Publications
Partners
1. Armpit sniffer
Have you ever wondered how many processes your favourite deodorant has had to go through to ensure it was ready to hit the shelves? Let's just say it took quite a bit of armpit sniffing on people who acted as the testers for the product.
Yes, we kid you not – "odour judges" exist, and they're there so that your deo delivers on its promise. The pay? Around R450,000 a year, according to Mental Floss.
And here you thought your job stinks.
READ MORE: Want to be a futurist? There's an actual job in imagining a future beyond Wakanda
2. Golf ball diver
How many golf balls that were hit into lakes and ponds on golf courses do you think will rot for eternity?
Turns out the answer is nil. That's because slipping into your wetsuit and swim fins and diving ten metres under to retrieve lost balls is a profession, and a fruitful one, might we add.
Zimbabwean golf ball diver Brett Parker says his average workday hours are from 7am to 12pm and he collects 3,000 balls.
ESPN reports that golf ball divers can earn an annual income starting from around R500,000.
Sounds fun until you learn that another golf ball diver, Glenn Berger admits that his job involves frequent run-ins with alligators and snakes.
All aboard the NOPE train to NOPEVILLE.
3. Pet food taster
I once knew a guy whose daily snack was dog chunks. That on its own was weird, until I came across this profession.
Sure, pets are our biggest friends and it's our job to ensure they receive the tastiest and most nutritious meals, but can you fathom snacking on particular animal derivatives?
Pet food tasters don't typically swallow the food, though – they simply evaluate the flavours and check if it's up to quality standards. Their job also involves having to write reports and suggesting ways of improving the food.
Nobody deserves bad food, but we'll leave this job to the brave ones out there.
4. Professional bed tester
Unlike the job above, we must admit this is one we dream of having.
Pay Scale notes that Travelodge’s Director of Sleep, Wayne Munnelly was paid to nap on the company’s 25,000 beds back in 2006.
However, Munnelly's job was not as simple as that – it also included checking the lighting in the room and paying attention to how sound-proof the walls were.
Roisin Madigan, a luxury bed tester, is reported to have earned £1000 (R16,500) to sleep in designer beds every day for a month.
If you were offered this job, would you first need to sleep on it?
*escapes current job*
We thought as much.
5. Line stander
Ever feel like you'll be waiting in a queue until the end of time?
Research indicates that receiving an estimated wait time certainly helps to defuse the anxiety, stress and uncertainty that people experience while waiting in line, but unfortunately this is not the case with queues everywhere you go.
At least there's something you can do about the one thing no one on this planet enjoys doing – book a professional line stander!
TaskRabbit, a U.S. online marketplace that matches freelance labour with local demand offers customers the chance to "hire a Tasker to stand in line for restaurants, special events, the DMV, and more".
At $25 (R290) for the first hour and $10 (R115) for each additional half hour, New York-based founder of Same Ole Line Dudes (SOLD Inc.), Robert Samuel, will happily wait for you, notes Business insider.
Now we wait for this to come to SA.
6. Iceberg mover
After the sinking of the Titanic in 1912, North American and European countries created the International Ice Patrol (IIP) to prevent anything like it occurring again.
They use information gathered from satellite, radar and planes to gather critical information that indicates the location of icebergs and to minimise iceberg collisions.
7. Island caretaker
Although a rarely available job, it exists and we couldn't leave it off the list.
In 2009, a newspaper ran an ad by Tourism Queensland, titled, "The best job in the world".
It was a six-month contract and the position vacant was an island caretaker. The location? Islands of the Great Barrier Reef.
Some of the responsibilites included cleaning the pool and feeding fish – such strenuous and demanding tasks.
READ MORE: Thinking of working abroad? Here are the top 10 countries for women to pursue a career
Ben Southall, then 34, of the UK, beat out over 35,000 applicants and got to live in a luxury villa, swimming and kayaking his time away.
Oh, and did we mention he received a pay of $150,000 (R1.7 million) for those six months?
Watch the video below to know more about this envious job.
Should the occasion arise, do you think you're ready and have what it takes to do the job?
8. Professional binge-watcher
That's right – Netflix is now hiring someone to watch EVERYTHING.
That's not where the job description ends, though. You'll also have to "... research, rate, tag, annotate, and write analysis" on every show you binge-watch.
If you frequently go through the streaming giant's library of content, why not do what you seemingly love AND get paid for it?
Also, how fancy does the title of the position sound: "editorial analyst of original content"?
While Independent notes that the post has since been removed and there's no detail on what the position might pay, we'll just be waiting in the interview queue with our popcorn and snacks.
Sign up to W24’s newsletters so you don't miss out on any of our hot stories and giveaways.
