Unusual Jobs You’ve Probably Never Heard Of

Considering that we are living in the information age, technology is being developed at a faster rate than ever before. As a result, there are a number of highly demanded jobs sprouting up that were previously unheard of. This has also resulted in the creation of several new paths of study for school pupils and college students.

Even though many of these newly developed jobs are becoming well-known in the world of business, there are a number of bizarre jobs out there that you probably never thought existed. While some of these jobs involve simple tasks and can be performed on a part-time basis, others can actually be molded into a full-time career. Let’s take a look at some of the strangest yet unbelievably viable jobs out there.

White Hat Hacker

When you think of a computer hacker, chances are that you are imagining someone who uses their hacking skills to do malicious activities, such as damaging other people’s hardware and networks. White hat hackers, on the other hand, use their hacking skills for good, by finding vulnerabilities in an organization’s IT network and pointing out ways to improve it.

Most of a white hat hacker’s work revolves around penetration testing, which means that they will do their utmost to hack into an organization’s IT system or network and find weak point’s in the organization’s IT security. White hat hackers will then report their findings to the organization and give the IT security team the opportunity to make improvements. These hackers are formally hired by the organization and can earn a jaw dropping salary of $100,000 per year!

Repo Man/Woman

Sometimes, when an owner of an asset lends out their property to another person, the borrower may not make their payments as agreed. When this happens, the owner may want to reclaim their asset. This may prompt the owner to use the services of someone who specializes in recovering property, namely a repo man/woman.

This highly dangerous job involves the repo man/woman recovering the item and returning it to the owner, or perhaps even reselling it. Because this task could be perceived as stealing, repossession can be a highly dangerous job. Of course, this depends on the asset in question. While some jobs are smaller, others can involve the repossession of cars, boats, or even planes.

Professional Cuddlers

No matter who you are, you are bound to go through stages when you long for affection from other people. This is where professional cuddlers come in! A relatively new business, there are a number of cuddling businesses popping up throughout the United States, where clients can snuggle with professional cuddlers in a completely consensual and platonic way.

Typically, professional cuddlers will snuggle with clients on a comfortable bed for an hour or two. Of course, both people have to be fully clothed and can only touch one another in appropriate areas. Some cuddling studios have themed rooms, such as a tropical or meditative room, while sometimes cuddlers will even do house calls. Cuddling does not have to happen in silence, however, as professional cuddlers can snuggle up to their clients while listening to music or while watching a movie.

Golf Ball Diver

As any seasoned golfer would know, there’s nothing more frustrating than losing golf balls. With so many water hazards and sand bunkers on golf courses, losing a golf ball can be a common occurrence, especially if you are having an off day. There are, however, some people who will go the extra mile to recover these golf balls.

Famous courses such as TPC-Sawgrass actually employ golf ball divers to dive into water hazards, retrieve the missing golf balls and fix them up so that they could be resold at a discounted rate. With approximately 200 million golf balls being lost every year in the United States, plenty of business opportunities present themselves to golf ball divers. Of course, there is more to this job than meets the eye. Not only do golf ball divers need to be proficient at diving, but there is also the possibility of encountering sea creatures in certain bodies of water. This includes alligators that have been spotted in Florida waters on a number of occasions!

Online Dating Ghostwriter

These days, there’s an app for everything. This includes dating. With so many people resorting to apps like Tinder in order to find their significant other, dating coaches have adjusted their services in order to cater to the modern dating scene. This has resulted in much of their advice being directed to dating apps and websites.

Now that people are able to meet each other and flirt online before having their first in-person encounter, these dating coaches have become even more involved in their clients’ dating lives. Now, some coaches will actually write up their clients’ dating profiles, choose their pictures, and even send messages to the people they match with. So, the next time you have a conversation on Bumble or Match.com, there’s a distinct possibility that you might not be speaking directly to the person in the profile photo!

Hippotherapist

If you’re thinking that hippotherapy has something to do with hippopotamuses, you’d be sorely mistaken. While “hippo” is Latin for horse, hippotherapy refers to using horse riding as a form of therapy for people with disabilities. By riding horses, patients can develop better balance, coordination, and muscle tone while also improving their confidence and becoming more independent.

