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30 Jobs People Actually Do That You Might Not Have Thought Of, As Shared By Folks In This Online Group
The rise of automation (don’t stress it, I’m not talking about Skynet!… not yet, at least) has allowed humans to get away from the more manual, menial tasks and specialize in ways that make work rather interesting.
So, it should come as no surprise that if there is something that is very specific that needs to be done and someone is paying good money for it, it will certainly become an actual job.
Well, turns out, there are still loads of jobs that are so niche, odd or just plain bizarre that nobody would probably ever think of them actually being a thing. And Redditors have been sharing such jobs that many of them were actually doing at some points in their lives.
Scroll down to read some of the most interesting jobs and experiences people have shared on Reddit here, here, and here, and while you’re out there, leave a comment, or smack that upvote button cause we appreciate it.
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#1
I'm a prop shopper for a popular tv show. Basically I show up to work, the designer will tell me that the show needs a specific prop for the taping and it's my job to go buy or rent it. It's a fun job because they ask you to get ridiculous stuff sometimes and it's a challenge to find it.
Laura Zappenduster 3 years ago
This sounds fun!! until they demand a human foot or something like that ^^
RELATED:
#2
Once got paid for a month of 40-hour work weeks for sitting at a gate and watching to make sure no cows got out. I was a "Bovine Identification and Exit Prevention Specialist." Never saw a f@#$%g cow. Read some good books, though.
#3
In Japan my wife got a job as "Designated Foreigner at Weddings". Apparently they like the idea of foreigners at their weddings as it makes the photos more interesting. She used to earn up to 20,000 yen a day. Also met a Canadian guy there who had a job as "Designated Foreigner at Bar". He used to get pissed and make conversation with salary-men.
Otter 3 years ago
Tell me more about the "designated foreigner at weddings" job! Does she have to have a huge wardrobe of wedding-appropriate clothes? Does she need to fake a backstory every time, to explain her presence? Is she required to have good dancing skills, or an inhuman bladder capacity?
#4
A few years ago my job was to timestamp Netflix videos for the "Skip Intro" button.
It was the single best job ever until they stopped allowing remote work for what I was doing. I would wake up, login to a special page and have a list of videos/series, etc. to timestamp.
Laura Zappenduster 3 years ago
This sounds awesome! why did they stopped allowing remote work for such a perfect job to work from home?
#5
I used to build hiking trails. A lot of people assume they just are naturally formed or something, but that's the goal of a good trail builder.
M O'Connell 3 years ago
This job is essential, as true 'naturally formed' trails are often a major source of erosion.
#6
You know those fire evacuation maps that are entirely useless because no one's gonna stop and look at a map on their way out of a burning building?
Yeah, I design those.
M O'Connell 3 years ago
If it makes you feel any better, I always look at those. I often find myself in buildings where the stairs are somewhat hidden while the elevators are front-and-center.
#7
I used to make fake children's art for a TV show set in a kindergarten classroom. Every episode had new, themed art. Real kids aren't good enough artists. Sorry kids.
#8
I work as a falconer, using birds of prey to keep other birds away from train tracks, airports, farms, you name it. it's like being a bird bounty hunter.
#9
Stimperonovitch answered:
A person who travels around checking that gas stations actually pump one gallon of gas when the pump shows that one gallon has been pumped.
plcwork responded:
Ah, the department of weights and measures. Unsung heroes of the consumer.
M O'Connell 3 years ago
They also check scales of all descriptions to ensure that when you buy something by weight, you get precisely what you have paid for.
#10
aziraphale60 said:
I attempt to read addresses on mail that machines can't.
way_fairer responded:
So basically you take those CAPTCHA tests all day long and get paid for it?
#11
When certain, highly expensive pieces of jewelry are sold to buyers in different countries (say a $300,000 watch, for example), often times the company selling the watch will send someone to wear it on the plane over to said buyer country, since to import it would cost them a lot in taxes, but to pay for someone to wear it as their own watch costs significantly less.
Pezor Zass 3 years ago
so basically help super rich people and companies get out of paying their fair share of taxes.
#12
Im an IT guy at a buddhist retreat center.
Adam Belaire 3 years ago
Dr. Strange: Well, what's this? My mantra? Mordo: The Wi-Fi password. We're not savages.
#13
My mom is a horse braider, not a breeder but a braider. She braids horses manes and tails for horse shows, it’s quite lucrative as people who own horses know, everything to do with horses is expensive.
#14
I sell private murder mystery events.
I learn about your event (birthday party, corporate event, holiday party, etc. ) and then I send out trained actors to perform an interactive murder mystery.
It's literally such a killer job.
Softball05 3 years ago
It's all fun and games until the person who hired you actually uses your stories to commit a murder...
