12 Bizarre Jobs That Can't Possibly Exist, But Here We Are

Ever since the big crash of 2008, it seems we've been stuck in an era of economic uncertainty. Once upon a time, there was a good chance that you would end up working in the field that you studied for. While it's certainly still possible, we've all heard of college graduates having to fight for jobs that didn't always require degrees and finding themselves underemployed.

Add that to Cathy N. Davidson from Duke University's statement that 65% of children entering grade school will work jobs that don't exist yet, and we really have a reason to sum up our futures with a giant question mark.

Yet sometimes the right opportunity can show up in the most unexpected places. After all, many entrepreneurs have a talent for fulfilling needs and wants that people didn't know they had. When they pull this off, it can create some new and exciting jobs.

Sometimes, these jobs can cross the line into outright weirdness, and we're going to look at 12 positions that would definitely stand out in the wanted ads.

COMMENT and let us know what you'd most like to get paid for.

1. A British grad somehow landed a job as a human scarecrow.

Jamie Fox earns about $311 a week sitting around on a farm in a bright orange coat until some pesky birds show up. Then he gets up and chases them away with his cowbell and accordion.

Fox says he likes the job for its fresh air and the time to catch up on his reading, but he says it also gets pretty chilly.

2. A British hotel chain once offered a waterslide tester position.

First Choice offered a six-month contract where the tester would receive $32,000 and a week-long holiday in exchange for trying out a series of waterslides throughout Europe before making a few extra stops in Egypt and Thailand. 

The position called for people with strong written and verbal skills, as well as "experience in social media use."

3. A man in Mexico City is making a living giving drunk people electric shocks. 

The city is known for a drinking game called Toques, where people will test their mettle and find out how many volts they can take. The game is apparently so popular there that Rodriguez can make about $370 on a busy weekend by charging a little under $2 per jolt.

4. Snake milkers squeeze venom out of the world's deadliest snakes.

They do this to make a powder used for antivenoms, as well as drugs that treat blood clots and heart attacks. The craziest thing about the job is that snake milkers don't wear gloves because they make it harder to tell what the snake is doing. 

In order to safely and effectively milk snakes, milkers need to adjust to any movements the reptiles make.

As wild as this is, it's nowhere near the weirdest job involving animals.

5. Chicken sexers should really find a better name for what they do.

What they actually do is find out the genders of newborn chicks by inspecting the shape of their feathers and looking in their butts. Despite paying out about $61,300 a year, the job seems to be unpopular in recent years, which is leading to chick export shortages in the U.K.

I guess people aren't too enthusiastic about training for three years to properly inspect chicken butts. 

6. Keith Jackson has made a 30-year career out of watching paint dry.

More than that, he has to time how long it actually takes paint to dry with a stopwatch. This is because a lot of his clients need paint that dries quickly enough so that people can safely walk on it without cutting into business hours.

This is a particular concern for subway stations, which are open for so long that painting can only happen between 3 a.m. and 5 a.m. According to Jackson, the fastest paint he works with can dry in a half an hour.

7. It's harder than it sounds to be a professional cuddler.

These people charge between $60 to $80 an hour to provide clients with comforting snuggles. The service has a lot to do with alleviating loneliness, but it's also considered therapeutic for people who have experienced physical abuse or who suffer from PTSD.

For this reason, the job can be emotionally draining and cuddlers tend to bring multiple T-shirts to work in case clients cry on them. If this didn't make things hard enough, they often receive hate mail and death threats from people accusing them of prostitution and ruining the world by "monetizing love." 

8. Tokyo's oshiya are hired to push people onto crowded trains.

Clad in uniforms and white gloves, these people are responsible for ensuring that everyone gets on their train and nobody gets stuck in the door.

9. The Pentagon hires people to review porn for the military.

It's illegal for porn to be sold or rented on military bases thanks to the Military Honor and Decency Act of 1996, so these employees act a little bit like movie censor boards. They don't ban movies or magazines with nudity in them but rather anything that is "lewd and intended or designed to elicit a sexual response." 

10. Until this year, you could get paid to hitchhike in Jakarta, Indonesia.

This is because lawmakers once declared major roads as "three-in-one zones" to reduce traffic congestion. During the rush hours, people were only allowed to drive on these roads if they had two passengers, so drivers actually "rented" hitchhikers to fill up their cars.

Without these hitchhikers, it wouldn't be unusual for drivers to spend two to three hours in traffic. Hitchhikers carrying small children were especially valued because they offered two passengers for the price of one.

However, this market dried up after city authorities did away with the three-in-one rule back in April.

11. Some pet food companies hire people to taste their products. 

Tasters smell and eat dog and cat food on a daily basis to ensure the products meet quality standards and that the ingredients are balanced. For tasters, the hardest part of the job is the deadlines rather than the food itself. They can expect to make about $25,000 at the entry level.

That said, a salary of $62,000 or more is considered "easily achievable" as tasters get more experienced. 

12. It's possible to be a surf instructor for dogs.

Loews Coronado Resort and Spa in San Diego hired Teevan McManus to fill this position after he was seen surfing with his dog, Murphy. Since the dog always tried to follow him into the water when he went surfing, Teevan decided to teach him to handle his own board. 

Don't forget to COMMENT and let us know if you'd like to do any of these jobs.