While an infinitesimally small number of kids who want to be an astronaut actually become astronauts, at least we can all agree that it’s a real job. For example actually being paid to watch paint dry, better known as a “coating inspector.”
One curious netizen asked the internet “What’s a job that sounds 100% fake but actually exists and pays surprisingly well?” and folks shared their best examples. So get comfortable as you scroll through, upvote the ones that you’d never heard of and be sure to write out your own examples in the comments below.
#1
I once met a guy in a bar in Chicago whose job is to stand up penguins that fall over watching planes. Sounded totally cool.
frankenmullet22:
Not a real job, but I once told a girl at the bar that I was a penguin wrangler at Brookfield zoo. I said the penguins fall over when they look up to watch the planes fly over. I had to stand them up after every plane. She 100% believed me, but we were also very drunk.
Image source: leroyhobo, kamchatka/magnific (not the actual photo)
#2
I once worked as a part of a security team with a six month sub-contract at a hospital watching a violent ex-con around the clock to ensure safety for nursing staff.
Sounded necessary at first except for the fact that the patient in question was a quadriplegic in the spinal injury ward.
Easiest money I ever earned.
Image source: LordWraith, magnific (not the actual photo)
#3
Not super well paid, but I know someone who’s a Standardized Patient and basically acts a set of conditions so med students can get experience talking to actual people and trying to make a diagnosis.
Image source: grahamsz, wavebreakmedia_micro/magnific (not the actual photo)
#4
I knew people who watched paint dry for a living because they were paint chemists. Coatings inspectors go offshore and look at the paint there and get paid decent money for it.
Image source: Smuggler04, senivpetro/magnific (not the actual photo)
#5
Met a guy whose job was to fly around the country in private jets. He wasn’t even really trained at all, he was a sheriff deputy and did this on the side. He traveled with organs and had to hand them off to people but he wasn’t like medically trained or anything and the deputy part was unrelated.
Image source: Azurealy, HelloDavidPradoPerucha/magnific (not the actual photo)
#6
I only recently heard of such a thing as a house manager. I thought it was the same thing as a housekeeper, but it’s actually the supervisor of the housekeeper. They also schedule maintenance, get quotes for projects, deal with contractors, deal with mail, make sure the cook and nanny, etc are all paid, coordinates accommodations for guests, makes sure your car is charged or full tank every night, etc. They make $100k.
Image source: mindless_blaze, magnific (not the actual photo)
#7
I used to work as a fire watcher in a nuclear power plant. Basically, any time any form of welding was done I would have to sit there for a minimum of 60 minutes after the work was finished and stare at the metal as it cooled incase any sparks suddenly erupted. Even if it was 10 seconds of welding, it was a default 60 minutes of me sat in something akin to the Nostromo just staring at pipes.
Surprisingly well paid but incredibly boring as any kind of distraction like books were banned. It seemed to be a job that attracted some rather strange people.
Still, a summer of that paid for some incredible travelling around Europe.
Image source: Lekkermonkey, wirestock/magnific (not the actual photo)
#8
Golf ball diver.
Getting paid to scuba dive into golf course ponds and collect lost balls sounds completely made up.
Image source: Alternative-else, volodymyr-t/magnific (not the actual photo)
#9
Met a dude the other night who owns a company that does nothing but make artificial palm trees.
Image source: BrothelWaffles, rawpixel/magnific (not the actual photo)
#10
I sell rocks. Like literal rocks.
I’ve done this for almost 20 years. Supported my family, raised two kids.
Just rocks.
Image source: madtowntripper, sonjachnyj/magnific (not the actual photo)
#11
The weirdest one I have met was falconer. He trains hawks and travels to airfields to scare off birds so that they don’t hit planes when they take off or land. He used to be a mycologist researcher but hobby turned into career.
Image source: VilleKivinen, shirmanov.alekseyk/magnific (not the actual photo)
#12
Tree counter. He would go deep into tree fields in the middle of nowhere, set up a standard area an count how many trees were in it. For the logging industry.
