Ever wonder if you could make money flipping over penguins, or milking snakes for venom? Well…I hope you have. Here are my favorite three weird jobs people actually do to pay their bills!
Smoke jumper
A smoke jumper is an elite firefighter that parachutes directly into wildland fires to provide a fast initial attack.
They spend their daily hours running, weightlifting, and training on obstacle courses. When dispatch receives a remote wildfire report, a siren sounds at the base; the jumpers have a very short window (sometimes just a few minutes) to pull on thick padding, high collars, and steel masks to board the preloaded aircraft.
Once they reach the ground, the aircraft drops a supply crate with food, water, axes, and chainsaws that make them self-sufficient for the first 48 hours. Crews work from the "heel" of the fire, cutting a containment line down to mineral soil to strip the fire of fuel.
After they contain the initial blaze—typically 1 to 3 days—jumpers get down on their hands and knees, turning over hot ash and mixing it with cool soil until every single ember is dead.
Talk about the literal definition of “fire fighting”!
Average annual income: $60-100K+
Morale: short term high, long term low. Being outdoors and working physically is fulfilling, which places it in the top 16% of jobs in terms of happiness. However, long term it can lead to burnout and exhaustion due to the intense and unpredictable hours.
Pet food taster
Unfortunately, dogs and cats can’t give us feedback on food. That’s why large companies bring in…a human? That’s right. You can make money testing pet foods for taste, texture, consistency, and “mouthfeel”.
The term “mouthfeel” is actually pretty common in this field.
Tasters begin by opening samples and doing an “aroma check” for things like staleness or fishiness. Then they take a “nibble of the kibble” to assess the flavor profile, seasoning balance, and chemical notes. In most cases, tasters spit out the samples instead of swallowing them.
Astonishingly, about 39% to 40% of everyday pet owners admit to personally tasting or trying their pet's food or treats out of curiosity.
Who knows! Maybe the pet tasters are famous in the dog domain.
Average annual income: $30-50K
Morale: Surprisingly high. Most tasters are passionate animal lovers who derive great joy and pride from knowing their feedback directly helps pets live happier, healthier lives.
Odor sniffer
Companies hire noses. If you’ve got a good nose, this might be a job for you.
Let’s imagine you have the job.
You arrive at the test facility. Because your nose is your tool, you must follow a strict protocol before you come in: no coffee, no scented lotions, and no perfume.
You start the day by calibrating your senses. You are given three blank-looking samples. Two are exactly the same, and one is micro-dosed with a subtle contaminant (like a faint plastic or sour note). You must successfully pick out the "odd one out" to prove your nose is sharp and ready for the day.
In a climate controlled room, you’ll smell the arm pits of human test subjects who have been exercising with the product on, ranking it by odor masking. Then you might smell a fresh load of laundry, and rate how the smell evolves throughout the day.
Later in the day, you document your aroma-data on a computer.
Then you wash your hands with unscented soap, pack up, and head home. Your nose gets a long-earned rest before tomorrow.
Average annual income: $78-115K
Morale: High job satisfaction. Sniffers call it scientific and surprisingly lucrative. Long term, your nose can become accustomed to scents, which makes “time off” part of the job.
Pretty unique…and fun to research! Do you know anybody with an unusual job?