So, what exactly does a hippotherapist’s job entail? Well, a hippotherapist will place their patient on top of a horse and help the patient to ride the horse in a way that actually helps to improve their posture, coordination, balance, and their ability to move! Hippotherapists usually have a background in either occupational therapy or physical therapy and will use their specialized knowledge to select the best riding patterns, speeds and postures for each patient so that they can receive the most effective treatment possible.

Body Painter

Just like traditional painters, body painters are also artists. The only difference is that they use people’s bodies as a canvas for their artwork. While body painting is actually an ancient practice that was customarily done by a number of civilizations, it is currently used for more recreational purposes.

Body painting could be restricted to just the face or involve other body parts as well. While face painting has become particularly popular at children’s’ birthday parties, other forms of body painting is often done at music festivals (such as Burning Man), sports events, and corporate parties. Apart from entertainment, there are other settings in which body painters might also find work. These include political protests, live art exhibits, ad campaigns or magazine photo shoots.

Professional Bridesmaid

While weddings are happy events that are to be celebrated, the work that goes into organizing a wedding can place plenty of stress on the bride-to-be. This is why some brides choose to hire a professional bridesmaid who will take some of the burden off of the bride and the rest of her retinue.

These bridesmaids will help complete a lot of the behind-the-scenes planning for the big day, which includes activities such as planning a bridal shower, shopping for wedding dresses, communicating with photographers and DJs and organizing the guest list. Typically, the reason for hiring professional bridesmaids is not because the bride does not have someone else to fill the role. Rather, it is so that there is someone to handle the stressful parts of planning a wedding so that the bride and groom can focus on enjoying their special day.

Video Game Tester

If you are someone who loves playing video games, you may be surprised to hear that you could earn money while enjoying your hobby! As video games continue to grow in popularity, more video game studios continue to crop up with fresh ideas for new games. Before these games can be released into the market, the developers will need to ensure that they do not have any bugs or glitches.

In order to ensure that these games operate seamlessly, developers will need to hire video game testers who will play the game and check that it is ready for commercial release. While this may sound like fun, you will need to have a keen eye for detail and be diligent in checking that every movement, sequence, and level does not have any glitches.

Water Slide Tester

If you’re someone who loves splashing about at water parks, then have we got a job for you! Some companies that own and operate water resorts actually require the services of water slide testers. These testers will try out new water slides that have recently been built in order to check that their height, landing, speed, and water flow are all of a quality that reflects the water park’s reputation.

If you land a job for a company that owns waterparks in other countries, then you may find yourself travelling overseas to test out the slides at new resorts. Sometimes, waterslide testers may need to test out slides in cold weather, however this is just one downside to a career that comes with many unique benefits!

Bike Courier

In many highly populated cities, getting deliveries done on time can be a real hassle. Not only can traffic jams and an excess of cars on the road slow down your journey but finding a parking spot once you reach your destination can also prove problematic. Fortunately for people who ride bicycles, these issues are almost nonexistent.

There has been a steady rise in the use of bicycle couriers in recent times, with these couriers delivering a multitude of packages. While some of them do deliveries in the food service industry, others work in fashion and other types of business. If you are interested in becoming a bike courier, then you may be in for some great job prospects. The Bureau of Labor Statistics has predicted a 3% growth in this job role over the next decade.

Ocularist

While being an ocularist may not be a well-known career path, it serves an important purpose, nonetheless. Every day, there are people who lose an eye due to an injury, an illness, or some other kind of trauma. This not only restricts their vision but can also cause them to feel insecure about their appearances. Thanks to the work of ocularists, these people no longer have to worry about their looks after losing an eye to a traumatic incident.

Ocularists build artificial eyes. Once they are built, they will fit them into the patients’ eye sockets, check that they match the color and shape of the patients’ natural eyes and ensure that they fit comfortably for patients. Once these conditions are met, the ocularist will then apply acrylic to the eye and polish it. These artificial eyes can move just like a regular eye, thereby allowing patients to stop stressing about their physical appearances after losing an eye.