Image source: common_user23, LipikStockMedia/magnific (not the actual photo)
#13
In the oil field drilling fluids are sometimes stored in big open air pits. They aren’t exactly poisonous, but they do contain chemicals that can be harmful to wild life. To keep ducks and geese away they hire a guy to yell at them with a megaphone and scare them off. So his job is to yell at geese with a megaphone.
Image source: Rusty_Rocker_292, The Yuri Arcurs Collection/magnific (not the actual photo)
#14
Professional line stander. Companies pay people to wait in line for product launches, court seats, restaurant openings, you name it.
Image source: KshijGaikwad, rawpixel.com/magnific (not the actual photo)
#15
Two of my acquaintances just so happen to have such titles where they work.
Chief Happiness Officer.
Customer Excellence Director.
Image source: BoogieWoogieWho, katemangostar/magnific (not the actual photo)
#16
Penetration tester. Unfortunately not quite as exciting as it sounds.
Image source: Nakorite, standret/magnific (not the actual photo)
#17
Coconut Safety Engineer.
Falling coconuts can be a hazard, and people in rich neighborhoods will pay someone to make sure no coconuts fall on their heads, or expensive cars.
Image source: diovanedvx, magnific/magnific (not the actual photo)
#18
I worked at DirecTV Argentina, and someone’s job was to watch the pay-per-view content and check that the program guide and subtitles were correct; I’d watch all day to see if the scheduled programs were actually airing and if the subtitles were properly synced—I spent the whole day watching movies and adult channels.
Image source: Yasku702, magnific (not the actual photo)
#19
Professional gambler.
On average I pull in around $30k a month – requires a lot of patience and the ability to always act rationally, even when the stakes are high.
Also requires a decent bankroll size to begin working seriously.
Not everyone can stomach having $100k on the line, staking it for a less than 5% edge, losing it to variance and continue to remain calm.
Image source: TennisSkirt1628, YuliiaKa/magnific (not the actual photo)
#20
Not me but a friend of mine’s story:
Was at a wedding with a lot of strangers and people were going around saying what they did, etc.
Arrogant finance guy goes, talks at length about himself, how much money he makes, etc.
Gets to my friend and he decides to mess with drunk finance guy, tells the group of strangers that he is the guy who sits inside an ATM and counts the money and hands it back to people.
They laugh at him, say he’s lying and ATMs are machines- friend is deadpan says that it is true that many new ATMs are automated and they are taking jobs like his away and that the majority of ATMs out there still have a man inside them counting the money and handing it out.
Finance guy tries to belittle him saying there’s no way that pays a living wage, friend is just acting humble says its not much and hard on the back but he makes $22/hr and he’s happy and feels blessed by the job, etc. Made the guy look like a jerk.
Funniest part to me is the guy is an undercover narcotics agent and has crazy stories, just did it for the lols.
Image source: Romasterer, The Yuri Arcurs Collection/magnific (not the actual photo)
#21
Rose wrangler. My sister does this; she’s a specialized landscaper who goes around and takes care of rich people’s rose bushes. I have no idea exactly what it pays, but she seems to be doing okay.
Image source: RuthOConnorFisher, shurkin_son/magnific (not the actual photo)
#22
Wayfinding Strategist lol Mine.
Image source: Snoo54756, magnific (not the actual photo)
#23
Bear removal expert – oilfield.
Image source: d-crow, magnific (not the actual photo)
#24
The province I live in in Canada hires minors to go into liquor stores to try and buy alcohol, that’d be such a fun job if you were 16 or 17
No clue how well it pays.
Image source: seanliam2k, Abhinav Bhardwaj/Pexels (not the actual photo)
#25
Tablescaper – I know a wealthy person who gets these people in to do their tables for dinner parties. Again, I don’t think it pays very well, but they bring in lots of special expensive plates and cutleries at one off and then take them all away at the end. Then do all the name settings and place settings and flowers and everything. They go into private homes and do this.
