The most common jobs you're told about when you're little are the obvious ones: Fire Fighter. Police Officer. Doctor. Teacher. So on so forth. However, once you grow up, those career options may not be the most appealing. The job market is grander than you could possibly imagine in the days of recess and cubbies, so maybe it's time we start informing the youth about these job opportunities a little more often.
WARNING: Some jobs include collecting farm animal...samples.
Reddit user, u/Praughna, wanted to hear about:
Redditors that work jobs most people don't know exist: what is it and how do people react when you tell them your job ?
"What a lovely thing to do," said Thomas
Train Controller.
People ask me if I drive trains. I am in the habit now of just pre-empting people and saying "It is like air traffic control but for the rail network". In the U.S.A. I believe it is called Train Dispatch. People are generally sort of impressed and want to ask questions about the railway.
Helping People Work
Dunno how unknown my job is as a whole, but it isn't well known in my area. I'm a job coach. I help people with disabilities do their jobs. I can aid in physical tasks they cannot do properly, teach them occupational skills, be there for moral support and supervision, and other stuff like that. I also make sure they aren't exploited in the workplace by people without disabilities.
It's a really fulfilling job, tbh. It's wonderful seeing clients learning how to do things and just enjoying their jobs. All of my clients are wonderful people and I can't wait until the world stops ending so I can go back to work and see them again. I miss them terribly.
Navigating The Cinematic Waves
I used to work as a film festival consultant/strategist. Filmmakers would contact our company, send their films in and we would assess its fitness for the festival circuit. If we thought it'd do well, we designed a strategy (1 or 2 year) with all of the festival's it will be submitted to keeping in mind premiere statuses and submission deadlines.
Film festival submissions are weirdly complicated and there's a lot of stuff you have to know about the festival landscape in the first place. But I also think that company was running a bit of a scam in hindsight. Also we helped an anti vax documentary get onto the festival circuit, which signalled my cue to leave.
Something Small To Something Large
I work in R&D at a company that makes resins for OSB boards and plywood. Let's say that we create a resin which will still hold the board together at 2.8% resin instead of 3.1%. Or it will hold together after being cured for 110 seconds instead of 125. That makes a huge difference when you're a company pressing 1 million boards a year.
It sounds really boring and most people zone out when I start talking about it, but it's pretty exciting when we patent an improved resin and sell it to another company for hundreds of thousands of dollars.
Something You've Never Considered
I work in sterile services. You know all those instruments used in medical procedures and surgery? Well, they need cleaning, inspecting, packing, and sterilising. My department is for a small hospital, so we only recieve mostly dental and podiatry, but a few other one off instruments also. The worst is coil insertion kits, they're covered in bloody minge goo. There's also forceps and luxators that tend to get quite bloody, and on more than one occasion have had pieces of human gum attached.
Most people have the exact same reaction when I talk about my job, usually it's "oh yeah, I never really thought about that".
Written In Ectoplasm
I'm a ghostwriter. It's not necessarily an unknown career but people are usually interested when they ask about my work. Basically, I write books for people (autobiographies, memoirs, some fiction) and when it's complete they publish it in their name.
Ah, So You're To Blame?!
I'm in VDP—variable data printing. Basically, I put your name and address on personalized junk mail, letters, certificates, invoices, etc. I usually get a blank stare when I tell people this, so I switched to "programmer," even though I feel like that's an overblown title for what I actually do, though it does require programming knowledge. Most of my day is putting a salutation on a letter, but it is enjoyable when something more complex comes in that requires a lot of conditional logic!
Getting Paid To Read??
Audiobook Proofreader
Reactions were "Wait, you get to listen to books all day and be paid?" Yup. "That can't be a full-time though?" It is. "I bet it's temporary with no paid time off or benefits." I get benefits and more pto than I've had in all other positions.
This exists!? My long standing joke is my dream job being paid to read!? (Or listen!) How does one go about switching to such amazing career?
Monitoring Other People's Work
Sometimes I literally get paid to watch paint dry. I'm a security escort for secure areas where contractors must be escorted. My job is boring AF but, I get paid to watch other people work.
