By: Grace Helmke
Our younger selves often dreamt of becoming firefighters, veterinarians, and doctors. But not all of us have followed these conventional career paths like we once thought. Some people have opted for a more unusual work day. Here are the top 10 weirdest jobs in the world.
1. Professional sleeper
A professional sleeper is someone who gets paid to sleep. Generally, individuals with this job are participating in some form of sleep study. There are a few varieties of these sleep studies. They are as follows: Sleep apnea testing, CPAP Titration, multiple sleep latency test, and polysomnography testing.
Most professional sleepers make around $10 an hour, and an average of $15,000 per study.
Another way people make money off sleeping is through testing mattresses and bedding. They can make anywhere from $30,000 to $45,000 per year.
2. Netflix viewer
Netflix has begun to hire people to watch movies and TV shows. The title of this job under Netflix’s website is “Tagger.” They watch Netflix content, and place them under genre categories. They also place them under categories like “movies with a strong female lead,” or “LGBTQ+ TV shows.”
Taggers can get paid upwards of $60,000 per year.
3. Scuba Diving pizza delivery
In Key Largo, Florida, a hotel named Jules’ Undersea Lodge has hired an underwater pizza deliverer. Jules’ Lodge is located 21 feet underwater, and scuba diving is the only way to get to it.
In addition to being a pizza deliverer, duties of this individual would be similar to a bellboy. An underwater attendant that serves via scuba diving.
4. Waterslide tester
Possibly, the most exciting career a person can have is testing water slides. The job of these testers are to ensure that waterslides are safe in addition to being fun. Most likely, a person in this field would work for a chain of water parks or hotels. They would spend most of their time traveling across the nation to different locations.
Generally speaking, water slide testers make around $30,000 to $34,000 per year.
5. Golf ball diver
Country clubs and golf courses around the world pay people to scuba dive in the waters within golf courses. Most of the time, they pay $1 per ball. That may seem like a small amount, but in places with warmer climates, this is a great way to make a decent living.
People in this field make anywhere from $50,000 to $100,000 per year, and a man named Glenn Berger, a Florida resident, has even claimed to have made $15 million in this field.
6. Paper towel sniffer
Paper towel companies work extremely hard to make sure there is no distinct scent on their product. Companies hire people with extra impressive senses of smell to do a sniff test to make sure that they smell okay.
People in this profession can make upwards of $50,000 a year.
7. Professional slacker
An airline and vacation agency in Sweden, called TUI, has hired four individuals to be “professional slackers.” The job requirements are extremely laid back, as one might’ve guessed. All they asked is that you listen to some of your favorite music, do a little light reading, put your feet in the sand at the beach, and have a long nap.
These lucky slackers would be paid hourly, at a sum most likely too high for the amount of work they’re actually doing.
8. Panda nanny
In China, the Giant Panda Protection and Research Center hires people to take care of pandas. A nanny must be 22 years old, or older, and have basic knowledge of pandas, but otherwise there are no requirements.
Panda nannies make around $32,000 a year and are provided with adequate living conditions and meals.
9. Snake Milker
This job involves extraction of snake venom. Individuals in this field milk snakes of their venom for the benefit of hospitals. Snake venom can help to create new treatments for existing conditions, as well as be used to create antivenom.
Income made from this profession varies to an enormous degree. Snake milkers generally make around $30,000 per year, or $2,500 per month. However, certain types of venom are more rare and valuable than others. One gram of some venoms can sell for over $2,000.
10. Dog Food tester
This is not, in fact, the job of one of our trusty canine friends. This is a job for humans. Most people in this field are highly skilled, and often have a doctoral degree from some important institution.
Dog food testers smell, and taste the dog food to make sure that it still tastes good, while also refraining from stinking up an owner’s house. Thankfully, in the end, they spit it out again.
For more information, please visit:
- More on sleeping studies: https://www.sleepfoundation.org/sleep-studies
- Bed tester: https://www.salary.com/research/salary/posting/mattress-tester-salary
- More on netflix taggers: https://askinglot.com/how-much-do-netflix-taggers-get-paid#:~:text=The%20average%20Netflix%20Salary%20for%20Tagger%2FWriters%20is%20%2469%2C906%20per%20year.
- Golf Ball diving: https://www.bls.gov/careeroutlook/2014/youre-a-what/golf-ball-diver.htm#:~:text=Golf%20ball%20divers%20are%20professional,the%20terms%20of%20the%20job.
- Paper towel sniffer: http://weird-jobs.blogspot.com/2013/12/paper-towel-sniffer-paper-towel-earns.html#:~:text=Technically%20falling%20under%20the%20category,varying%20with%20experience%20and%20seniority.
- Pro slacker: https://www.elitedaily.com/p/how-to-apply-to-be-tuis-professional-slacker-so-you-can-get-paid-to-relax-abroad-7856503
- Panda nanny: https://www.huffpost.com/entry/panda-nanny_n_5379929
- Snake milker: https://www.jobmonkey.com/uniquejobs/snake-milker/#:~:text=On%20average%2C%20snake%20milkers%20make,venom%20can%20sell%20for%20%242%2C000.
- Dog food tester: https://recipes.howstuffworks.com/food-facts/food-careers/food-taster3.htm
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