceived needs of the buyer. Now, this definition gives off two very important features of the career line itself, producers, and buyers.
In essence, the consumer goods line is all about the manufacturing sector. From design to production to sale. Everything comes under the consumer goods industry. So, if you’re in any way interested in it, this is the read for you.
To elaborate further on this, consumer goods are of two types: durables and non-durables, different from each other by the way they are used.
What are Consumer Durables and Non-durables?
As mentioned above consumer goods consist of our day-to-day used items. From our stationery to our dairy. But how are they used is where we draw the lines between durables and non-durables.
Durable consumer goods are household or daily use items that are meant to be used repeatedly, that is, they are supposed to be long-lasting. They are all around you. If you are reading this article on your laptop, then you are using a consumer durable good. If you were about to make yourself some coffee, your saucer will be consumer durable. The same goes for your lawnmower, your kitchenware, your house, and your car, basically anything which is not single-use.
Going by this formula, consumer non-durable goods encompass all things which have limited use, not by their utility but by their life span or their nature. Now this includes everything from your coffee to your food, to your toiletry, to your clothes, and all things in between.
So, when it comes to your cup of coffee, you’re using both, your coffee is one-time use only and, hence, a non-durable, your cup you can use many times, hence, a durable one.
Having said that, I think it is now crystal clear that the industry has a lot to offer and should be a safe space for job hunters looking for a vibrant place to develop their skills and gain crucial experience.
For this very reason, we’ll also briefly touch upon consumer durables as a career choice before moving on to the start of the article, consumer non-durables.
What do Consumer Durables Jobs Pay?
Paying bills is perhaps our biggest woe in adulthood, so often we find ourselves going for decent to well-paying jobs. Unfortunately, saturated job markets do not allow that. At least not all sectors. The sector which does fare comparatively better is the manufacturing industrial sector.
Consumer durables as mentioned above will allow you to take part in your interest area, whether it is household durable items to the tech industry, and will allow you a decent pay of around $15,000 and above, as a starter, a good enough answer to your question, ‘is consumer durables a good career path’. At this salary rate, it is!
You’ll find the best jobs in the consumer durables sector in the technology and automobile-lined fields. To give you a better outlook on the sector, you must know what companies are in the consumer durables field. Some of the big names that are included in the field include Microsoft, Apple, Honda, Hyundai, Tupperware, LafargeHolcim (cement producing plant) including an extraneous list of remarkable producers.
This sector will never disappoint you because our desire for better quality products never ceases, therefore, driving this sector to grow bigger and bigger every single day. Resultantly, making this sector a rather lucrative one, one with the monetary gains as well as a cultivating environment for creativity and interests.
But this is not all. Consumer durables are only one side of the coin. If you flip the coin right now, you will find the door to limitless opportunities in the other consumer services sector, the consumer non-durables. Dear readers, gear up for a whole world of endless opportunities, as endless as our ever-growing needs and demands!
What does the Consumer Non-Durables Industry consist of?
From the minute that you wake up to the minute you go back to sleep, you use countless products, each designed to cater to your needs. This can include your coffee, your food, your clothes, your medicines, and even your pens. Now imagine, all over the world, in every household, these items are used throughout the year and are all year round. For a demand so consistent, the industry is likewise. Consistent and ever-growing. Therefore, the industry consists of all the manufacturers involved in the production of our day-to-day products.
Since the list for our daily use products is extraneous, the industry that produces matches it, meaning that you need not go about asking how many jobs are available in the consumer non-durables industry because the industry has a place for everyone!
If you are more into lists, then the processes in the industry are vast in variety and need employees for all of them. They include:
- Design
- Productions
- Distribution
- Sales
- Marketing
- Finance
- Management
- And, in the age of growing digital media, a media team is assembled, often working as a separate wing with the marketing wing.
Hence, the job market is welcoming to all the fresh graduates and career change seekers to indulge in this sector.