Examining Seeds At A Close Level
I'm a seed analyst. I do purity and germination testing. Every time you purchase seed, or seed is sold for commercial production, if there's a label on it that says "X% pure seed, X% Weed seed, X% Inert material, X% Germination"- that information came from a lab where people specialize in seed testing, germination, and identification. I can ID hundreds of species on sight by the seed, but if it's bigger than about 2 inches, I have no idea what plant it is.
How Else Will We Save On A 3 Taco Plate?
I make coupons on the back of receipts.
You know that Mexican place coupon on the back of the Kroger receipt? You're welcome.
You Have To Study For This?
I had a brief stint as a "junior cheese evaluator." People loved hearing about the cheese tasting part, but what is less known is the business analytics side of things — we have to know what good cheese is and what consumer tastes are like and how to influence those tastes to make room for company products that maximize profits for the cheesemaker and retailer.
There's a whole national certification exam I was studying for before I decided to take a drastic career shift because the whole cheese thing wasn't paying the bills and it was too much work holding down three jobs.
Don't Blow It...Blue It...?
I'm an operations manager for the Blue Man Group show, a lot of people don't realize how many people it takes behind the scenes to put on that show!
How many "Blue Men" are there in reserve for each tour/show? Is it the same folks out there on stage every night, or is there a pool of people that rotate?
My location (at time of closing) has 7 full time guys and 3 part timers. Sometimes they'll even change in between shows, so if there's two performances in one day it may be different performers for each show. Once or twice we've gotten stand-ins from other locations, but this is usually a last ditch save as every show has a unique scene. This means every location has one piece of the show that no other location has. To have a stand-in from a different location's show means filling them in on a section of show they don't normally perform at their home venue!
I Know They're Only Dummies But...
I work on a truck doing simulated emergencies with high fidelity mannequins . The mannequins have pulses they breathe, you can listen to lung sounds, and their eyes move back-and-forth. We take the truck to fire departments and critical access hospital's in our state to provide emergency training at no cost to the fire departments and hospitals. There are only five states that I know of in the nation that do this training.
Typing Up What Everyone Says
I produce subtitles, for TV and now for online learning at a university. It's been amazing how many people have thought that either A, a computer does it or B, I'm a sign language interpreter.
I was also a teleprompter / Autocue operator for a while, when I first left uni, and it was one of the best jobs I've had. Though again, people thought a computer did it. And I've had likes of actors literally laugh in my face because they consider it beneath the lowest of the low apparently (until it breaks...)
Buy. BUY. BUY!
Im a procurement officer for an airline, I order parts for planes.
No one seems to realise my job exists but everyone gets it when I tell them what I do.
Reaction is generally wow that's so cool! In reality I raise purchase orders all day. But it's pretty cool to wander out to the hangar when a plane is in
The Art Of Foam
Not me, but a longtime friend of my dad's was/is(?) a professional carbonated beverage pourer. (Spellcheck's not happy with 'pourer', is it 'pourist'? ...'pourmaster'?)
It was for closeup shots, mostly for commercials for sodas or beers, and sometimes for movies or TV shows.
At one point I asked my dad (not wanting to be rude to the guy), "Is that one of those jobs where some studio exec just picks one of their buddies to get paid a salary for basically nothing?"
According to my dad, this was NOT the case - apparently it was very specialized, precision work. They'd be like "Okay, we need a 5-second pour with a 1-inch head that settles into a 3/4" head in 2 seconds," and he could make it happen. Mistakes were a big deal because studio time's expensive, if he messed up too many times one of the crew would be drunk, etc.
As a kid I always imagined this guy at work to look like someone diffusing a bomb or something, dramatic music, everyone staring anxiously, bead of sweat on the forehead etc. As far as I know, that imagining is completely accurate.
You Have One Job And You Do Very Well At It
I was an enucleator.
When people passed and wanted to donate their corneas I would retrieve their eyes from their body and take them to the lab to process for transplant. When people found that out they were either completely grossed out or thought it was really interesting.
