iMost of the time, 9 – 5 jobs aren´t that glamorous. More often we are not satisfied and most of us live our life’s complaining about how difficult it is, boring, tiring… but what if you could find your calling in other, more quirky jobs?
Here below are some of the more quirkier, even weirder jobs you´ve ever heard of. Some of them are probably way out there for most of us, but it shows you that there are many opportunities, we only have to have imagination and guts to follow through.
So, let us dive in, here are 23 Odd jobs that you didn´t know about…
1. Professional hugger
Do you like to hug and cuddle? If yes, you just found your profession. The profession of professional hugger exists, and as the name suggests, the goal is to offer hugs to your customers, to give them a feeling of affection.
People who use these cuddling sessions are especially those who feel lonely, such as the elderly. This hug can last from one to several hours, and it pays around 100 USD for an hour of cuddling.
2. Crime scene cleaner
A little less fun than the previous one, the crime scene cleaner’s job is part of life’s reality. Far from the scenes that you can observe on television, this professional has to face very real tragic situations, and all this with unparalleled composure. After the police passage, you are in charge of disinfecting and cleaning the premises, respecting all safety and hygiene procedures, of course. Remember Kathryn Nemec in Blacklist? If you choose to do this job, you must have a mind of steel.
3. Cinema screen cleaner
Like your windows and screens, cinema screens also need to be cleaned to remove dust and any traces. It is a profession that requires patience, given the size of each screen, and a very specific technique. The professional must not be afraid of height since the work is done mainly at height and must be in good physical condition. Also, the cinema screen cleaner must be flexible because it will be required to intervene primarily at night.
4. Cruciverbalist
This is a crossword puzzle maker! If you like to spend hours in front of your crosswords, to pass the time or by passion, imagine the person, the one who creates them! Existing for more than a century, lovers of letters have practiced the profession, endowed with an incomparable imagination.
5. Slide tester
Are you a child at heart? Do you love adrenaline? Then the job of a slide tester may be right for you! You may already have gone to few water parks and thought to yourself, “I would love to work all day long testing the slides”. Well, know that before you, a professional, a water park enthusiast, has tested and validated them before visitors use them! This job could be for you if you like to travel between water parks, testing slides and having loads of fun while doing it!
6. Dog and cat food tester
A job that not everyone have the stomach for. We don´t give it a second thought when we feed our pets each and every day that the food has to be tested before our furry little loved ones get to feast on it. Here is where the dog and cat food tester comes in and yes, they have to test everything, pate, kibble, or even treats … everything goes, you are though allowed to spit if you´re not up for swallowing these delightful treats.
7. Dog breath tester
As many dog owners know, dogs breath can be quite, lets say, fragrant to say the least. Bad breath in dogs can be linked to digestive problems which is more often linked to the diet they have. This is where the dog breath tester comes in, smelling your best friends breath can help determine if the dog is having digestive problems.
8. Dog yoga teacher
You know it’s 2021 when yoga even appeals to dogs. Doggy yoga is a discipline suitable for owners and their dogs. Nothing better to spend a moment of sharing and relaxation with your pet. To become a doggy yoga teacher, you will have to enter a specialized school and complete a training course lasting 3 to 5 years.
9. Gumologist
A lazy friend in high school: Yawns loudly. “If only we could get paid to chew gum!” A nerdy friend in high school: “Wait a minute, isn’t that what a gumologist does?”
Lazy friend: “Gumo-what now?”
Nerdy friend: “Gum + ologist. These are pros who taste, chew all kinds of new gummies before they hit the market to assess the flavor, the hold of the perfume, the texture, and blow bubbles!”
10. Ear cleaner
Ear cleaner? Does it really exist? Well yes! In India this profession has been passed down from father to son for centuries. An astonishing profession, it is, however, becoming increasingly rare. Being seen as a legacy, it endures all the same. In short, if you went out in the morning and forgot to wash your ears, don’t panic! Someone will do it for you!
11. Vehicle Noise Tester
Vehicle noise measurement and noise control is a growing application in a world where everything is growing much quieter. This might not sound weird, but if you think about it, they have the job of testing how loud the door on a vehicle closes, how much noise the fan makes, anything and all that makes a noise, it must be tested and scrutinized to perfection…. well… probably depends on the vehicle manufacturer and their quality standards, I would imagine. This profession is generally called, acoustic engineers.
