10 of the World’s Most Peculiar Jobs
Ever wondered who makes sure your deodorant works and smells great? Or ensures your pets enjoy tasty food? Well, some of these jobs may inspire some of you to look into new career paths. But most of us would rather a mundane day as an accountant, lawyer or doctor than a day as any of these. We look into 10 of the weirdest jobs that actually exist- jobs your Average Joe and Plain Jane would have never even heard of or bother trying if they did.
1. Chick Sexer
At a rate of around $1,200 a month, a chick sexer has to distinguish the gender of newly hatched chicks to separate them into different and specific programs. Chick sexing is practiced usually by large commercial hatcheries. The destinies of the chicks are determined by the gender; females are destined to lay eggs for commercial sale, and most males will be culled in the next several days of hatching because they are irrelevant to the egg production. The remaining male chicks will be fattened up for meat production. The reason behind separating the chicks from a young age is to put them on the appropriate track to enable the chicks to receive optimum nourishment for their destined role.
2. Professional Sleeper
Now this is one many of us might want to look into. As most of us spend our mornings downing cups of coffee at our work desk as we struggle to stay awake, there are people who are actually paid to sleep! Professional sleepers are usually hired by scientists or doctors as part of research projects to figure what causes specific back aches and other uncomfortable body pains. In 2009, The New Museum of Contemporary Art put up job adverts in January 2009 seeking women willing to come in, take a sleeping pill and zonk out during the museum’s working hours. The women who got the jobs became part of the museum’s living exhibitions titled after their own names, such as ‘This is Kate’, (below). Recently, however, hotels have also opened up vacancies for professional sleepers to review and share their experiences of the hotel rooms. No need to worry about getting caught dozing off. The average professional sleeper earns an average $31,000 a year. Talk about the ‘dream’ job!
3. Odor Tester
Think your job stinks? Try taking theirs! Odor testers can be employed for a variety of industries to judge and evaluate all sorts of odors, from testing a product that would supposedly reduce the smell of garbage, to the smell of a newly developed soft drink. Odor testers may also test the affectivity of deodorants and antiperspirants for deodorant manufacturing companies. Odor testers earn about $ 35,000 a year and require a degree in chemistry to help produce the solution that would prevent the production of body odor. We all should be a little more appreciative of odor testers; after all, they prevent us from having to sniff out the faulty products!
4. Pet Food Technologist
Ever wondered how the little pellets in Fido’s bowl taste like? Don’t try them yourself just yet, ask a pet food technologist! Pet Food Technologists are responsible for making sure the taste and smell of the pet food is desirable; from the texture to the tartness of the treats. Simon Allison, a senior pet food technologist of Marks and Spencer says that “It is just the same as if I were working in the ready meals department.” Some testers claim yearly wages as low as $16,000, some of them earn up to $1.5M. Whatever the rate, we certainly hope their sick days are covered.
5. Fake Review Writer
Unethical, but fake review writers make cash by conjuring fake enthusiasm for hotels, restaurants and products to artificially boost consumer ratings and draw a larger audience to try them out. You can find fake reviews on websites as well; from Yelp to Amazon. Take Todd Jason Rutherford as the prime example. Rutherford charged $99 for one review, $499 for 20 and $999 for 50. He has eventually published 4,531 fake reviews and at one point pulled in 28,000 per month. It may not be a bad idea for pulling in some quick and easy cash, but these days there are legal ramifications for posting fake reviews. As for Rutherford, Google has pulled the plug on the ad offers after realizing they were ingenuous and Amazon has completely removed all his reviews.
6. Ostrich Babysitter
This job isn’t just your average visit to the petting zoo. An ostrich babysitter must ensure that all the ostriches do not peck at each other, escape, or be harmed by the other animals around. The job has no official requirements, but it’s no easy task. Ostriches are known to be aggressive and putting yourself in between two fighting ostriches doesn’t sound like the safest task to do. Ostrich babysitters make about $10 per hour, around the rates a human babysitter would earn. Which would you rather?