To paint a clearer picture, we’ll divide the sector into the various industries which are part of it and then further elaborate them in the coming sections of the article for more insight into whether the consumer non-durables sector is a good career path for you or not. This side of the consumer services consists of:
- The Pharmaceuticals Industry
- Cosmetics
- The Paper industry
- Food Industry
- Textiles
- Distributions and Wholesales
Notice that the products these industries produce are meant for short-term use and, hence, qualify to be called consumer non-durables.
Having listed the sector details out, we can now move on to explaining these industries individually so that you can understand where exactly you want to aim for and then go there.
The Pharmaceuticals Industry
If you are a breathing human being, you will be in touch with this industry at least once a day. Because whether we agree or not, paracetamol is a variant of oxygen for most of us. Or an aspirin. Whatever suits your needs.
Therefore, this sector is relevant to everyone out there and, resultantly, also a sector that will never go out of the market. The pandemic itself is evidence of this.
The list of jobs available in this industry suits the list mentioned above, from design to sales, all things come under the umbrella of this industry. And, so, you need not worry if you are not a chemistry or a pharmacy major, you will be needed by this sector.
So, if you are interested in the pharmaceuticals sector in any way, this is where you monetize it; by applying to a company of your choice and getting on with it. Besides, the starting average pays per hour is also decent at up to $25 per hour, meaning you are in for an average of $125,000 per year!
The Cosmetics Industry
Previously this industry would have come under the pharmaceuticals sectors but at the rate that this industry is growing, it only seems fair that it is given its spotlight. A decade back, make-up was for women only but now it is ceasing the boundaries of gender, that is, it is becoming gender-neutral and has very gracefully included skin and hair care into it.
So, for all the makeup and self-care enthusiasts out there, this is your chance to get behind the scenes of the industry and explore it thoroughly for yourself. And in so many ways!
If you are a makeup artist, you can get into the marketing team or sales or become a social media ambassador. Makeup is an art, and the industry is built to enhance it.
The Paper Industry
Up next is the paper products industry. A pencil, a paper napkin, a paper towel, a notebook, tissues, wallpapers, and similar items have become our regulars. And it is a miracle how we never run out of them, provided how dependent we are on them. All thanks to the producers who are running their factories night and day to make these products.
Therefore, if you are anywhere near as excited about these products as we are, you’d want to get first-hand experience working in the industry.
Food Industry
Food. That one word is literal music to our ears. Our innate desires for energy have made it imperative that we satiate ourselves with the best of the food available to us and thanks to new technologies, we can now have access to a very wide variety. Be it fruits, spices, snacks, any kind of food, your local grocery stores will always be well-stocked on all that you desire.
This variety is also a good look into the diversity of the industry behind it. From farmers to sales, everyone is part of the food industry. You can quite literally choose to become anything in this. A distributor, a chef, a waiter (part-time), a hotel manager, a food taster (yes this is also a valid option); anything and the industry will welcome you with open arms and good pay. So do not shy from applying to it.
Textiles Industry
Your next big pick is clothes. Everyone loves clothes and even if you are not an enthusiast, you wear them. Can’t go around walking naked now, can we? The textile industry, however, isn’t only limited to your clothes, it includes curtains, sofa covers, your bed linens, basically anything thing that you cover with a fiber coming from a factory. This way the industry has a big list of the positions available, from raw material providers to HR, designers, and operators. Make your pick and go ahead.
Keep in mind, that for all these industries the average wage rate per hour is $25. Hence, as you go higher, you have a chance to earn ever bigger fares.
Distribution and Wholesales
Last but not least is the distribution and wholesales sector. Not everyone wants to be included in the production unit, some want to be doing the transporting. If you are that person, then this side of the industry is what you need to engage in. You can be a freight mover, drive a truck, own a storing garage. It depends on you, what you want to pick. For this part of the sector, the average pay per hour is up to $ 30.
Perhaps by now your mental image of what comes under the consumer non-durables field is clear. As you can see, the industry is vast, therefore, you can decide according to your interests. To also give you a head start on the kind of companies you can look up, we have included a list of well-known companies in the consumer service industries.
What Companies are in the Consumer Non-Durables Field?
The world of consumer non-durables has garnered attention for its quality services and continues to do so. Some of the giants of this world are as follows:
- Unilever Ltd.
