Most people like to play it safe when it comes to sources of income. They settle for mainstream jobs such as working at a corporation or franchise. Those without a college degree and no connections or creativity work at the mall, Target, McDonald’s, Blockbuster, Rite Aid, etc.
We appreciate their service, but don’t want to be them…
Others want “real” money, so they go to school to learn how to be a “doctor”, “lawyer” or “engineer”.
Respected and financially secure, these are the people we tell our children to emulate.
But still, there are other simpler, more obscure ways to make money. I’m not talking about shady businesses like pimp, prostitute and drug dealer. These jobs are legit, but hard to find. Sometimes you just need to know somebody who needs a job done to find a paying gig like one of these…
I present to you, the 57 Odd Jobs
(Note: This list was compiled and credit should be given to Rachel Zulpek with CareerBuilder.com’s article 20 Odd jobs and Eric Hebert with JobProfiles.org and his article 37 Weird Jobs you can actually make a living at)
1. Breath odor evaluator
What they do: Odor judges smell nasty morning breath or breath “insulted” with strong scents, like garlic or coffee. They rate the breath on a scale from one to nine, one being the worst. To test odor-reducing products like gum or mouthwash, they smell the breath again and assign it a new rating.
2. Diener
What they do: Prepare cadavers for the pathologist before autopsies are performed in hospitals.
3. Ribbon candy puller
What they do: After a heated combination of sugar, corn syrup, water and coloring agent has cooled, batches of different colors are laid out side by side. Someone then pulls the candy thin until it’s about an inch wide. The final product is a multicolored hard candy.
4. Ocularist
What they do: In short, they paint artificial eyes. It sounds easier than it is, since as with real eyes, no two are exactly the same.
5. Flatulence smell-reduction underwear maker
What they do: Create underwear that protects against bad human gas for people who suffer from gastrointestinal problems. The underwear is made with various materials and filters to help remedy hydrogen sulfide gases, the main offender in foul smells.
6. Beer tester
What they do: Taste – and spit out – beer all day to approve new and existing flavors.
7. Crack filler
What they do: Using a silicone sealant, they repair the wear and tear inflicted on monumental structures, like Mount Rushmore.
8. Ball tester
What they do: Assess basketballs, footballs, volleyballs and soccer balls for air-retention, inflation, roundness, weight and reboundability.
9. Video game tester
What they do: For eight hours a day, five days a week, a group of males and females of all ages play video games. They repeat levels, games and characters, looking for any bugs and/or glitches in the software.
10. Tampon tester
What they do: Check all sizes of tampons for absorbency and cord strength in accordance with Food and Drug Administration standards. Most testers check up to 125 pieces per day.
11. Gold reclaimer
What they do: Scour old teeth for fillings, melting the gold from them with broken gold jewelry into tiny gold pellets, which are then resold to jewelers.
12. Dog sniffer
What they do: Once a week, they analyze the odor of dogs’ breath to test the effect of the animals’ diet on their teeth. Breath is graded on a scale of zero to 10 and is categorized as sweaty, salty, musty, fungal or decaying.
13. Potato chip inspector
What they do: Search for overcooked or clumped chips to discard as they come down the assembly line.
14. Porta-potty servicer
What they do: Like regular restrooms, portable toilets need maintenance, too. Once a week, service workers clean these single-stall facilities to achieve certain standards of sanitation.
15. Barbie dress designer
What they do: Fashion designers at Mattel Toys, the company behind Barbie, create hundreds of new styles for Barbie and her ever-expanding entourage.
16. Wax figure maker
What they do: Mold wax to create figures, often for, but not limited to, the human form. Figures are often made in the likeness of people who have achieved historical or celebrity recognition.
17. Safecracker
What they do: When combinations are lost or forgotten, safecrackers use their ears and fingers to open the safe.
18. Wig maker
What they do: Put simply, they make wigs, but the process is anything but simple. First, wig makers create a plastic model of the wearer’s head and hairline, and then they transfer the mold onto a padded canvas similar to the client’s general head size, covering it with wig lace. Using a needle, they knot and pull thousands of hairs, one by one, through the mesh cap. Once all the hairs are in place, the wig is styled to the wearer’s preference.
19. Paper towel sniffer
What they do: Paper towel manufacturers prefer their products to be odorless before, during and after their use. Naturally, paper towel sniffers ensure that once a paper towel is used, there is no noticeable scent.