7. Dice Inspector
Inspecting dice for flaws may not be the ideal job for most of us. Millions can be lost with the throw of a single dice. Therefore, it is extremely crucial to make sure all dices are proportionate and at the right angle. The job requirement of a dice inspector is no fun and games! A Bachelor’s degree in a specialized field of science, for example, engineering and architecture, is required as well as a civil service examination in the presence of police inspectors. The average annual salary of an inspector is $50,000 and the pay varies from $13 to $23 hourly.
8. Furniture Tester
You may thank these men and women for ensuring the comfort of our couches! The furniture tester does exactly as the name suggests – test furniture before they make their way to a showroom. Furniture testers are required to evaluate the safety and comfort of furniture and to grade them accordingly. If professional sleeping does not work out for you, you could try this! There are no specific job requirements, however, companies have height and weight guidelines that applicants have to meet. At $15 per hour, furniture testing is certainly not a bad job.
9. Citrus Fruit Dryer
Someone’s got to towel off those fruits. Not many people go to college to become citrus fruit dryers. To get the job, you only need a high school diploma, soap, water and a clean towel. Experience in farm work is a plus-point. This isn’t to be confused with another oddball related job - fruit dying. After fruit dyers have colored the fruits to make them appear riper and tastier, fruit dryers would wash and towel dry them before they are boxed up and sent to your local grocer. Workers earn up to $12.00 per hour for washing and towel drying citrus fruits.
10. Paint Monitor
Think your job is tedious? Well, think again. Paint monitors probably have the most boring job in the world - assessing the time it takes for paint to dry for paint manufacturing firms. Every paint monitor dreads the time paint manufacturers develop a new product. The job is tedious but necessary. Keith Jackson, a paint monitor from the UK agrees; "For example, we make the paint for the floors and walls of stations for the London Underground. They can't afford to shut to passengers for long periods so the painting can only be done between 3am and 5am.” Paint monitors don’t have a fixed salary, but they certainly earn more the longer the time spent. Spare a thought for Keith and think twice the next time you say “I’d rather watch paint dry.”
By Lea Leong
1. Chick Sexer
At a rate of around $1,200 a month, a chick sexer has to distinguish the gender of newly hatched chicks to separate them into different and specific programs. Chick sexing is practiced usually by large commercial hatcheries. The destinies of the chicks are determined by the gender; females are destined to lay eggs for commercial sale, and most males will be culled in the next several days of hatching because they are irrelevant to the egg production. The remaining male chicks will be fattened up for meat production. The reason behind separating the chicks from a young age is to put them on the appropriate track to enable the chicks to receive optimum nourishment for their destined role.
2. Professional Sleeper
Now this is one many of us might want to look into. As most of us spend our mornings downing cups of coffee at our work desk as we struggle to stay awake, there are people who are actually paid to sleep! Professional sleepers are usually hired by scientists or doctors as part of research projects to figure what causes specific back aches and other uncomfortable body pains. In 2009, The New Museum of Contemporary Art put up job adverts in January 2009 seeking women willing to come in, take a sleeping pill and zonk out during the museum’s working hours. The women who got the jobs became part of the museum’s living exhibitions titled after their own names, such as ‘This is Kate’, (below). Recently, however, hotels have also opened up vacancies for professional sleepers to review and share their experiences of the hotel rooms. No need to worry about getting caught dozing off. The average professional sleeper earns an average $31,000 a year. Talk about the ‘dream’ job!
3. Odor Tester
Think your job stinks? Try taking theirs! Odor testers can be employed for a variety of industries to judge and evaluate all sorts of odors, from testing a product that would supposedly reduce the smell of garbage, to the smell of a newly developed soft drink. Odor testers may also test the affectivity of deodorants and antiperspirants for deodorant manufacturing companies. Odor testers earn about $ 35,000 a year and require a degree in chemistry to help produce the solution that would prevent the production of body odor. We all should be a little more appreciative of odor testers; after all, they prevent us from having to sniff out the faulty products!