Robotics Engineer

There are plenty of dirty and menial jobs out there that people would prefer not to do. In order to avoid having to deal with such tasks, many manufacturing processes have been automated so that human workers can focus on the duties that matter more to them. Much of this progress can be credited to the work of robotics engineers.

Robotics engineers build and program robots to perform different tasks. In addition, they often design the software that is used to control robots, offer regular technical support and integrate robots with other equipment. Outside of manufacturing, robotics engineers also program robots for use as toys, for special effects in the entertainment sphere, and for deep ocean and outer space exploration.

Paper Towel Sniffer

If you ever happened to take a whiff of a paper towel, you may notice that it either contains a pleasant scent or no scent at all. This is because paper towel manufacturers go to great lengths to ensure that their products do not contain any unpleasant smells that discourages customers from making future purchases. A large part of this process involves the use of paper towel sniffers.

These paper towel sniffers are employed by the manufacturer to sniff every paper towel and ensure that it does not have any unattractive odor or stench. While this may seem like a bizarre job, having a paper towel sniffer is the only way that manufacturers can ensure that each of their paper towels meet all product specifications.

Face Feeler

Before manufacturers of skincare products can send their products to retailers, they need to ensure that these products do indeed fulfill the purpose for which they are made. This would involve getting volunteers to try out these products and verify that they live up to expectations. This is where face feelers step in.

Face feelers do exactly what their title suggests. When a test subject applies a facial skincare product, the face feeler will feel this person’s face to determine whether or not the product had any effect. While this job may sound simple, face feelers are highly trained professionals who have developed highly tuned tactile senses. Typically, candidates for a face feeling job will undergo an intense screening process, where their abilities to detect small differences in skin will be tested.

Doula

While pregnancy is an exciting time for expecting mothers, it does also pose its set of challenges. As a result, many women can benefit from getting the support of another person who can help guide them through the difficulties of childbirth. This is the primary job of a doula.

A doula can provide support to the mother during three stages, namely pregnancy, childbirth, and postpartum. During pregnancy, she may help locate suitable healthcare providers, develop a birthing plan, and scout locations for the birth. During childbirth, she may give the mother both emotional and physical support. Once the child is born, the doula may help the rest of the family adjust to having a new family member. This could include some housekeeping, preparing meals, and even taking care of the child so that the mother can take a much-needed break.

Master Distiller

While plenty of people enjoy sipping a glass of whiskey or rum to take a load off, not many people can actually make a career out of their love for spirits and liqueurs. Master distillers are some of the few talented people who managed to do just that.

A small and specialized niche, master distillers oversee the production of spirits and liqueurs for commercial breweries. These distillers have to be fluent in all of the processes involved in turning raw materials into the finished beverages sold by retailers. Some of the activities that master distillers need to perform include sourcing raw materials such as fruits and grains, overseeing the ageing process, managing quality control, managing their production staff, and ensuring that the finished product lives up to the brand’s expectations.

Line Stander

Whether you find yourself needing to visit a government office or are desperate to get your hands on the latest phone, chances are that you’re going to have to spend some time waiting in line. While some lines are manageable, there are those lines for highly anticipated products that extend all the way out the store’s front door. Thankfully, due to the services of line standers, you no longer have to spend hours waiting in line for products and services.

For a fee, line standers will spend the hours waiting in line so that you don’t have to. While this job may seem simple enough, it can prove to be a promising way to make a respectable income. With line standers typically charging by the hour, there are some line standers who are able to earn in excess of $1,000 per week!

Art Therapist

While psychology may be a well-known career path, there are a number of ways in which psychological treatment can be given that you probably didn’t know about. Art therapy happens to be just one of these lesser known forms of psychology.

Art therapists help their patients to overcome traumas and anxiety by doing art. As the main component of the healing process, art helps patients reduce stress, improve their self-esteem, and enjoy a host of other benefits. In order to become an art therapist, one would need to obtain a psychology degree and become certified by the American Art Therapy Association (AATA). Art therapist practice their profession in a number of settings, including nursing homes, mental rehabilitation centers, community outreach centers, and even private practices.

