- 3 YEARS AGO OCTOBER 31, 2013
One of these weird jobs involves working with baby chickens all day. Source: Supplied
THINK your job is boring? Well, it probably is compared to some of these odd professions.
We've rounded up some of the weirdest and wackiest jobs out there.
Some are awesome, some are dangerous and some are just disgusting.
1. Pet Food Tester
Yes, it's a thing, and yes it's totally gross.
But as the owner of pet food company Huds and Toke, Mark Gooley, says, "If you wouldn't put it in your mouth, don't you dare expect your dog to eat it."
Mr Gooley eats dog food for a living. He eats everything from doggie treats and chewy bones to liver mixture.
Mmmmm dog food. Source: Supplied
"I'm looking for palatability. I want it to be soft in the mouth and I want it to be an enjoyable experience for the dog," he told PerthNow.
"The dog might not be able to tell me 'that tastes terrible', so I have to taste it," he said.
And if it doesn't pass the taste test, it's back to the drawing board.
"I don't know how to explain it. It's like being a mad scientist. People look at me blankly and say, 'I just don't get it'. But I wouldn't do anything else."
Someone's gotta do it I guess.
2. Face Feeler
Ever wondered how shaving brands and beauty companies can claim their products give you the smoothest skin?
Well, one lucky person has verified it for them.
A face feeler tests how soft and smooth a person's skin is after using a product, to prove how well it works.
So all day, they just sidle up to beautiful test models and feel their faces.
Nice.
3. Gumologist
A lot of hard work goes into creating the perfect piece of chewy.
Just ask Jesse Kiefer, who works as a Gumologist for Cadbury Schweppes.
"A piece of gum weighs just one to seven grams, but it's packed with a lot of different technology," he told Fortune.
"It has to deliver a burst of flavour, a lot of sweetness, and a lot of tartness if it's a fruit gum. "Our team figures out how to combine all those.
"Some days, I don't blow any bubbles. Other days I have to blow a lot. It depends on what stage we are in the project."
Gum chewing. For a living. It's a thing. Source: Supplied
Kiefer has to get the flavour just right, which isn't easy with some combos like strawberry and lime - which he says don't complement each other that well.
Kiefer started out as a chemical engineer and was working mainly with detergent and soaps.
"But with gum there's just so many flavours! I find the job very stimulating. I've had only one cavity since I started here."
4. Fountain Pen Doctor
Don't you just hate it when your fountain pen breaks? It's the worst.
Luckily there's a man whose sole job it is to fix fountain pens.
Richard Binder, 59, of Richard Binder Fountain Pens in Nashua, New Hampshire, has been "pen doctoring full-time" since leaving his software engineer job in 2002.
He receives broken pens from everywhere - Argentina, Japan, South Africa. He often has 600 pens waiting to be fixed at any one time.
"More than half of my work, really, is nib work," Binder told Fortune.
"The heart of a fountain pen is the nib, the point through which the ink flows. If the nib is no good, it doesn't matter how fancy the rest of it is, it's not a good pen. Nibs can be scratchy if they're worn or misaligned. People often want them adjusted for more or less ink flow, or customised for calligraphy.
"My gross income is less than when I was a software engineer, but I'm happier.
"I just got a handwritten thankyou from a gentleman in the Philippines. Basically I get my pleasure from making people happy with their pens."
What a nice guy.
5. Chicken Sexer
Don't worry. It sounds way worse than it actually is.
When chicks are born they all cuddle together in masses trying to stay warm.
But these cute young things need to be separated according to their sex.
It's a sad end for male chicks - most are sent off for culling because they're irrelevant for egg production.
But the female chicks are primed for their future careers as egg-layers.
Brutal, but true.
6. Waterslide Tester
This is my personal favourite.
Monday morning definitely seems a lot more enticing if you get to spend your working week slipping down water slides. Especially come summer.
A slightly different work setup than the boring old office. Source: Supplied
And water slides are usually placed in massive theme parks. Imagine getting to spend your lunch break on a rollercoaster, and eating a hot dog for lunch.
Working holiday, am I right?
7. Teddy Bear Repair Technician
Kids get really emotional about their toys. Remember when your favourite toy lost an arm, or suffered a similar life-threatening injury? It was devastating.
But now there's a special technician who can come to the rescue.
The Build-A-Bear Workshops have a Teddy Bear Repair Technician who is hired to repair those much-loved teddy bears and get them back to their cuddly, intact, lovable selves.
8. IMAX Screen Cleaner
Those giant cinema screens are total germ-bait. It's a business model just waiting to happen.
And Michael Quaranto, of Houston's 1570 Cinema Services, capitalised on it big time.
The airline pilot got together with his best mate, Andrew Brown, and on their 14 days off a month, they travel around the country and clean IMAX screens.
"Theatres that carry concessions often have Gummi bears or soda thrown at the screen. We also find spit wads," Quaranto told Fortune.
"The biggest problem is that they get dusty. The most dust we've ever seen was a quarter-inch thick.
"We usually have to empty the vacuum cleaner at least two or three times during the process. We're covered in dust by the end of the night".
So next time you go to the movies, make sure you take a good look at that super-clean screen.
9. Cup Keeper
This job takes babysitting to a whole new level.
The Stanley Cup is awarded to the championship team in the US/Canada's National Hockey League competition.
But there's only one cup, and each year's winning teams are engraved on it.
The famous Stanley Cup, awarded to the winner of the National Hockey League. Picture: AP Source: Supplied
Due to the trophy's huge price tag, it must be chaperoned at all times while it's away from its permanent home at the Hockey Hall of Fame.
A "Keeper of the Cup" is paid to accompany the trophy during its travels and make sure it doesn't go astray.
10. Snake Milker
Snake venom is powerful stuff. It can be turned into drugs to treat all kinds of conditions, including a poisonous snake bite.
But some brave soul needs to collect that venom by hand. They gently expose the snake's fang and squeeze out the deadly juices.
"The only difference between me and any other company in the world that produces something is that the means of production here can kill you...and wants to," Alabama snake milker Ken Darnell told NPR.
Rather you than me, Ken.
Would you want to work in any of these professions?