30 Jobs People Actually Do That You Might Not Have Thought Of, As Shared By Folks In This Online Group

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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?

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.

Im an IT guy at a buddhist retreat center.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Service to drive people with a fear of bridges over the bridge in their own vehicles...

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.

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!

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.