Bed Tester

If you are someone who wishes that they could spend all day in bed, then this might be the job for you! As is the case with manufacturers of any product, bed manufacturers need to ensure that their products meet all quality specifications and that they are of the correct color, size, and overall appearance. In order to test quality, many of these manufacturers employ the services of bed testers.

A bed tester will actually have job duties that include napping in order to test the quality of mattresses, blankets, pillows and duvets. In fact, one hotel in Finland hired a “professional sleeper” to test a different hotel bed each night and then write a review about their experience in each one!

Island Caretaker

One witty advertisement on a job board referred to this as the “Best Job in the World”- and boy, they weren’t kidding! This job advertisement was for a caretaker of the Great Barrier Reef for six months and came with benefits such as living in a luxury villa, swimming, kayaking and participating in other adventure sports. It’s no wonder that more than 35,000 job seekers applied for the position!

Ben Southall, a 34-year-old from the United Kingdom, was the lucky candidate who ultimately landed the role. In addition to enjoying all of the outdoor activities, Southall was in charge of blogging and posting videos about the exotic locations and managing online photo diaries. While he was stung by a deadly jellyfish (yet recovered), his overall experience was extremely satisfying, and he subsequently decided to become a tourist ambassador for Queensland.

Chocolate Taster

Calling all chocoholics: here is a career that should be right up your alley! While jobs for chocolate tasters may be in short supply, getting to taste different types of chocolate in order to determine that they meet quality standards is well worth the job hunt. Beware, however, that the qualifications for this type of position may be of a higher standard than you think.

One chocolate taster at Godiva studied science in university and even obtained an MBA. Some companies, like Green & Blacks, require job applicants to go through a blindfolded taste test wherein they have to identify the individual ingredients in a specially made chocolate bar. While this position could lead to weight gain and make you get tired of eating chocolate, it can prove to be a sustainable job that provides a decent take home salary.

Panda Nanny

While this may be a job that is limited to China and some other Far East countries, it does indeed exist for some people. One research center based in Sichuan province, China put out an advertisement in search of a panda nanny who would spend all year caring for and providing companionship to pandas. Soon enough, this unique job opening went viral.

Some panda nanny jobs include a range of benefits, such as free meals, free accommodation and even the use of an SUV! While the base salary for one such position may not be very high, this nevertheless promises to be a fulfilling position for animal lovers who are in search of a job proves to be both enjoyable and meaningful.

Ravenmaster

According to an old legend, if the ravens left the Tower of London, it would crumble into dust and pave the way for ill misfortune to sweep the country. Whether or not you believe this to be true, the duty of a ravensmaster is nonetheless great. This is because ravensmasters are given the responsibility of caring for the ravens that inhibit the Tower of London.

This includes preparing the ravens’ food, cleaning out their cages, and ensuring that they are let out of their cages to roam around when necessary. While these responsibilities may not seem too complicated, the requirements to become a ravensmaster are incredibly strict. You must have served for a minimum of 22 years in the military, during which time you earned the rank of warrant officer or higher.

Snake Milker

This is one of those jobs that is definitely not for the faint of heart! Snake milkers are required to get up close and personal with snakes on a daily basis, working on extracting their venom. This venom is then used either for producing anti-venom or for the basis of medical research.

Typically, snake milkers work in a serpentarium- a lab that houses snakes and other reptiles for research purposes. This is a highly specialized profession that will require strong aptitudes in biology, science and math. The ideal degree to pursue for someone interested in becoming a snake milker would be an MSc majoring in herpetology. While requirements for snake milkers are strict, there are some great job prospects in this field.

Dog Food Taster

While this may sound like a wacky job that shouldn’t really be taken seriously, it is actually a serious role reserved for highly skilled candidates with keen research skills. In fact, dog food tasters generally have doctorate degrees and other higher university qualifications. Once you understand the procedures behind a dog food taster’s job, you’ll understand why.

Tasting dog food is only a small part of this job. Most of a dog food taster’s work involves evaluating the nutritional value of dog food, writing reports on it, and developing ways to improve the products that are currently under development. Before even tasting the food, a dog food taster will need to smell it. This is because the food’s odor is one of the first indicators that will convince a dog to try the food in the first place.