- Coke
- Pepsi Co.
- McDonald’s
- Nike
- Proctor and Gamble
- Loreal
- Phillips Morris International
- KFC
- Anheusher-Busch InBev
The majority of the time we are unclear of where to begin because, unfortunately, when it comes to guidance, freshies lack it the most. We hope our article has been an eye-opener for you while you are planning to start your journey. Keep reading ahead to find out your answer to the question; ‘is consumer non-durables a good career path’.
Is Consumer Non-Durables a Good Career Path?
Whether a sector is made for you or not is very hard to depict unless you work in it. The same goes for the consumer non-durables industry. Unless you know what you want, you can never be sure of what is good for you.
However, as an industry, landing a job in the consumer non-durables sector is a perk on its own because the industry will get you a boost up to your skills, polishing you for the future. But writing a sentence on it won’t do the industry the justice that needs to be done with it.
Therefore, this section will try to briefly explain why the other services industry is a good place for you.
A plethora of job opportunities
Since the sector is huge and every day there is a new brand in the market, job opportunities are always available. And not just in one position or two, in multiple positions.
This is great news because often job openings have only one to two positions open which means that hundreds of applicants will have to fight for that one post. In the world where markets are saturated, the consumer non-durables sector is a sliver of hope, maybe a little larger than a sliver.
Diverse Jobs
While the sector may have a name which gives off the view that only those qualified in the subject may apply to, which is true for pharmaceuticals, there are jobs for everyone, from an MBA graduate to a Literature student, because as mentioned above the industry is vast and requires a diverse skill set to be run efficiently.
Hence, do not hesitate to look it up for a job opportunity. FYI, there are also positions available that only require that you have a degree, doesn’t matter the subject.
Stable Pay cheques
‘Bills won’t pay themselves is a reality check that no one warned us about. It is the trickiest part of adulthood.
So, it is natural to ask yourself while looking this sector up, ‘what do consumer non-durables jobs pay?’The answer to this question is that as estimated average pay per annum of a starting to the mid-level worker in the consumer non-durables industry is in the range of $ 150,000 to $ 90,000, depending on the level of your position, making it a strong pro in favor of the consumer non-durables industry.
So, for a young starter, the sector can be lucrative and put in some hard work, and you’ll reach great heights!
Receptive work culture
The one thing that everyone is afraid of is starting a job where the work culture will be toxic. It is the last thing one wants, however, the companies in the consumer non-durables industry are known to have receptive and warm work cultures, since their employees are young and the companies make it a habit to reward those who put in the effort, creating a room for healthy competitions and simultaneously inciting creativity.
In addition, there are many training and leaderships programs and workshops for the employees, which can add to your skillset and give you an edge over others!
Exposure
Perhaps, second to a stable paycheque is exposure. Exposure is very, very, very, important when it comes to the job market. Pick any job application and the one very important thing is job experience meant to judge your exposure. Having talked of the nature of the consumer non-durables sector, you can infer that the sector will give you the luxury of exposure. This is one of the biggest perks of the industry for us, hence, we suggest you investigate it, must!
Employee perks and benefits
Last but not the least, the employee benefits which are given to the employees. From insurances to bonuses, to health checks allowances, many checkpoints come under the umbrella of employee benefits, unfortunately, also something that many companies stay quiet about.
However, the consumer non-durables industry is known to have been setting standards in this case too. Many companies like coco-cola and PepsiCo have been known for their impressive employment perks, giving us yet another reason to suggest this sector as the one to explore for your first job.
Career paths become less scary when you are clear about what you do so that you are sure of where you want to begin with. The job market can be a tricky place, but a head start like this can make it less of a puzzle.
Skills are the most important part of an individual. It is your skills that get you to a place, therefore, you should always prioritize activities and places which can help you polish them.
The right place for your first job, an internship, or workshops can get you started on this journey. In this article, we have attempted to introduce you to the world of consumer non-durables in one go. We hope that this will give you a clear idea of the industry and help shape your career journey.
Check Also: Are Basic Industries A Good Career Path?
Hope you had a great read, good luck applying!