OK, so your job might not be perfect…
Your boss might get on your nerves from time to time, and the irritating things your colleagues do can sometimes push you to breaking point. But you might be surprised at the number of people out there who have a worse daily grind than you – and still manage to go to work with a smile on their face.
To put your day-to-day into perspective, here are 11 of the worst jobs ever:
Armpit Sniffer
If you think having to put up with the smell of your colleagues’ questionable lunch choices is bad, you’re about to feel much better about your job.
Yes, Armpit Sniffers actually exist – and their noble sacrifice means you don’t have to smell quite as much sweat on your way to work. They’re employed by deodorant companies, and their day-to-day usually involves sniffing armpits in a hot room. You’re welcome, commuters.
Port-a-Loo Cleaner
Ever wondered what a heavily used port-a-loo looks like? Probably not.
However, for Port-a-Loo Cleaners, looking at the unfortunate aftermath of thousands of people’s revelry (see also: drunk festival-goers) is all in a day’s work.
It’s dirty, it’s smelly, and it usually requires a high-pressure hose. #Grizzly.
Pet Food Taster
When it comes to our pets, most of us will do just about anything to ensure they’re happy.
Luckily – this usually doesn’t involve taste testing their food. That’s because Pet Food Tasters are hired specifically to smell, handle, and eat sample tins of freshly made batches – to ensure each one is up to standard in terms of taste and texture.
Nice work, my pedigree chums.
Mosquito Researcher
Although this might sound like a thing of (itchy) nightmares to most – for some people, getting bitten by mosquitos is actually a full-time job.
Essentially, they offer themselves as bait for the good of science.
Whether it’s to capture mosquitos for malaria fighting purposes, or it’s to test the effectiveness of mosquito repellent – the job literally bites.
Grave Digger
Remember digging for ‘buried treasure’ as a kid?
Well, this is basically like that. Except without the treasure, and with a lot more digging – six feet of it in fact. But at least you’d have a real shovel this time.
Snow Shoveller
Snow: you either love it or you hate it.
If you love it, you probably haven’t had to shovel a few tonnes of heavy slush out of walkways, roads, driveways – or even rooves. Comical falls practically come with the job.
Where’s Mr Plow when you need him…
Gold Farmer
Gold farming involves playing multiplayer online games to earn in-game currency – that’s then sold for real money – to players that don’t want to earn gold themselves.
The hours are long, the pay is bad, and you basically just spend all 12 hours a day doing menial tasks like cutting wood or mining rocks (no real wood or rocks involved).
Think relentless clicking, constant energy drinks, and a disconnection from the outside world.
Paint Research Scientist
If you think your job’s as boring as watching paint dry, think again…
Paint Research Scientists are employed to watch the colour of paint as it dries, as well as time how long it takes – all to improve the quality of the product.
And as tedious as it may sound – their work is essential to ensuring that dark mauve wall in your living room stands out enough to complement that vibrant cerulean chair. Also, to stop you getting covered in wet paint. That too…
Snake Milker
Don’t question your knowledge of snake anatomy just yet – it’s not how it sounds.
Snake Milkers actually extract the venom out of dangerous snakes by getting them to bite down on a plastic cap on a glass vial. They use it to create an antidote for bite victims, as well as assist with other types of medical research.
Hey, at least it sounds cool on your CV.
Professional Line Stander
Its official – people hate standing in lines so much, that they’re hiring other people to do it for them.
Professional Line Standers are employed for a number of situations, but they’ll find the most business during big sales, product launches, or ticket releases. Basically, they have to wait hours for something they don’t even get to keep.
Patience, an ability to stand for a long time, and an immunity to all types of weather is essential.
Golf Ball Diver
Millions of golf balls are recycled and resold every year.
Unfortunately, not all of them are easy to retrieve. Instead of scouring the course or checking holes for rogue golf balls, Golf Ball Divers are specifically in charge of collecting any that disappear into the water.
All you need is an oxygen tank, scuba gear, and the strength to emerge with up to 2000 (heavy) golf balls at a time. Remember: it’s all in the hips…(ability to swim may also help).
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There are much worse jobs in commercial diving than golf-ball collecting. Hull cleaning ain’t fun at all…
Or you could try cleaning bilge tanks. I remember as a deck cadet on my first ever ship – a 11000GT 1200 TEU container ship – being assigned to clean the bilges in the holds only to find that the stevedores had been using them as rubbish tips and toilets. Put me off my lunch a bit….
the worst job I saw was cleaning the paint vats at a paint factory, standing on a stage well wrapped in waterproof clothing poring boiling caustic soda into the vats and scrubbing out all the paint residue, summer winter, rain, snow , fog or sun
my ex husband cleans port-a loo’s !!!
Is that why he is your ex?
what about maggot farmer
Sewage and Drain Engineers/Operatives, they go into the drains a sewage works of the big cities/town and remove blockages mainly caused by dirty nappies and those supposedly dissolvable toilet wet wipes.
Working the night shift as a recycling operative was a job not to everyone’s taste. The shifts were 12 hours and the agency had you in 6 or 7 nights a week. It was obviously very dirty and smelly and was rat infested. The supervisor was brutal with you and not happy unless you were working up a sweat.