Full Time Netflix Viewer

Have you ever scrolled through your Netflix account and wondered how each movie and TV show gets tagged according to categories? Well, it turns out that this work is largely done by Netflix binge-watchers who spend hours at a time watching all different shows available on the online streaming service.

In addition to watching these movies and series, Netflix viewers will describe each program by picking the most relevant categories from a pool of 1,000 words. Each selection made by the full time Netflix viewer then becomes the tags that help categorize each show. Upon interacting with a detailed algorithm, Netflix is able to generate recommendations for viewers based on their preferences. Netflix has previously had openings for a number of different jobs of this nature, including one opening for a Kids’ Content Tagger.

Passenger Pusher

Because of rising problems with traffic congestion and overpopulation, many urban centers are encouraging residents to take public transport instead of driving their own cars. In Japan, this issue has reached new heights, with public trains also becoming overcrowded due to too many people using them as a mode of transport.

This problem encouraged the Japanese railway stations to employ the use of Oshiyas, otherwise known as passenger pushers. These employees are hired to cram as many people as possible into the packed train carriages until such time as the doors can properly close. While these passenger pushers were commonly used throughout the 1960s and 70s, they are no longer as widely used due to numerous incentives being launched to promote the use of trains during off-peak hours.

Professional Mourner

In South East Asia, there is a longstanding belief that by having a loud funeral, the dead will be helped in their journey to the afterlife. This has led to the creation of one of the most bizarre jobs out there, namely that of a professional mourner. These people are paid to cry, wail, and weep loudly throughout the funeral service.

In addition to these activities, professional mourners are also known to deliver eulogies and provide grieving families with comfort during the mourning period. Interestingly enough, this profession has ancient roots in a number of cultures, and there was recently a company in the United Kingdom that allowed people to hire professional actors to play the role of guests at funeral services.

Rental Boyfriend

Anyone who has spent enough time in the world of dating can tell you that the path to finding your significant other is filled with bumps along the way. Awkward first dates, miscommunication, and unexpected mishaps are just some of stresses that single people have to deal with. Luckily, for women in Japan, finding a boyfriend is not so challenging.

“Boyfriend Rental” is a new phenomenon whereby women are given the opportunity to rent out a boyfriend for however long they need. While sexual activities are prohibited (this even includes kissing), the women are allowed to hug their ‘boyfriends’ as well as hold hands. Ultimately, the reason why this service exists is to provide women with companionship, whether they want to take their rental boyfriend to play mini golf, sing karaoke, or even go shopping!

Vomit Cleaner

Who doesn’t enjoy amusement parks? From Disneyland to Water World, these entertaining destinations are renown for providing tons of children and adults alike with joyous, long-lasting memories. Yet, unbeknownst to many, not everybody’s amusement park experience is quite so enjoyable.

After all, whenever someone vomits after going on a high-speed roller coaster, somebody needs to be on hand to mop up the vomit and restore the park’s cleanliness. Enter the vomit cleaners! While this may sound like an unappealing job, it’s not actually all that bad. As amusement park employees, vomit cleaners are often eligible for perks such as free park admission for themselves as well as their families and friends. In fact, many theme parks also provide employees with healthcare, vision, and dental plans!

Odor Tester

If you happen to enjoy sticking your nose in other peoples’ business, then this may be the job for you- literally! Before a sweet-smelling bottle of perfume or deodorant can hit the shelves, it needs to be quality checked to ensure that it meets the expectations of potential buyers. This requires employing the use of an odor tester.

The job of an odor tester is exactly like you probably think. Test subjects will apply the deodorant to their underarms while the odor tester will smell each person’s armpit to ensure that the deodorant or other product is indeed performing its function. While this may sound like a simple job, candidates for this line of work are expected to have an advanced knowledge of chemistry as well as an acute sense of smell.

Gross Stunt Tester

If you’ve ever happened to watch TV shows such as Survivor and Fear Factor, then you’d be familiar with all of the gross and dangerous challenges that reality show contestants regularly face. From eating live insects to taste-testing a pig’s intestines, these challenges are not for the faint of heart!

