# What is the strangest job you have ever applied for? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [March 16, 2006, 2:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-strangest-job-you-have-ever-applied-for/348595 "2006-03-16T14:02:35Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![kudzus\_gal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/b5ac83/32.png) [@kudzus\_gal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kudzus_gal)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2006, 2:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-strangest-job-you-have-ever-applied-for/348595/1 "2006-03-16T14:02:35Z")
Today, I applied for a temporary part time job as an egg-picker :dubious: ---
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2006, 2:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-strangest-job-you-have-ever-applied-for/348595/2 "2006-03-16T14:11:18Z")
The one I have now: working in an Aerial Photographic Laboratory. Did I mention that I have never owned a camera? ---
**Author:** ![dnooman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/839c29/32.png) [@dnooman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dnooman)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2006, 3:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-strangest-job-you-have-ever-applied-for/348595/3 "2006-03-16T15:30:31Z")
Morgue technician. The application was like a phone book. Bastids never called be back. It was for the best though, since I’ve decided not to go into pathology. ---
**Author:** ![Aangelica](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b2d939/32.png) [@Aangelica](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aangelica)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2006, 3:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-strangest-job-you-have-ever-applied-for/348595/4 "2006-03-16T15:33:00Z")
Gravedigger. It was a great summer job! Nobody even died that summer, so it was mostly just doing odd jobs around the cemetaries. Filling in subsided graves, disposing of those evil plastic flowers, trimming shrubs. ---
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2006, 3:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-strangest-job-you-have-ever-applied-for/348595/5 "2006-03-16T15:49:51Z")
> [@Aangelica](#): > > Gravedigger. > > It was a great summer job! > > Nobody even died that summer, so it was mostly just doing odd jobs around the cemetaries. Filling in subsided graves, disposing of those evil plastic flowers, trimming shrubs. If you **had** dug a grave, would it be pick & shovel work, or was there power equipment? ---
**Author:** ![FinnAgain](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/finnagain/32/12500_2.png) [@FinnAgain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FinnAgain)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2006, 3:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-strangest-job-you-have-ever-applied-for/348595/6 "2006-03-16T15:51:20Z")
Working the night shift in a 24 hour porn store. Not all that weird, but as weird as my job hunting got. ---
**Author:** ![ArrMatey](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/arrmatey/32/3522_2.png) [@ArrMatey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ArrMatey)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2006, 4:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-strangest-job-you-have-ever-applied-for/348595/7 "2006-03-16T16:08:40Z")
Getting money out of privately owned payphones. Me and the owner would drive around Chicago all day, I’d crack the phones open and dump the change into sacks, then make sure the phones were working. He had two routes- the ‘good’ neighborhoods, which his wife did, and the ‘bad’ neighborhoods, which was me and him. All in all, good times, just sort-of a weird job. ---
**Author:** ![Kitchen\_Wench](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/f08c70/32.png) [@Kitchen\_Wench](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kitchen_Wench)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2006, 4:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-strangest-job-you-have-ever-applied-for/348595/8 "2006-03-16T16:14:13Z")
The job: Making dentures. I interviewed on the spot with one of the team leaders and she showed me what I would actually be doing. It’s an amazingly long and tedious job. Not worth the 7 bucks an hour it paid. I never went to the second interview with the manager, where I would be tested on my artistic ability. I have to admit, I got stage fright & skipped out. I can draw and paint, but I’m not very good at sculpture. I did get a job as a lab assistant at a reference lab. Our department received thousands of specimens from around town every night and we checked them all in and sorted for different departments within the lab. I’ve handled some pretty gross stuff. 72-hour stool samples that come in a sterilized paint can… yuck. ---
**Author:** ![Ensign\_Edison](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7ab992/32.png) [@Ensign\_Edison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ensign_Edison)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2006, 5:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-strangest-job-you-have-ever-applied-for/348595/9 "2006-03-16T17:01:55Z")
Phone psychic. Twice. Got the job both times, too. The second guy told me I was of angelic blood at the end of the interview. :rolleyes: He stiffed me my last check, too, so I guess it’s okay to rip off half-angels. ---
**Author:** ![cards](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ecd19e/32.png) [@cards](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cards)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2006, 5:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-strangest-job-you-have-ever-applied-for/348595/10 "2006-03-16T17:07:01Z")
> [@dnooman](#): > > Morgue technician. The application was like a phone book. Bastids never called be back. It was for the best though, since I’ve decided not to go into pathology. But…but… that could have led to you becoming a LOVE BROKER. ---
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2006, 11:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-strangest-job-you-have-ever-applied-for/348595/11 "2006-03-16T23:01:53Z")
> [@cards](#): > > But…but… that could have led to you becoming a LOVE BROKER. **cards** , you’re creeping me out. Stop it. ---