Image source: smickie, magnific (not the actual photo)
#26
I know a guy whose job is to go once every 2 months or so to a remote house in the middle of nowhere to test antenna technology for a communications company.
Image source: QuickShutter, magnific (not the actual photo)
#27
My entry into the autonomous vehicle space came when I talked to one of the test drivers for Waymo back in 2020. They’d been operating in my city for awhile (I live in their original testing area) and I always wanted to know what it was like.
I said “so you just sit there…and the car drives you around?” He said “basically, yeah.” So how much does it pay? “20 bucks an hour.”
Now, it wasn’t as simple as that (being a test operator is a bit more complicated than just sitting there), but it was a lot better than the bad jobs I had to take during the pandemic. I got a similar job with another company the following year, which led to another job, and I’ve been in the industry for the last 5 years despite having zero qualifications for working with robots.
Image source: gogojack, Frolopiaton Palm/magnific (not the actual photo)
#28
A commercial/residential building manager.
After years of learning this industry and trying to figure out how to properly deal with each tenant’s needs, this job is a breeze and pays about 150k a year now.
There is a demand and the balance is trying to arrange your schedule to accommodate working for two or sometimes 3 different companies at the same time, but it is actually very easy and most days only require an hour or two of work but get paid for 10.
Image source: fataii, magnific (not the actual photo)
#29
A guy in a full scuba suit who creeps around the murky crocodile infested water hazards of Florida country clubs collecting 40,000 lost golf balls a year, reselling them, and clearing six figures while shaking off snapping turtles.
Image source: Grand-Information-01, ahmadzada/magnific (not the actual photo)
#30
Puppy nanny. People that purchase puppies that are located far away, pay a puppy nanny to book a flight and fly across the country carrying their new puppy in their lap the whole way.
Image source: mozzarellastewpot, pvproductions/magnific (not the actual photo)
#31
Met a guy who did lighthouse maintenance. He specialised in very remote lighthouses that can only be reached by helicopter, and had to regularly do intense rescue training which involved being strapped into a helicopter frame, fully clothed, and then dumped upside down into a tank of water to ensure you could figure out how to escape. Yeah, there was a lot of rough weather in those places (hence the need for the lighthouse). He looked like he worked an office IT job though.
Image source: trowzerss
#32
Well, it sounds sooooo fake…but a fish fight referee. Yep, real job. I don’t know how well it pays – can a Thai person add comment? .
Image source: What_me_worry_now
#33
I know someone who recieves human heads by post.
So an associate of mine works in medicine, the recieve the head of cadavers by post. It is then their job to break the cheek bone, eye socket or jaw. The head is then sent to universities where trainee surgeons learn and practice on fixing such breaks and fractures.
Image source: According_Spot_4340
#34
I have a part time job putting stickers on boxes, I have a pension, a PPO paid for by the company and when you add everything in my package up its worth around $85,000 a year.
Image source: SSWBGUY
#35
Professional line stand-in Imagine getting paid to wait in line for someone else ;.
Image source: liormae21
#36
If you are in perfect health, you can be paid to poo for poo transplants, it can pay very well, I think even something around $500/poo.
Image source: Forsaken-Success-445
#37
Hospitalist – super important job but it sounds like you pressured a 5 year old about what they wanted to do in life.
Image source: letigre87
#38
Professional sleeper. It sounds like something someone made up to avoid getting a real job, but there are actually companies that hire people to sleep and test mattresses, sleep products, or even sleep environments. Getting paid to nap is honestly wild .
Image source: Just_Yam_4403
#39
Paint namer.
Image source: Competitive-Reach287
#40
Social Lubricator.
Image source: BigBirden
#41
Underwater Welders.
Image source: amobilephoneaccount
#42
One of the guys in my golf league is a placenta salesman. Yes you read that right.
Image source: qdacris
#43
That fire wielding watcher job sounds right for me. Sit there for 60 minutes with nothing but your thoughts watching for sparks.
Image source: All-the-pizza
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