While contestants will need to have nerves of steel in order to overcome such challenges, they will actually not be the first people to complete these tasks if they manage to succeed. In fact, TV show producers will hire gross food testers to sample the “food” before the show’s contestants are faced with such daunting tasks. This is done to ensure that this food is safe for consumption, as well as to safeguard the show against any potential lawsuits that may arise.

Bicycle Fishers

While Amsterdam may be a renown tourist destination for several reasons, one of the most defining qualities that makes this city so special is that it is so bike-friendly! Not only are there bicycle paths everywhere you go, but the number of bicycles far outnumber the number of cars in this flat-terrain city.

Of course, with so many cyclists on the streets, the city is bound to encounter its fair share of “bad drivers”! This has resulted in a large number of bicycles landing up in Amsterdam’s many canals. Now, bicycle fishers have been employed to sail around in barges and use a giant claw to collect any bicycles that they can find in the water. While it may be an odd job, it is nevertheless a crucial job in the city’s mission to keep its canals clean.

Funeral Service Manager

Death is an inevitable part of life that is never easy to deal with. Not only is it heartbreaking to lose a loved one, but there are plenty of loose ends to take care of that provide additional stress. Just one of the many duties that come after someone passes away is organizing a funeral. This is where a funeral service manager comes in.

The funeral service manager will help families to organize a funeral service that serves as an appropriate sendoff for the deceased. Some activities of funeral service managers include overseeing the burial or cremation, ensuring that the service meets requirements in terms of formalities and customs and ensuring that family members are aware of the funeral home’s products on offer.

Meteorologist

If you’re someone who regularly flicks through the news channels on TV, then you are no doubt familiar with the weather segments. While we all seem to believe the weather forecasts we hear without putting up an argument, very few people actually know how the news stations actually get their information. Well, now is your chance to learn!

In order to obtain accurate weather forecasts, news stations employ the help of meteorologists. These are people who have a deep scientific knowledge of the various phenomena that affect the earth’s atmosphere. They will then use this specialized knowledge to predict how such phenomena are going to affect weather patterns. In order to become a meteorologist, you would need to obtain a bachelor’s degree in meteorology or atmospheric science.

Scuba Diving Pizza Delivery Man

While pizza delivery people and scuba divers may be well known professions, combining these two jobs into one is unheard of- until now! Established in 1986, Jules’ Undersea Lodge is an underwater hotel located in Key Largo, Florida. Guests at this resort are required to go scuba diving in order to get to their rooms and other areas of the hotel. But what happens when someone feels like ordering in some room service?

Well, Jules’ Undersea Lodge has undertaken to employ scuba diving pizza delivery people! These delivery people start by securing the pizza in a water-tight briefcase, after which they swim to depths of up to 30 feet underwater in order to arrive at the guest’s room with the pizza and accept payment.  

Elevator Inspector

Since 1853, elevators have provided us with an effortless solution for travelling from one floor to another. While they do typically make our lives easier, having an elevator that’s out of order can cause an enormous disturbance, particularly in a bustling office building. That is why the work of an elevator inspector is so important.

In addition to detecting elevator malfunctions and making repairs, elevator inspectors will also check elevators’ specifications to ensure that they are compliant with standard building and safety codes. Interestingly enough, the work of an elevator inspector is not necessarily restricted to elevators. They could also become involved in the maintenance of escalators, moving sidewalks, ski lifts, and even amusement park rides. While some elevator inspectors have diplomas, the best way to pursue this profession is by getting experience working in a related field.

Bingo Manager

Who doesn’t love a good game of Bingo? As a thrilling game of chance with enjoyable prizes at stake, this game has garnered wide popularity across the globe- particularly amongst senior citizens! While most people who attend Bingo evenings may view such spectacles as little more than an enjoyable night out, running a Bingo evening has actually become a big business.

In fact, many casinos with Bingo departments have taken to employing professional Bingo managers to run their operations. A Bingo manager’s role includes running the actual Bingo game, calling out numbers, verifying results and approving jackpots and payouts. Outside of the regular game, it is a bingo manager’s responsibility to ensure that the casino’s bingo department is operating in accordance with federal and state gaming regulations.