**Author:** ![Sublight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/439d5e/32.png) [@Sublight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sublight)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2006, 1:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-strangest-job-you-have-ever-applied-for/348595/12 "2006-03-17T01:55:14Z")
Product namer. At the interview they gave me some information about a new product (head-mounted video viewer) then told me to come up with as many names for it as possible and fax my answers to them by the end of the week. I sent them about 450 and got the job. I later saw that the other interviewees had sent in 20 or 30 each. Rental minister for wedding ceremonies. This one turned out to be a lot of fun, and a good source of backup income when I got laid off several years ago. I get to travel all around Japan, perform on stage and make people happy. I still do around 4 ceremonies each weekend. ---
**Author:** ![LiveOnAPlane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/3d9bf3/32.png) [@LiveOnAPlane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LiveOnAPlane)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2006, 2:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-strangest-job-you-have-ever-applied-for/348595/13 "2006-03-17T02:05:37Z")
Delivering moonshine in 1966. But, I have to confess to a hijack of the thread, as I didn’t interview for it. It was my Uncle, and it earned me beer and gas money. ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2006, 2:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-strangest-job-you-have-ever-applied-for/348595/14 "2006-03-17T02:09:21Z")
Probably the one I have now, working in the heart of a maximum-security prison. ---
**Author:** ![35340](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/3/8baadc/32.png) [@35340](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/35340)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2006, 2:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-strangest-job-you-have-ever-applied-for/348595/15 "2006-03-17T02:11:52Z")
A tad TMI for some. [spoiler]OBGYN ‘live test’ body for medical students at the local university learning how to do a gyn exam and pap smear. Paid 4x min wage per hour. I didn’t get the job - too ticklish.[/spoiler] ---
**Author:** ![35340](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/3/8baadc/32.png) [@35340](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/35340)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2006, 2:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-strangest-job-you-have-ever-applied-for/348595/16 "2006-03-17T02:12:55Z")
> [@Qadgop the Mercotan](#): > > Probably the one I have now, working in the heart of a maximum-security prison. Better than the spleen. Now _there’s_ an underappreciated organ. ---
**Author:** ![Smeghead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f1d935/32.png) [@Smeghead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smeghead)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2006, 2:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-strangest-job-you-have-ever-applied-for/348595/17 "2006-03-17T02:30:09Z")
On a lark, and only half-seriously, I once applied for a job as a microbiologist (I’d just graduated) for the Department of Agriculture. The job was on Plum Island, which is a small island off the coast of New Jersey that’s entirely owned by the DoA. They study things there like foot and mouth disease and mad cow disease - things that aren’t in the US and that they don’t want coming here. I was intrigued mainly because the description said you must be willing to take a military transport to and from work every day. It took them about eight months to notify me that they didn’t think I was qualified for the position. I wonder if there’s a file on me somewhere in the government from that. ---
**Author:** ![Eve](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Eve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eve)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2006, 2:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-strangest-job-you-have-ever-applied-for/348595/18 "2006-03-17T02:42:42Z")
Receptionist for a private detective. Back in 1980, when I was a lithe bombshell. Despite being actually related to Lauren Bacall, and dressing like Barbara Stanwyck in _Double Indemnity_ to the job interview, I didn’t get it. That dick had no sense of drammer. ---
**Author:** ![Podkayne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/edb3f5/32.png) [@Podkayne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Podkayne)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2006, 3:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-strangest-job-you-have-ever-applied-for/348595/19 "2006-03-17T03:15:44Z")
> [@Kitchen Wench](#): > > The job: Making dentures. I interviewed on the spot with one of the team leaders and she showed me what I would actually be doing. It’s an amazingly long and tedious job. Oooh, I just saw a TV show describing the process. They went through an incredible number of different castings, postive and negative. They just kept going and going. It was pretty amazing. Probably not something I’d want to do for a living, though. I’m afraid I don’t have any cool job applications to contribute to the thread, though. I did get my undergraduate part-time job in astronomy research when I was a freshman by trying to sign up when the astronomy department advertised that they’d pay minimum wage to students who were willing to move furniture on a Saturday. The department secretary said that she admired my humble and industrious attitude, but that she could probably find me something more _interesting_ to do to if I wanted to earn some pocket money. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Cyros](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a698b9/32.png) [@Cyros](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cyros)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2006, 8:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-strangest-job-you-have-ever-applied-for/348595/20 "2006-03-17T08:59:30Z")
I’m another former porn store employee. I was 22, new to Winnipeg, and just happened to walk past a store with a help wanted sign when I was papering the city with my resume. They called me back immediately for an interview. The manager handed me a bottle of lube and told me to sell it to him to see if I had any sales skills. Definitely an interesting job. I must admit, the first week or so on the job, I was a bit embarrassed to have to tell people what new videos were released. Not the kind of language most people use at work. It was a pretty decent job. I worked alone, the customers were polite, I could eat and read and smoke (!) while I was working. If I hadn’t gotten robbed, I probably would have stuck around longer. Alas, I needed to make more money and started working at call centers. I must say, both management and customers treated me far better at the porn store. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-strangest-job-you-have-ever-applied-for/348595.md?page=2)