Earlier this week Halfords advertised for a ‘sleeping bag tester’, offering to pay the successful candidate £600 a week – to sleep. And last year, Tourism Queensland launched a worldwide search for a ‘paradise island caretaker,’ promising a salary of AUD $150,000.
This got me thinking. Am I in the wrong job?
No, not really. But for a laugh here is a round up of some of the greatest, or perhaps laziest, jobs in the world.
1. Paradise island caretaker
Last year thousands of people from all over the world applied to become the caretaker of an Australian tropical island.
The successful candidate, Ben Southall, was paid A$150,000 (£70,000) to live rent-free in a three bedroom villa on Hamilton Island, Queensland’s Great Barrier Reef, for six months.
He was required to work just 12 hours a month, with his duties including feeding tropical fish and collecting the island’s mail. He also had to prepare a blog and photo diary of his snorkelling, swimming, diving and sailing activities to attract tourists to the area.
2. Malibu taster
Malibu also offered a tropical dream job last year. The makers of the coconut liqueur, invited people to ‘escape their boring job’ and apply for the role of ‘executive product taster’ located in Barbados. The candidate could then appoint two assistants to travel with them for two weeks to the Caribbean island as well as New York, Sydney and the Barossa region in South Australia.
3. Star of South Australia
South Australia launched another similar campaign, offering Britons a chance to star in their own advertisements to promote the state. Dubbed ‘Stars of South Australia’, the virtual marketing campaign involved applicants filming a one minute video explaining why they wanted to travel to the state.
The winning couple were then flown to Adelaide and filmed a video blog as they toured the state.
4. Sleeping bag tester
Halfords advertised this week for someone who is ‘interested in sleep’ to apply for the job of ‘sleeping bag tester’. The company said it will pay the lucky applicant £10 an hour, and a minimum of £600 a week, to try out a range of sleeping bags and test their warmth and strength in preparation for the forthcoming music festival and camping holiday season.
The tester will have to rough it under canvas for five days and then report their findings on the bags.
5. Bed warmer
In January Holiday Inn announced plans to introduce a free five minute human bed-warming service. The hotel chain said it would employ human bed warmers to dress in special all-in-one sleeper suits and warm up the guests’ beds before they get under the covers to help people get off to sleep.
In other words you would get paid to be a giant hot water bottle.
6. Professional witch
Last summer one job centre advertised for a ‘witch’ to work at Wookey Hole, in Somerset, for £50,000 a year. The tourist site said the witch would have to ‘live’ in the caves, teach people about witchcraft and magic and do ‘the things witches do’.
Applicants had to be able to ‘cackle’ and could not be allergic to cats.
7. Professional corpse
A student from Oxford University was lucky enough last year to land himself a job playing a corpse at London Dungeon.
He had to audition alongside 26 other corpse hopefuls to secure the part-time position over Easter.
8. International shopper
At the end of last year more than 10,000 people from around the world applied for the position of international shopping consultant with LetsBuyIt.com. The successful applicant, Florence, was given €10,000 to travel around the world, visiting cities such as Paris, Milan, Hong Kong and New York, to find the best shopping deals. She also had to keep a blog about her ‘fab finds’ and experiences.
And in addition to business class air travel and luxurious hotels, Florence was also paid €5,000 to do the job.
9. Waterslide tester
Described as the ‘most fun job in the world, First Choice offered to pay someone to try out water slides in holiday resorts. The ‘lifestyle product development manager's’ job is to check the height, speed, water quantity and all safety aspects of waterslides around the globe.
In 2008 the employee, Tommy Lynch, tested waterslides in places such as Lanzarote, Majorca, Egypt, Turkey, the Costa Del Sol and Mexico.
10. Gum taster
A major confectionery company in Whippany, USA, is looking for someone to try out brand new chewing gum flavours, according to Indeed.co.uk. Applicants for the role are required to be a ‘frequent gum chewer’, ‘non-smoker’ and have a ‘general interest in a variety of foods and flavours’.
Source: Citywire
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