Choosing a career that will last most of your life is one of the most difficult decisions you'll ever make. But what if you can't find your dream job among all the ordinary and boring professions like lawyers, teachers, and doctors?
In this collection, we've compiled the world's strangest professions—jobs that seem too unusual, too exciting, too enjoyable to be real. One of them might be just what you need.
10. Princess or prince at Disneyland
Professional princesses and princes earn a little over $30,000 a year, which isn't much in America. But the perks of this profession include the right to bring friends to "their" park, discounts at Disney hotels, and free passes to Disneyland resorts around the world. Not to mention, you get to dress and act like a true princess on the job.
Incidentally, princes and princesses at Disney parks earn more than Goofy, Mickey Mouse, and other animal characters. This is because the human characters appear unmasked, interact actively with people, and spend more time with them.
9. Paint Drying Observer
No, this is not a joke. Some people actually make a living watching paint dry.
This worker's job involves painting sheets of cardboard to test how long it takes for new paint mixtures to dry and how their color and texture change. This is perhaps the most boring of the most unusual jobs in the world.
8. Netflix Regular
Imagine getting paid to watch TV all day! Well, for some lucky people, that dream has become a reality. Netflix pays them to watch all their content before it's released to the general public.
The job of these workers is to assign each program the correct tag, which helps us, the viewers, determine exactly what we want, whether it's a crime film, a mystery series, a comedy, or a witty TV show with talking animals.
7. Professional mourner
In Southeast Asia, there's a tradition of loudly mourning at funerals. It's believed to aid the dead as they move on to the afterlife. Therefore, professional mourners scream loudly, sob, and even attempt to throw themselves into the coffin throughout the entire ceremony.
A two-hour mourner's service costs approximately $55.
Incidentally, a similar profession existed in ancient Rus'. It was performed by women with "shaggy" hair (loose and disheveled) who participated not only in funerals but also in annual memorial feasts.
You must admit that this is a rather sad and gloomy occupation, but it is far from the most disgusting profession in the world.
6. Television Corpse
Sure, posing as a corpse isn't the best job in the world. But earning $200 to lie around doing nothing all day, not to mention getting cast in a movie or TV series, isn't the worst way to make a quick buck.
5. Psychologist for dogs
What do you picture when you see the job title? A dog lying on the couch, complaining to a psychologist about how his owner calls him "bad boy" too often? No, that's not exactly what pet psychologists do.
They provide their services to owners facing challenges in training their pets. They help correct behavior and identify triggers for inappropriate behavior.
Representatives of one of the strangest professions earn between £15,000 and £50,000 a year in the UK.
4. Professional bridesmaid
Exhausted, distracted, or angry bridesmaids can easily ruin the most important day of your life. And some women don't even have close friends to invite to their wedding.
The solution is to hire a professional "undercover bridesmaid." The American company Bridesmaid for Hire charges between $300 and $2,000 per wedding for this service.
3. Poison collector
This isn't a job for the carefree. A snake milker's job involves collecting the venom of venomous snakes in jars. This dangerous substance is then used to make antivenin and other medications.
2. Bed rest tester
NASA sometimes recruits people to participate in nursing studies. In one study, people were paid $5,000 a month to lie in bed and sleep for 87 days straight.
Test participants are allowed to use a TV, laptop, and game console. Hey, where do I sign up for an interview?
1. Sex toy tester
Most specialists have offices filled with important documents and the like. What's missing from regular offices is a collection of products with a distinctly erotic slant. But for sex toy testers, it's the opposite.
These people, mostly women, test the comfort and safety of dildos and other sex toys. They also evaluate the features, appearance, and packaging of such toys, as these are important to many buyers.
Overseas sex toy testers earn around $35,000 a year.
An urban legend about the most unusual profession in the world.
You may have heard of a job called a penguin flipper. Supposedly, when airplanes approach, the poor birds are so surprised that they fall on their backs and can't get up on their own. A specially trained person, earning around $6,000 a month, gets the penguins back on their feet.
However, the story of the penguin flipper is an urban legend that has been circulating online since the 1990s. The first mentions of it date back to the 1980s, in connection with British aircraft flights to the Falkland Islands. Here, take a look at how penguins actually behave when they fall on their backs.