#15
I work as a stand-in bridesmaid. Basically: If a bridesmaid decides not to arrive at a wedding you can hire a stand-in bridesmaid. Stand-in bridesmaids do everything a normal bridesmaid does except you pay them and they usually do it better since it’s their job. It’s a lot of fun going to a wedding as a stand-in bridesmaid, even if I don’t know anyone there. A wedding I attended had an open bar and the real bridesmaid bailed LAST SECOND because she apparently just realized she was worried things would get too crazy with the open bar. Her loss. The people there were really great, and the bride just told everyone that I was the one who encouraged her to start dating her (now) husband. Me and the bride ended up actually becoming great friends and we are still in contact to this day. They (the bride and groom from the wedding) are now happily married and have a beautiful daughter.
kim morris 3 years ago
I have never heard of this, what country/state/provence does this job take place?
#16
I walk up and down city streets inspecting trees planted and/or maintained by municipalities for damage, risk factors, condition, diseases, pests, and structural issues. I get to talk to a lot of homeowners, homeless people, a few cops, a few hookers, and generally every other order of mankind considering I walk about 4-6 miles each day from tree to tree spanning any neighborhood in whatever city I get assigned to for my company (usually 1-3 month travel assignments with one long weekend a month to fly/drive home that gets paid for). I can identify about 300 species of trees and woody shrubs, most of which are native to eastern North America.
kim morris 3 years ago
Wallingford, CT. Keeps replanting the same damned ornamental Callery pear tree up and down the city streets. They're awful. Smell terrible. Ruin the sidewalks. And when they have to be replaced, they go with the same tree!
#17
Service to drive people with a fear of bridges over the bridge in their own vehicles...
M O'Connell 3 years ago
I assume this is the Mackinac Bridge? It's not a trivial bridge at all.
#18
Not any more, but when I was a kid, I had a job where I'd wander around llama pastures and scatter their s@#t out. They have a habit of pooping in communal piles, which, if you don't scatter them, get quite large and end up nitrogen burning the grass. Then the grass around them grows really well, but they won't eat it, because it smells strongly of their poop. So, instead, you go out with a snow shovel and scatter the poop and all the grass in the pasture grows really well and none of it smells too much like poop for the llamas to eat it.
TL;DR: I'm not too fond of llamas.
#19
I caption telephone calls In real time for the deaf and hard of hearing as my part time job.
To those who are worried my job is in jeopardy because of automation etc. this is my part time job not my career. I do this because as I learned more about the deaf community, I wanted to do everything I could to help them. They are a truly amazing community who do not get enough support from the government or the hearing community. I want you all to think of the last phone call you made. Now imagine you can’t hear the other person. How much more difficult would your life be? Thanks for all the comments!
Pezor Zass 3 years ago
i've spoken to deaf people this way a few times and it's hard! the interpreter is speaking to you as the deaf person, you are to answer back as though you are speaking directly, but you still end up accidentally saying "ask them to...."
#20
I compose music and design sound effects for slots. I live in Vegas, but still, few people outside of the slot industry know my job exists. Makes for a bit of interesting conversation.
Laura Zappenduster 3 years ago
oh, i assumed they are always taking the same 5-10 different jingles and sound effects
#21
Essentially I watch TV all day.
It's actually digital archiving of old video tape, but it's for major networks who have massive tape libraries of stuff like BETA, VHS, umatic, 1" and 2" tape and anything else in between. All the old magnetic tape is starting to expire so they ship pallets of tapes to the company I work for and we record them in real time then send back the files.
It takes years to completely digitize a tape library. Some of our older big clients have been sending us pallets every month consistently for the past 5 years, and there's still roughly another 5 years left.
Its pretty interesting, and I never knew about it before getting into the field, so if anyone has any questions I'll be happy to answer.
#22
I program simple video games for monkeys, complete with a joystick and pellet dispenser.
#23
If you’re white and happen to be in China, you can do "white monkey gigs".
That’s the term used to describe jobs in which white people are hired by Chinese companies to do random jobs to enhance its image.
Foreigners = international = connection = money.
These jobs include:
- Pretending to play instruments in a fake band at gigs.
- Being a fake emissary of Barack Obama.
- Pretending to live at a luxury apartment complex.
- Posing as the company director at a ribbon cutting ceremony.
- Nodding and smiling at business meetings.
#24
I program the moving/vibrating seats in 4d movie theaters. My official job title is "motion designer."
#25
I’m a commercial diver, I do underwater construction/ salvage /inspection. People don’t think about it, but pretty much any job that requires something be done underwater we get a call. It’s loads of fun and the pay is great!!
#26
Planetary Protection Officer.
Sounds like a kinda awesome job title, even if it's only about making sure that we don't contaminate other planets with Earth microbes when landing or crashing spacecraft on them.
Softball05 3 years ago (edited)
...That description still makes it sound like a pretty interesting job!