20. Foley artist
What they do: Use whatever they can find to create and record the noises used to make the sound effects in films, like heavy footsteps, rolling thunder or creaking doors.
21. Odor Tester
This one is pretty odd, but some chemist has to make sure that all of those deodorants and anti-perspirants are operating properly to keep their users free of funk
22. Hair Boiler
This lucky soul gets to boil various kinds of animal hair until it curls for later use. We know that burning hair smells terrible; try to imagine catching the aroma of hair boil soup all day, no thanks.
23. Waste Station/Water Treatment Worker
Maybe more dirty than weird, but anytime someone has to deal with other peoples crap (literally) I think you can classify it as a weird job. Let us just take a minute to think about the things that go down our toilets and have a moment of silence for these brave men and women.
24. Citrus Fruit Dyer
Have you ever passed by the lemons at the supermarket and though to yourself, damn that’s some good looking citrus! Well it might be because there commercial farmers out there who dye the fruit a more vibrant color to hide the ripeness of the fruit.
25. Crocodile Wrangler
Many of us are privy to this unusual occupation due to the late, great Steve Irwin, but no matter how accustomed we become to handling animals it will always be a little out there. A nice mix of danger and excitement for what many would consider low pay.
26. Fortune Cookie Writer
Yes, we’ve all wondered who the heck writes those fortunes in English! Finishing a take-out Chinese meal isn’t only full of MSG, but those delightfully witty pieces of advice that people are so quick to heed.
27. Pet Detective
Another one we might have missed if it weren’t for a film or television show. Ace Ventura, pet detective, displayed just how important this job is, especially when Dan Marino is in trouble! Personally I would’ve gone with a missing ad in the paper, but these folks are sure to find that furry member of the family.
28. Cheese Sprayer
Don’t worry; I am not talking about someone spraying chemicals on your cheese. This person is actually in charge of spraying either cheese or butter on popcorn. Yet another job that most people might have guessed was done by a machine, but how else would you engineer that perfect, hand crafted cheese coating on every kernel?
29. IMAX Screen Cleaner
If you’ve ever seen an IMAX screen, these things are huge! But someone has to make sure that bad boy is crystal clear so we can travel through the Grand Canyon or explore the human body via a gigantic screen in a circular room.
30. Chimney Sweeper
Here is another job which could be more on the dirty side. The unfortunate person partaking in this age old profession is sure to be covered in soot and ash by the end of the day. It a fact that around the turn of the twentieth century people use to use young children to chimney sweep because they were small enough to fit inside the tiny chimneys some structures used. Even poets like Blake and Kingsley have written about this one. I’m pretty sure (I hope) technology has brought this one up to date.
31. Light Bender
Making neon lights seems like it would be a relatively easy job, but it requires a lot of precision and electrical work. Apparently if the lights don’t have the proper thickness and shaping, they will amount to nothing more than broken glass. This job has to be quite lucrative in a town like Las Vegas.
32. Odd Job Journalist
This writer gets actually paid money to write articles about other weird and odd jobs that exist. Maybe someday he’ll find a real job of his own. Hey, wait a minute…
33. Professional Whistler
Believe it or not this man whistles tunes and does it for a living. Allegedly this gentleman is well versed in several different genres of music.
34. Fountain Pen Repairer
Honestly, I think most of us would have to be fairly wealthy and care a hell of a lot about our fountain pens to have them repaired rather than go buy another pen.
35. Snake Milker
If you ever get bitten by a poisonous snake you’ll be grateful these people know how to work with animals. They are responsible for getting the venom out of snakes to make the anti-venom. Be honest, which one of you thought that snakes had actual milk glands?
36. Wrinkle Chasers
Nobody likes that crease that shoes get after about a month right below the toe line. Well wrinkle chasers make sure those leather crow’s feet never appear on those shiny new shoes before they leave the factory. Now can we please find someone to invent something that keeps it that way?
37. Rodeo Clowns
I know that I’ve always been fascinated with those Spaniards in Pamplona who risk their lives in the running of the bulls, but rodeo clowns do it for a living. You have to give them some respect though. Their theatrics not only takes guts, but you have to be fairly secure in your masculinity to do this covered in makeup.
38. Cow Hoof Trimmer
Just like horseshoes, cows need some hoof maintenance too. These fine animals can have poor milk production, lameness, and decreased fertility if not properly groomed. Try to imagine giving a cow a pedicure.
