The 7 Types of People with Obscure Job Descriptions (Careers you didn't even know existed)

1. Dog Food Tasters/Testers

People who work in this field need to ensure that the dog food they’re consuming (which only dogs will hopefully be consuming from then on) ticks all the boxes it claims to ticks. Questions these industry professionals may ponder include: Is the dog food beefy enough? Is it chewy but not way too chewy? Is it at all crumby? (If so, this is not good! Crumby dog food is the last thing dog owners want) As you can see from the given questions, this job is crucial in ensuring the perfect dog food, for dogs and owners.

2. Professional Pushers (Oshiya)

This job only exists in Japan, mind you, by only, I mean that the job is catering for roughly 120 million people. Shinjuku, the business hub in Japan’s capital city of Tokyo has a train station where approximately 1.26 million people pass through every day. Japan Railways (JR) hires Professional pushers, whose job is to make sure that everybody is pushed to the limits (literally) ensuring that they’re all squished into the trains, with no one’s limbs poking out and therefore being snapped off by the closing of the train doors. Note to future tourists of Japan: Don’t travel during peak hours. Or do, nothing quite screams culture shock than someone ‘professionally’ pushing you into a train. Knowing Japan and its citizens incredible work ethics/standards, these professionals have undoubtedly endured years of tertiary education to earn their titles as a 'pusher'. 



3. Bad Smell Specialists
Another job description unique to Japan, in all seriousness, this one requires national certification.  Japan is one of few countries which has laws applied to odours in the environment. The job of a bad smell specialist it to find the source of bad smells, and to ensure that bad odour is limited and maintained to safeguard residents. Currently, there are over 2000 Bad Smell Specialists working in Japan. Note to self: Do not pass gas in the streets of Japan… No one wants their farts traced back to themselves, am I right?






4. Paid Internet Trolls

These people are literally paid to be trolls on the Internet. This job is prevalent in China, and employees in this field work under the Chinese government. China is well known for its heavy Internet censorship (The Great (Fire)Wall of China), denying its citizens access to sites such as Google, Facebook and Twitter. However, little is known about the fact that the government hires people to essentially deliver communist party lines through comments on forums and posts, in a clever and believe it-or-not, subtle way. 

Welcome to 21^st century style propaganda folks.

5. Bicycle Fishers

While Paris may be the city of lights, Amsterdam is the city of bikes. With an abundance of bikes, comes an abundance of improper disposal of unwanted bikes. In other words, bicycles often end up in the depths of the city’s famous canals. Bicycle Fishers are hired professionals whose job is to fish the thousands of bikes which are forcibly drowned each year.  How gloomy!

6. Professional Ear Cleaners

These people practice a trade considered to a degree, an art form, and one that has been passed down for generations. People with this job description work the streets of India, ridding people’s ears of any foreign body, wax and dust, using just a cotton covered needle and a pair of pincers. (I am typing this while wincing my eyes and clenching my teeth a little)

7. Elephant Stylists

Elephant stylists are talented professionals who work in countries where elephants find more work than just in circuses or zoos. These stylists use their skills and knowledge to fashion beautiful, intricate and colourful costumes for elephants participating in religious festivals.( I think I have a new career goal… I’ve found my calling!)