Best "Job" or Greatest "Job?"
Once upon a time I worked at a boarstud. I got hired in the lab preserving semen for sale. Dull, morning headachy work staring at semen under a microscope.
Buuut the shed often needed help collecting semen and a fun, well paying, easy job. Go get the pig, get him to mount, grab a penis and then nap as they ejaculate for ten to fifteen minutes. Repeat.
I got paid $27 an hour to sit on a stool and hold a curly penis three days a week. I now work 6-7 days, collect blood samples, monitor surgery, take phones, do inventory and handle angry clients with a smile for $16 as a vet tech. Hmm.
Do you have something to confess to George? Text "Secrets" or "" to +1 (310) 299-9390 to talk him about it.
Life is full of shock and surprise.
Apparently, that is part of the fun.
Who hasn't been left stunned by life events?
We always think we're immune to way too many things.
Anything and everything is possible.
It's important to be ready.
Redditor Bob_the_peasant wanted to hear about the things that have left people SHOOK, so they asked:
"What 'That can’t happen to me' thing happened to you?'"
I haven't been left that shocked that often.
I'm always expecting the worst, so I'm prepared.
But you never know.
I'm Dead
Snakes Imacelebau GIF by I'm A Celebrity... Get Me Out Of Here! AustraliaGiphy"A snake fell out of a tree and bit me on the head."
"ETA: I have always been more scared of snakes than anyone I know, so it’s just so ironic that this happened to me of all people."
amanitachill
Crash Into Me
"A car crashed through my kitchen last year."
aster636
"I woke up to a truck parking in my bathtub 2 weeks before Christmas a few years ago. I watched my sink roll past my bedroom door followed by a hubcap. The driver managed to cross a median, 3-lane road, up an embankment, through an iron fence and between trees. He'd been involved in an altercation nearby and was fleeing the scene."
anjie59k
Hot Air
Swinging Hot Air Balloon GIF by Red BullGiphy"My family and I were in a hot air balloon crash."
GymDoll2000
"My friend had one crash into her pool when she was a kid."
Environmental-Car481
This is why hot air balloons and skydiving are just a HELL no for me.
Always have. Always will.
Tragic
Cat No GIF by Looney TunesGiphy"My wife cheated on me with my best friend. They’re moving in together next month. I’m in a new city thousands of miles away. I found out a month ago."
Tssodie
Bad Penguin
"Everyone else’s stories are very sad so here’s something a bit lighter. I’ve mentioned this story before but I got bitten on the neck by a penguin."
"I was at an event where the local zoo had a penguin and owl sitting on tables with handlers so you could take a picture next to them. The penguin went for my glass of wine, I moved the wine, and it bit me on the neck hard enough to bruise. They removed the penguin after that. 😂."
archaeologistbarbie
All Gone
"Our house burned in a wildfire, we lost absolutely everything we owned and only salvaged a single coffee 3 cup."
"On the good side: There was a boy I crushed on all through high school. We went to summer camp together and I adored him. We ended up getting together in our 20s after reconnecting, and have now been together more than 20 years, married almost 17. We’re as madly in love as ever."
toomuchisjustenough
Good Luck
"Homelessness. It came swiftly and out of nowhere. had no savings and the landlord sold the house I was in. couldn’t afford a new place so lived in my car with my dog for a few months. ended up finding community assistance and got into an apartment."
jumbospicyslimjim
"I can’t even imagine being in that situation. Hopefully, this is just the start of things turning around for you. Sending you good energy!"
frappbarqueen
Early Michael Myers
"About 10 years ago, I was stabbed in the arm with a flathead screwdriver. It was a coworker whom I had previously gotten along well with. He had stopped taking benzos and smoking weed a few days before and was on a hair trigger. I said something sarcastic, and he just snapped."
Mr_Spaghetti_Hands
Bad Landing
Bad Day Seagull GIF by Sound FXGiphy"I was lying on the beach and a seagull flying very high took a poop and it went straight in my mouth."
Competitive_Show6205
This is why I say... "Never trust a seagull!"
They are minions of the devil.