12. Golf Ball Diver
The diver visits water hazards on golf courses to retrieve stray balls. These balls can be recycled and processed. Some of the divers work for salvage companies that outsource their services to regional golf courses, while others may work as freelancers. This work can be grueling and very variable. Many people in this fieldwork part-time during the summer months when the weather is good and many golfers are out on the course.
13. Fake Mourner
SpongeBob: “Can I get paid for crying?”
Squidward: “Why not.”
SpongeBob: “Aaaah! Aaaaaah! Aaaaaaaaaaah!”
Fake mourners do just that. They shed crocodile tears at funerals for money. In the process, they entertain and even come out as empathetic to the bereaved.
14. Google Maps Trekker
We already know Google’s techniques to map the world to fill its Google Maps service database. The work is essentially provided by Google Cars, which circulates harnessed with a device that captures 360°images. However, this system does not work everywhere and for all terrains.
This is why the search engine does not hesitate to use bicycles, snowmobiles, or even the famous Trekker, which equips hikers. Beware, the Trekker camera is a bulky backpack that films over your head!
15. Position-in-Line Holder
In banks, hospitals, and government offices, we all feel disappointment over long, slow queues. A position-in-line holder can do the whole waiting in line for you so you can run your errands in town-at a small fee. They send you real-time updates on how short the queue is getting so you can come back in time to be served.
16. Rent a Friend
Yes, you can rent a friend if you´re feeling lonely and it might actually be fun as one such rental lead to playing the whole day at McDonalds ball pit, or eating with your bare hands in a high end restaurant or going for a swim… only to discover that the person who hired you has a really dark humor and pretends to drown.
I first heard about this job in a documentary about Japan, but it turns out that, this is a job you can sign up for all around the world, there is even websites dedicated for this kind of service.
What ever the occasion is, they mostly have one thing in common who rent a friend, they just want someone to talk to. It´s a lonely world out there and we all need connections.
17. Professional pusher
No, you don´t get to go about and push people randomly on the street, only to flash them an awesome flashy badge, shouting, “Professional pusher at work here, please step away or I’ll be forced to push you againâ€.
No, this job must be one of the quirkier ones. It turns out that, as the public transportation system in Japan is in a dire need of expansion, there is a job where you get paid to literally push people into the subway train when it gets really crowded and everyone decides to leave at the same time.
18. Wedding Guest
This one is on par with the professional mourner, except, bit more joyous. You´ll not only get paid for showing up, even per hour, you´ll also get free food and drink, literally paid to have fun, how cool is that!
19. Bicycle fishing
Amsterdam is one of the most bicycle ridden cities in the world, with more than 880.000 bikes. It is then no wonder the Bicycle fishers of Amsterdam fish out of their canals about 14000 bicycles a year.
20. Furniture tester
If you are a proper couch potato or aspiring to be one, this might just be the one true job for you. These testers make sure that your furniture is cozy and even have to sleep on it, all for your benefit, doesn´t get more cozier than that.
21. Cuidacarro
If you live in Costa Rica, this job might be very familiar with you. Cuidacarro gets paid to look after your car so it doesn´t get stolen when you park somewhere to do some shopping or go to that high end restaurant to eat with your hands with your best rent a friend.
22. Car plate blocker
If you thought this list couldn´t get weirder, well… think again. In Iran there is a job where you get paid to block car plates as there is a policy where number plates with plates ending in even and odd numbers are allowed to drive on alternate days.
The solution; hire someone to hide that odd number of yours when only the even number vehicles are allowed to drive.
23. Shocker
It is no shocker that in the world of weird jobs, there should be a job of a shocker. Unless you were hired by some scientists to shock your fellow human being to see how far you will go, the odds are you are a Toques.
“Huh… Toques?†you might ask. A Toques is a person in Mexico that carries a wooden box that is designed solely to give you electric shocks. When partaking in heavy drinking at a local pub, they offer to sober you up with a gentle electric shock, some even think they get high on this.
Well, this is all for now. Maybe I´ll add to this list in the future as I find new jobs, so be sure to drop by once in a while and see if we have more quirky jobs for you. What a strange and wonderful world we live in.
These jobs are only the tip of the iceberg. So many paths to take, your imagination is the limit. If you were to create a quirky job for yourselves, what would you love to do? Please share with us here below, you never know if your idea might just catch on, or if you have a quirky job you´d like to add to this list, please feel free to add.
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