39. Chicken Sexer
Going through baby chicks andseparating them according to sex. I hear this job is pretty easy, if you just play bad 80’s music and set things up like a 5th grade dance, they separate themselves.
40. Ostrich Babysitter
Apparently this guy gets to sit in a field full of ostrich and make sure that they didn’t peck each other to death or get stolen. Any job where you can sit down, read a book and do absolutely no work is always a plus, but I have heard that these birds’ behavior can get a little aggressive.
41. Furniture Tester
Ever been sitting in your favorite chair or sofa and say to yourself, man I wish I could do this for a living. Well some really lucky human being actually tests out furniture for companies like La-Z-Boy. A new definition of the phrase “couch potato.”
42. Cartoon People/Mascots
Remember when you went to Disneyworld for the first time when you were eight? You got to meet Mickey Mouse and Goofey! Well we all now know that those are real people in there and are aware of it, this is still a pretty weird job.
43. Oyster Floater
They float oysters on a barge in running water until they are completely free of impurities, also a short term storage method. Sounds like a cranberry field full of oysters and I can imagine this isn’t the cleanest job in the world. But if you enjoy the taste of these slimy shellfish, I’m sure you can sneak a lot in during your shift.
44. Neck Skewer
Basically this job involves skewing the neck of beef halves with a steel rod after the head of the cow has been removed. 500 pound raw beef shish kabob anyone?
45. Adult Store Attendant
One of the more harder-to-stomach professions, unless you’re a pervert. Sooner or later we have to get into some nasty jobs. In this case the adult store worker not only takes care of the store, but has to clean up the booths where clientele “test” the pornographic merchandise. Probably a good candidate for The Discovery Channel’s popular program, and one heck of a way to apply that .human services degree
46. Braille Translator
Someone has to modify all sorts of texts and convert them to Braille for the blind. This can include novels, music, textbooks, and brochures. There is nothing wrong with making things more accessible for the blind and this one sounds like it’s a quite useful job, but it does sound tedious.
47. Ski Slope Illustrator
Fortune Magazine has also done some investigating and sure enough there is someone out there who has to draw those trail maps on the ski slopes around the world. Fortune has also mentioned our next weird job…
48. Dog Food Tester
Watch out guys, this gal is going to have some great breath in store for you. Just like any other meals, dog food needs to be inspected too. I suppose they can’t use dogs to test the food so this profession requires a taste testing of such a delicious cuisine.
49. Gum Buster
Have you ever sat in a park bench and had the misfortune of placing your hand in old gum? Well that’s where these guys come in, removing gum that resides all over the place.
50. Fantasy Broker
If you want your dreams to come true then talk to these folks. Their job is to make sure that if you want something, you get it. Kind of like a concierge of life. If I were in the business of making fantasies come to life, I think I’d charge quite a large amount.
51. Golf Ball Diver
I know every time I hit the range, about three balls head into the water and I suspect it’s the same way for most. These quasi-scubas get in there and find all those balls and probably clean them up for resale. If you want to scuba dive in the Mediterranean for living, this might be as close as you get.
52. Whiskey Ambassador
Let’s face it, this is every over 21 year old’s dream job. You would be responsible for choosing only the finest whiskeys and teaching your clients the proper way to taste and admire the different attributes which this delicious liquor can possess. Sign me up!
53. Nasty Stunt Producer
Perhaps you’ve tuned in to shows like Fear Factor which use insane stunts involving all sorts of insect and animal parts intended on grossing the contestants out. Well this profession’s job is to research these insects and animals and make sure the stunts are safe and appropriate for the shows. Huge cockroach, bon appetit.
54. Forest Fire Lookout
If you happen to be an extreme hermit who has very little time to do important things, there might be a national park out there that will pay you (a very low wage) to sit in a tower and make sure none of those pesky landscape altering fires occur.
55. Weed Farmer
Don’t get too excited all you slackers, that’s not what I’m talking about. Weed farmers actually grow weeds rather than trying to get rid of them. They sell them to horticulture schools and labs so various people can do research and studies in the wonderful world of weeds.
56. Carney
Some people make their living as a full time carney. The pay is decent, the scenery changes, and you get take advantage of young people by enticing them with stuffed animals in games that are impossible to win.
57. Dice Inspector
With one false move of a single die a person can lose quite a bit of money on those craps tables. The dice inspector checks for proportionality, specific angles, and blemishes. I guess if dice are not perfect they can’t be the reason for you going broke in the casino.
If you know of any other odd jobs out there, feel free to add to the list in the comment section.