4. Pet Food Technologist
Ever wondered how the little pellets in Fido’s bowl taste like? Don’t try them yourself just yet, ask a pet food technologist! Pet Food Technologists are responsible for making sure the taste and smell of the pet food is desirable; from the texture to the tartness of the treats. Simon Allison, a senior pet food technologist of Marks and Spencer says that “It is just the same as if I were working in the ready meals department.” Some testers claim yearly wages as low as $16,000, some of them earn up to $1.5M. Whatever the rate, we certainly hope their sick days are covered.
5. Fake Review Writer
Unethical, but fake review writers make cash by conjuring fake enthusiasm for hotels, restaurants and products to artificially boost consumer ratings and draw a larger audience to try them out. You can find fake reviews on websites as well; from Yelp to Amazon. Take Todd Jason Rutherford as the prime example. Rutherford charged $99 for one review, $499 for 20 and $999 for 50. He has eventually published 4,531 fake reviews and at one point pulled in 28,000 per month. It may not be a bad idea for pulling in some quick and easy cash, but these days there are legal ramifications for posting fake reviews. As for Rutherford, Google has pulled the plug on the ad offers after realizing they were ingenuous and Amazon has completely removed all his reviews.
6. Ostrich Babysitter
This job isn’t just your average visit to the petting zoo. An ostrich babysitter must ensure that all the ostriches do not peck at each other, escape, or be harmed by the other animals around. The job has no official requirements, but it’s no easy task. Ostriches are known to be aggressive and putting yourself in between two fighting ostriches doesn’t sound like the safest task to do. Ostrich babysitters make about $10 per hour, around the rates a human babysitter would earn. Which would you rather?
7. Dice Inspector
Inspecting dice for flaws may not be the ideal job for most of us. Millions can be lost with the throw of a single dice. Therefore, it is extremely crucial to make sure all dices are proportionate and at the right angle. The job requirement of a dice inspector is no fun and games! A Bachelor’s degree in a specialized field of science, for example, engineering and architecture, is required as well as a civil service examination in the presence of police inspectors. The average annual salary of an inspector is $50,000 and the pay varies from $13 to $23 hourly.
8. Furniture Tester
You may thank these men and women for ensuring the comfort of our couches! The furniture tester does exactly as the name suggests – test furniture before they make their way to a showroom. Furniture testers are required to evaluate the safety and comfort of furniture and to grade them accordingly. If professional sleeping does not work out for you, you could try this! There are no specific job requirements, however, companies have height and weight guidelines that applicants have to meet. At $15 per hour, furniture testing is certainly not a bad job.
9. Citrus Fruit Dryer
Someone’s got to towel off those fruits. Not many people go to college to become citrus fruit dryers. To get the job, you only need a high school diploma, soap, water and a clean towel. Experience in farm work is a plus-point. This isn’t to be confused with another oddball related job - fruit dying. After fruit dyers have colored the fruits to make them appear riper and tastier, fruit dryers would wash and towel dry them before they are boxed up and sent to your local grocer. Workers earn up to $12.00 per hour for washing and towel drying citrus fruits.
10. Paint Monitor
Think your job is tedious? Well, think again. Paint monitors probably have the most boring job in the world - assessing the time it takes for paint to dry for paint manufacturing firms. Every paint monitor dreads the time paint manufacturers develop a new product. The job is tedious but necessary. Keith Jackson, a paint monitor from the UK agrees; "For example, we make the paint for the floors and walls of stations for the London Underground. They can't afford to shut to passengers for long periods so the painting can only be done between 3am and 5am.” Paint monitors don’t have a fixed salary, but they certainly earn more the longer the time spent. Spare a thought for Keith and think twice the next time you say “I’d rather watch paint dry.”
By Lea Leong