#27
I was talking to a dad in my scout troop a few years back who said that one summer while he was in college he got hired by the government to drive along freeways and verify that mile markers were accurate. They paid for his gas and lodging, so he basically just road tripped with with two of his friends for the whole summer and earned a profit.
Two_rolling_black_eyes 3 years ago (edited)
I worked with a guy who quit his office job to do something similar. He and his wife worked for a new internet provider measuring the distance between utility poles and marking the distance of each driveway from the last pole on rural roads in our state. He'd walk a road with one of those measuring wheels spray painting numbers on the road. Red for distance between poles, blue for distance to last pole for a driveway. The next day the company would send out teams to install the lines and junction boxes. One of them would drop the other off at an intersection and drive either 10 miles or to the next intersection to start their own walk. They'd leapfrog each other for the day then head back to a hotel. First month he got paid more money than his old job to walk from the entrance of our local national park to the various campgrounds so they could get wifi.
#28
I make virtual clothing and sell it for money on a dress up chat game.
#29
Trucking companies employ people whose job it is to recover abandoned trucks and cargo. Apparently truckers will just be like "f@#k it" and leave their trucks and trailers on the side of a road. These companies pay pretty well and you are on call 24/7. But they fly you all over the country to retrieve their stuff and pay well. Sounds kinda neat really.
#30
I get paid to be a living mannequin. No, not a model that poses in pictures, gets her make up done, and gets put in magazines. I'm a completely different type of model. I work behind the scenes, in the warehouse- designers for huge chain stores will use my frame to show of their looks to the CEO of the company who approves or rejects the looks. Clothing on a mannequin looks totally different on a real person.
What do you think ?
martin734 3 years ago
As well as working in healthcare, I also do Braille transcription. I convert text documents into Braille documents. It can be anything from a bus timetable or restaurant menu, to a novel or educational textbook. One of the most fun things is creating the tactile pictures in the Braille document, I basically make a 3d model of the picture you see in the text book.
Carrie de Luka 3 years ago
Are braille printers any quieter these days? Used to work in a room that had one and, wow, LOUD!
Load More Replies...
Magoomba 3 years ago
In 1971, before the internet, I had a job as a document courier. Every Friday afternoon I would take a briefcase of documents from Mpls to NYC & take another one back with me Monday morning. I could have done both trips on the same day but my company let me do it that way because I wanted to spend weekends in NY with friends. Pretty sweet deal while it lasted.
Brandy Grote 3 years ago (edited)
One year as a temp I proofread the entire Denver phonebook, back when those were needed. I was a waffle cone cook, a dog washer, and a file clerk for a patent attorney. Spent my days reading the books from USPTO, and once was asked to compile a checklist of all known Beanie Babies. I was an art model, sitting nekkid under a heat lamp holding poses. That was physically demanding. I was a cashier at a gun store. I worked in property management when the 94 earthquake hit, that was a learning experience. I was a helicopter avionics mech in the Marine Corps. Now I'm a certified antiques appraiser and music librarian for a famous community chorale.
Bobby 3 years ago
Always have a backup plan, aye. Stenographer, typist, mechanic, roughing in electrician, stagehand, USN ASW avionics instructor, 2M instructor, children's advocate and social worker. Also: Thank you for your service, Marine. Be safe.
Load More Replies... martin734 3 years ago
As well as working in healthcare, I also do Braille transcription. I convert text documents into Braille documents. It can be anything from a bus timetable or restaurant menu, to a novel or educational textbook. One of the most fun things is creating the tactile pictures in the Braille document, I basically make a 3d model of the picture you see in the text book.
Carrie de Luka 3 years ago
Are braille printers any quieter these days? Used to work in a room that had one and, wow, LOUD!
Load More Replies... Magoomba 3 years ago
In 1971, before the internet, I had a job as a document courier. Every Friday afternoon I would take a briefcase of documents from Mpls to NYC & take another one back with me Monday morning. I could have done both trips on the same day but my company let me do it that way because I wanted to spend weekends in NY with friends. Pretty sweet deal while it lasted.
Brandy Grote 3 years ago (edited)
One year as a temp I proofread the entire Denver phonebook, back when those were needed. I was a waffle cone cook, a dog washer, and a file clerk for a patent attorney. Spent my days reading the books from USPTO, and once was asked to compile a checklist of all known Beanie Babies. I was an art model, sitting nekkid under a heat lamp holding poses. That was physically demanding. I was a cashier at a gun store. I worked in property management when the 94 earthquake hit, that was a learning experience. I was a helicopter avionics mech in the Marine Corps. Now I'm a certified antiques appraiser and music librarian for a famous community chorale.
Bobby 3 years ago
Always have a backup plan, aye. Stenographer, typist, mechanic, roughing in electrician, stagehand, USN ASW avionics instructor, 2M instructor, children's advocate and social worker. Also: Thank you for your service, Marine. Be safe.
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